NHS dentist shortage so bad 4 in 10 Brits likely to try 'pulling out own teeth'

As the lack of dentists available on the NHS reaches crisis point, early half of adults face no option but take things into their own hands if they need a tooth extracting

Four in 10 adults fear they will have to pull out their own teeth amid NHS dentist shortages, a poll reveals.

Almost half of those aged 18 to 34, and 46% of 35 to 54-year-olds said they are likely to try DIY dentistry if need be.

The study also found more than a quarter of pensioners fear they will have to pull out their own teeth, with 28% of over 65s thinking they have to resort to DIY dentistry.

Across all ages, this rises to four in ten adults who fear they will have to take dental care into their own hands.

The majority of adults also think they will have to pay for private dentistry, according to the Savanta ComRes study commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.

It comes after the British Dental Association (BDA) found that more than 47 million NHS dental appointments have been lost in England since lockdown.

Chairman Eddie Crouch told the Telegraph: "DIY dentistry has no place in a wealthy 21st-century nation. Sadly, choices made in Westminster have left millions with no options.

"Demoralised dentists are walking away from a broken, underfunded system.

And when real change is needed, the Government has done little more than rearrange the deck chairs.

" Rishi Sunak pledged to restore NHS dentistry. That slogan will ring hollow as long as desperate people find themselves reaching for a pair of pliers."

Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem health spokesman, added: "This is a national scandal. It now feels like NHS dentistry is becoming extinct in many parts of the country."

TV chef Phil Vickery revealed he pulled his own teeth using pliers after he couldn't get a dentist appointment during lockdown.

He told a podcast he spent ‘three nights’ using the tool to remove a wisdom tooth as well as another which eventually cracked.

The 61 year old said: "In lockdown, I couldn't get a dentist so I pulled my own teeth out.

"[One was a] wisdom tooth.

"[I used] a pair of pliers, it took three nights.

"Every night I just worked it a bit further and it came out in the end but I did [another tooth] and it cracked."

The government pumped an extra £50million into NHS dentistry in January to help tackle Covid backlogs.

A Department of Health spokesman told the Telegraph: "We are determined to make sure everybody seeking NHS dental care can receive it when they need it, and we have recently implemented dental reforms to deliver this - with the GP Patient Survey showing over 75% of patients who tried to get a dental appointment in the last two years were successful."

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