Millions could not afford vital dental treatment

THE cost of emergency dental treatment would be too great for millions in the UK, a survey has found.

Four out of 10 people reported that they could not afford the £250 average cost of a filling from a private dentist, without borrowing money or turning to friends or family for financial assistance.

The same proportion said they would not be able to meet the £370 required to have a wisdom tooth extracted, while nearly six in 10 could not pay for root canal surgery, which costs £970 on average.

Fees are significantly lower when treatment is provided through the NHS – but MPS from all parties have raised concerns about a shortage of NHS dentists.

The poll was conducted by Savanta Comres for the Liberal Democrats.the party’s spokeswoman for Health, Daisy Cooper, said: “It is disgraceful that millions of people are suffering in pain because the Government can’t get a grip on this.

“In a cost-of-living crisis, how can we expect people to find hundreds of pounds for emergency dental treatment?”

The Government says it is taking action to make getting an appointment with an NHS dentist easier.

But just a third of adults in England, and less than half of children, have access to one at the moment, trade body the Association of Dental Groups found – while the number of dentists undertaking NHS activity has tumbled by 2,000 over the past year.

MPS say constituents are struggling to register with an NHS dentist, with Tory Peter Aldous telling the Commons: “The impact on people is profound: millions unable to find a dentist; thousands in agony, resorting to DIY tooth extraction; as yet untold numbers of undiagnosed mouth cancers.”

Experts say rotten teeth can lead to a range of health issues and the economy is likely to take a hit when sufferers miss work. An additional £50million has been allocated for NHS dentistry for the last quarter of 2021/22 to cover urgent care.a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS commits around £3billion yearly to dentistry. Last year we invested an extra £50million to fund up to 350,000 more appointments to bust the backlogs.

“We are working closely with the NHS to reform the dental system and we are negotiating improvements to the contract to increase access for patients and ensure working in the NHS remains attractive to dentists.”

‘The impact is profound’