People pull their own teeth as lack of dentists bites
DESPERATE people are resorting to pulling out their own teeth at home because they can’t get a dentist appointment, a damning new report has found.
The finding has been made by an independent health watchdog which is warning one Welsh health board that dental needs are not being met by the NHS.
The report has been published by Swansea Bay Community Health Council – an independent statutory body that exists to represent the interests of patients and the public – and concerns dentistry issues faced by people living in the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas.
The document, entitled Accessing NHS Dental Care: Getting to the Root of the Problem, has been published today and is a follow-up to issues raised with the local health board in a previous report published in 2020.
The new report, based on feedback received from 1,370 people, has found that many patients in the region are continuing to struggle to access NHS dental services, including pregnant women and children.
It also claims that some dentists, if they couldn’t offer an appointment, encouraged patients to buy dental repair kits to carry out work on themselves.
The most startling finding, however, is that some people have actually pulled out their own teeth at home.
Others have resorted to trying to find an appointment 15 miles away from where they live. It was also claimed that some practices are encouraging patients to go private even though they are entitled to free dental care on the NHS, and that a lack of information about NHS practices in general is a cause of frustration for many patients.
One patient said: “My son has been trying to get a NHS dentist for several years and has had no dental treatment in all that time. He is only told time and time again to join on a [private] plan. It is disgusting.”
One patient said they resorted to carrying out their own dentistry at home. They said: “Since Covid started, I cannot get any dentist. A dentist was supposed to phone me when they had a vacancy. Two teeth I pulled out myself.”
Patients are not just worried about their own dental woes. Many parents and grandparents have expressed fears that a lack of appointments could have serious repercussions for young children, both now and in the future. One parent said: “My daughter is five and a half and hasn’t seen a dentist since before she was two, now at a critical time of dental health as she starts to lose her baby teeth.
“I’m very concerned that my children’s teeth haven’t been checked for almost two years now and any treatment they may need has been delayed. Children’s teeth will be in a terrible state if dentists continue not to see NHS patients for routine care.”
According to the body which compiled the report, urgent steps need to be taken to correct the “unacceptable levels of dental access” in the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas. “Swansea Bay Health Board must reflect on the feedback in this report and our 2020 dental report to improve the reach of NHS dental services across Swansea Bay,” said Hugh Pattrick, chair of Swansea Bay Community Health Council.
“There is the perceived belief among local people that some practices across Swansea Bay are closing their doors to NHS patients, depriving many of dental care. The health board needs to urgently address the unacceptable levels of dental access inequalities that have widened as a result of the pandemic, and which existed long before. Urgent action is needed to address these systemic access issues, to ensure no patient is left without access to a NHS dentist, as public concerns persist.”
Swansea Bay Health Board was asked to comment on the findings.