People ‘have to pull out their own teeth’
It’s a national scandal that people in our community are desperately turning to dangerous DIY dentistry. Bath MP Wera Hobhouse
Only around one in three people has seen an NHS dentist in the Bath area in the past two years - as a shocking poll reveals some are turning to DIY dentistry to pull out their own teeth.
The proportion of people who have visited an NHS dentist has plummeted over the past five years, analysis from the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has shown.
As of June 30, just 33.7% of adults in Bath and North East Somerset had visited an NHS dentist in the past two years, down from 51.6% in 2017-18.
Meanwhile, six in 10 children (60.1%) had seen a dentist within the recommended 12 months, down from 78.1% in 2017-18.
It comes as polling commissioned by the Lib Dems revealed that one in five people who failed to get an NHS dentist appointment in the past year (21%) turned in desperation to DIY dentistry - meaning they either extracted their own teeth or performed another procedure on themselves, or asked someone else who was not a dentist to help them.
Among those who said they had tried but couldn’t get an NHS dentist appointment in their local area, three in ten (31%) said they had stopped trying as a result, while around a quarter said they had paid for private dental treatment (27%) or delayed seeing a dentist despite suffering with pain (26%).
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse said: “It’s a national scandal that people in our community are desperately turning to dangerous DIY dentistry because our public health services have been run into the ground by this Conservative government.
“The Liberal Democrats are urging the Government to fund an NHS winter rescue package to improve access to NHS dental appointments, reduce ambulance waiting times and speed up treatment for those who need it.”
Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem spokesperson for health, said: “These figures reveal a stark postcode lottery of dental care, with far too many people struggling to see an NHS dentist when they need to.
“In many parts of the country, it is now almost impossible to get an appointment with an NHS dentist, leaving people waiting in pain or tragically turning to DIY dentistry instead.”
As of the end of June, 36.9% of adults across all of England had seen an NHS dentist in the past two years, down from 50.7% in 2017-18.
Eight of the ten areas with the lowest proportion of adults who visited an NHS dentist in the past two years were in London.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said: “The Secretary has set out her four priorities of A, B, C, D – ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors and dentists.
“The number of dentists practising in the NHS increased by over 500 last year, and we are continuing work to improve access to dental care for all NHS patients - backed by more than £3 billion annually.”
The DHSC says Theresa Coffey - the new Health Secretary - will set out further detail shortly on how patients will receive the care they need this winter across the A, B, C, and D priorities.