One in 5 try dentistry at home amid staff crisis

Patients are resorting to ‘DiY dentistry’ and pulling out their own teeth because they cannot get to see an nHs dentist, a report reveals today.

More than half of Britons have not seen a dentist in the past year, with most saying they could not get an appointment.

the deepening crisis has led to one in five people treating themselves at home – with some even carrying out their own extractions and fillings.

the Great British Oral Health Report reveals millions are missing out on the professional care they need. and it warns an ‘acute shortage’ of nHs dentists and a lack of funding will ‘make access even more challenging in the years to come’. the problem is being fuelled by a growing number of practitioners giving up nHs work to focus on private treatment – around 16million people now no longer have a dentist.

the report, published by Mydentist, the UK’s largest provider of nHs dentistry, combines a survey of 2,026 adults with the latest data.

it reveals 53 per cent have not seen a dentist in the past year, with 56 per cent of these saying it was because they were unable to access one.

and it exposes a ‘postcode lottery’ of care, with 9 per cent more people in southern england having had a routine check-up in the past year than those in the north.

there were 951 fewer dentists offering nHs services in 2020/21 than the previous year, and more than 40 per cent say they are now likely to change career or seek early retirement.

One in five people polled said they have had to perform ‘DiY dentistry’ – this includes using temporary home fillings kits (3 per cent) and pulling out their teeth (1 per cent).

tom Riall, chief executive of Mydentist, said ‘making it easier’ for highly-skilled dentists from across the Commonwealth to practise in the UK ‘will make a huge difference to reducing oral health inequalities’.

But British Dental association chairman eddie Crouch said: ‘When dentistry is haemorrhaging talent owing to failed contracts, underfunding and a cack-handed Covid response, the answer is not simply looking abroad.’

nHs england said: ‘the nHs has taken unprecedented action... throughout the pandemic by creating 600 urgent dental centres; and providing full income protection for dental practices unable to deliver their usual levels of activity.’

it urged anyone in pain who can not find a dentist to call nHs 111.

‘Millions missing out on care they need’