Some people in Merseyside are being forced to pull out their own teeth because they can't get a dentist's appointment, startling new research has revealed.
In the last two years, only one in three people have seen an NHS dentist in parts of the region, prompting people to turn to DIY dentistry. This week, a Wirral woman revealed she'd flown to Turkey to have an operation after she claimed she was unable to see a UK dentist unless she took out a second mortgage and paid £19,000.
Sally Murphy, 58, from Wallasey, said she was removed as an NHS patient from her old dentist during covid. After struggling to find another practice, Mrs Murphy looked into going private but found flying to Antalya was a much cheaper alternative.
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And now analysis from the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has shown the proportion of people who visited an NHS dentist has plummeted over the last five years. As of June 30, just 33.1% of adults in Liverpool had visited an NHS dentist in the past two years, the lowest proportion in Merseyside, down from 50.0% in 2017-18. Knowsley had the next lowest proportion (37.9%), followed by Wirral (45.2%).
In contrast, 50.3% of adults in Sefton had seen an NHS dentist within two years, the highest rate in Merseyside - although that has fallen from 64.6% in 2017-18. Liverpool also had the lowest proportion of children to see a dentist within the recommended 12 months, at 44.3% (down from 59.6% in 2017-18).
Children in St Helens, however, were far more likely to receive a regular check-up with 50.7% visiting an NHS dentist in the past year (down from 67.0% in 2017-18). The average proportion of adults who had visited an NHS dentist within two years has fallen from 59.9% in 2017-18 to 42.7% across Merseyside; while the proportion of children getting an annual check-up has dropped from 61.4% to 47.0%.
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 they asked someone else who was not a dentist to help them.
MP Daisy Cooper, the Lib-Dem’s 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.
“It is a national scandal that people are desperately resorting to pulling their own teeth out because our public health services have been run into the ground by this Conservative government.
“Local NHS services are crumbling after years of failure and mismanagement by Conservative Ministers. Ministers need to urgently announce an NHS winter rescue plan that ensures people can see an NHS dentist for affordable treatment when they need it.
“It is now or never to save our NHS from a winter of crisis that will put patients at risk.”
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.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said: “The Health and Social Care Secretary has set out her four priorities of A, B, C, D – ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors and dentists. The number of dentists practicing 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.
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