People pulling own teeth due to lack of urgent NHS dental care in England, watchdog finds
Emergency help should be available, but some being forced to travel 100 miles or go private, says Healthwatch England
TL;DR
- Patients in England are struggling to access emergency NHS dental care.
- Some patients are resorting to dangerous self-treatment, including pulling out their own teeth.
- Inability to get appointments forces patients to travel long distances, pay for private care, or travel abroad.
- Calls to NHS 111 for dental issues have increased by 20% compared to the previous year.
- Healthwatch England found that urgent care services were unavailable after multiple attempts in mystery shopping calls.
- The government plans to deliver 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments annually until 2028-29.
- Recommendations include publishing progress data on urgent appointments and introducing a legal right to register with an NHS dentist.