People are pulling their own teeth out due to lack of urgent NHS dental care
Why people in the UK are pulling out their own teeth
- Patients are resorting to self-treatment, including pulling their own teeth or using unprescribed antibiotics, due to a severe lack of NHS dental appointments.
- Healthwatch England found that people in pain struggle to secure urgent appointments, and many face months-long waits for routine dental care.
- Access to NHS dentists has declined significantly, with 10 per cent fewer adults seeing a dentist in the 24 months leading up to September 2025 compared to 2019.
- The government has pledged 700,000 additional urgent appointments annually until 2028-2029, but Healthwatch advocates for monthly progress data and a legal right to register with an NHS dentist.
- Analysis reveals a growing disparity, with individuals in deprived areas 67 per cent more likely to undergo urgent dental treatment than those in affluent areas.