More than 13 million adults have an unmet need for dental care – more than double pre-pandemic levels
One in four adults in England are now unable to get an NHS dentist, official figures show today, with millions giving up hope of ever securing an appointment.
A new analysis by the British Dental Association (BDA) found more than 13 million adults now have an unmet need for NHS dental care – more than double pre-pandemic levels when unmet need stood at one in ten adults.
The figures also show around 4.9 million adults tried but failed to secure an NHS dental appointment over the last two years.
The BDA analysis, based on a survey by Ipsos, reveals 6.2 million people did not even try to make an appointment because they did not believe they would be able to get one – up by 300,000 in a year.
The figures come as official NHS data shows more than five million children have missed out on seeing a dentist over the past two years, meaning more than two in five children have gone without routine NHS dental care.
The ongoing crisis has left desperate patients pulling out their own teeth with pliers, repairing broken crowns with superglue and attempting homemade dentures because they cannot access treatment.
The scale of the problem has been highlighted numerous times over recent years with reports of hundreds queuing from the early hours after practices announce they are taking on NHS patients. Many have brought camping chairs and flasks to wait for hours.
Elsewhere, patients have described waiting more than eight years for routine NHS treatment.
A separate analysis obtained by GB News from digital data company SEO Backlinks, which analyses publicly available online data, found a postcode lottery for NHS dentistry. In some parts of England fewer than one in five NHS-listed dental practices were accepting new NHS patients at the time of their analysis.
Bristol had the poorest availability, with just 14 per cent of listed NHS dental practices accepting new NHS patients. Norwich followed on 16 per cent, while Cheltenham, Swindon, Northampton and Plymouth were all on 18 per cent.
The BDA argues the Government's repeated claims the NHS is on the road to recovery simply do not apply to dentistry.
Labour's 2024 manifesto pledged to reform the dental contract, focus on prevention and improve retention of NHS dentists. However, the BMA says ministers have yet to deliver the fundamental overhaul they promised.
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: "This government promised to end the dental crisis, yet nothing has changed. There has not been a penny of new investment, just a small increase in the number of dental students by 50. This will barely irrigate the dental deserts meanwhile the promised reforms have not happened.”
He added: “Dentists cannot keep delivering the service at a loss. The next government has just one choice for NHS dentistry. Fix it or lose it."
The latest BDA analysis found more than 800,000 people are currently on NHS dental waiting lists, while 1.3 million said they had been put off seeking treatment because of the cost.
The consequences are increasingly being felt by children. Tooth decay remains the leading cause of hospital admission for children aged five to nine in England. Last year 56,143 children and young people aged under 20 underwent hospital tooth extractions, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year.
Of those, 33,976 operations were caused by tooth decay – an 11 per cent rise in a single year.
The BDA has previously warned that 82 per cent of dentists have treated patients who attempted DIY dentistry before seeking professional help, including people using pliers to remove teeth, superglue to reattach crowns, chewing gum as temporary fillings and homemade dentures.
Meanwhile, scientists are uncovering evidence poor oral health affects far more than people's teeth.
Gum inflammation is increasingly being linked to heart disease, diabetes, dementia and certain cancers.
