Unable to access a dentist, many in UK use pliers to pull teeth out

London: A large number of those unable to access an NHS dentist in United Kingdom use ‘Do it yourself’ methods like pliers to pull their teeth out, MailOnline reported citing a study.

A fifth of those caught in the same situation went abroad over the past two years seeking dental care.

MailOnline quoted desperate patients saying that they resorted to hardware tools to pull blackened teeth out or filled in false teeth fashioned from ‘resin and superglue’.

Taking note of this grievous situation, health leaders asked the government to speed up things and ‘keep its promises’ to rescue people from trying dangerous methods.

It is reported that many had flown to Ukraine, where a war is raging on, for dental treatment as they had ‘no chance’ of getting treatment back home, alongside avoid ‘sky-high private fees’ in UK.

Many of these desperate patients end up receiving treatment from ‘unscrupulous, cut-price dentistry’ in Turkey.

A breakdown of the new Ipsos survey of 1,091 British adults shows how serious the situation is.

In the last two years a 48 per cent made an appointment with an NHS dentist.

However more than a third of the surveyed, meaning 36 per cent, did not try any appointment while an 18 per cent failed to get an appointment.

As many as 36 per cent of those secured access said they waited longer than they expected, while 13 per cent were left with no choice but travel outside their area for care.

More than a quarter, making up 26 per cent, of those failed to get an appointment claimed they treated themselves. Meanwhile, 19 per cent went abroad for treatment.

Chris Langston, a patient from Oswestry in Shropshire , who spent waiting for an appointment for long, pulled out a ‘blackened molar’ using a pair of pliers.

Langston reportedly said: 'A little tug and a pull down on the pliers and it was done. I wouldn't recommend it. Not to anyone. It was horrible.'

Another patient, 42-year-old Danielle Watts with severe gum disease pulled almost half of her teeth out with her fingers after waiting six years to get registered with a dentist.

The mother-of-two said she pulled out her teeth out after they 'started dying off one by one'.

Responding to the situation Department of Health and Social care spokesperson reportedly said: ‘NHS dentistry is broken after years of neglect, forcing patients to resort to desperate measures’.

Adding further, the official said: ‘We’re already rolling out 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments and preventing tooth decay in young children through supervised toothbrushing’.