Only a third of Swindon have seen an NHS dentist in the past two years

These statistics come as new research conducted on behalf of the Liberal Democrats shows almost 23% of people in the UK have been unable to book an NHS dental appointment in the last 12 months.

Among the 533 people who could not get an appointment, 21% said they had conducted “DIY dentistry”.

"DIY dentistry" includes using a pharmacy filling kit; in extreme cases, some people have even claimed to have pulled out their own teeth.

A review conducted by Healthwatch in July found that no dentists in Swindon were taking on NHS patients.

"This remains the most reported issue to us at Swindon," the report states.

The proportion of Wiltshire and Swindon patients who have visited an NHS dentist has dropped since last year.

Numbers have steadily declined in Swindon over the years.

As of June 2022, 36.7% of adult dental patients had been to an NHS dentist in the last two years compared to 40.8% in 2021, 46.7% in 2020 and 57% in 2019.

in Swindon, 47.6% of children have seen their dentist in the last 12 months, according to this year's data. While this is down on 54.1% in 2020, the percentage was even lower at 35.8%.

Numbers were even lower in the area covered by Wiltshire Council.

Less than a third of adult patients in Wiltshire have seen an NHS dentist in the past two years, with data from June this year showing just 32.7%.

But back in 2019, over half the Wiltshire adults had at 51.9%. The numbers have dropped since then to 40.3% in 2020 and 36.3% in 2021.

Lib Dem MP Daisy Cooper said: “It is now or never to save our NHS from a winter of crisis that will put patients at risk.

“This heart-breaking rise in DIY dentistry is further evidence that this Government simply doesn’t care about our vital local health services.

“It is a national scandal that people are forced to pull their own teeth out because our public health services have been starved of funding.”

Commenting on the poll, British Dental Association chairman Eddie Crouch said: “DIY dentistry has no place in a wealthy, 21st century nation but today millions have no options, and some are taking matters into their own hands.

“These access problems are not inevitable. This horror show is the direct result of choices made in Westminster.

“We’ve heard promises of change, but any progress requires action on a decade of underfunding and failed contracts.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson 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 practising 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.”