- 85,000 patients call 111 every month with dental problems, 42 percent more than in 2018
Record numbers of patients in pain due to problems with their teeth are flooding the NHS emergency care helpline because they cannot find a dentist, the MoS can reveal.
Every month, 85,000 desperate patients call 111 with dental emergencies, up from 60,000 in 2018 – an increase of 42 per cent.
NHS 111 staff say they are regularly contacted by patients with dental pain, meaning doctors on the helpline are taking longer to reach patients with life-threatening symptoms such as chest pain.
The number of NHS dentists has fallen to 23,000 – the lowest in a decade. Nine in ten NHS dental practices are not accepting new adult NHS patients, leaving one in five Britons without a dentist.
The British Dental Association said many dentists no longer wanted to do NHS work because they were only paid for a limited number of NHS treatments each year.
Every month, 85,000 dental patients call 111, an increase of 42 percent since 2018, when this number was 60,000 (file photo)
There is a possibility that NHS dentists will no longer exist by 2030, says Oral Health Foundation
The government wants to train thousands more people within ten years, but Dr Nigel Carter of the Oral Health Foundation said: ‘There is a possibility that NHS dentists will no longer exist by 2030 – the system is so broken.’
Dr. Nisa Aslam, GP at 111, said: ‘We regularly hear from patients whose toothache is so bad that they are desperate. These patients are probably in more pain than any patient I talk to because the tooth pain is so intense. There’s little I can do. I am not allowed to give dental advice.
‘This means that 111 doctors spend a significant amount of time answering calls from patients they cannot treat.’
NHS England did not respond to a request for comment.