Some Britons try to pull out their own teeth because of the
shortage of dentists or the high expense of seeing a dentist,
according to a major survey quoted by media reports Monday.
Six percent of 5,000 patients in the survey, commissioned by the
Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, admitted
they had resorted to self-treatment using pliers and glue because
they cannot find -- or cannot afford -- a dentist.
UK has a two-tier dental care system with some dentists offering
publicly subsidized treatment through the National Health Service
(NHS) and others performing more expensive private work.
Nearly half of dentists surveyed said they had stopped treating
NHS patients. As a result, nearly 80 percent of Britons on private
insurance said they were pushed there because they couldn't find an
NHS dentist. Only 15 percent of those privately insured said their
choice was based on quality of treatment.
Almost a fifth said they had refused dental treatment because of
the cost.
One respondent in Lancashire, northern England, claimed to have
extracted 14 teeth with a pair of pliers. In Liverpool, one of
those collecting data for the survey interviewed three people who
had pulled out their own teeth in one morning.
Valerie Halsworth, 64, said she had removed seven of her own
teeth using her husband's pliers when her toothache became
unbearable and she was unable to find an NHS dentist willing to
treat her.
Halsworth admitted that the first extraction had been
"excruciatingly painful."
Some other people said they had fixed broken crowns using glue
to avoid costly dental work.
Sharon Grant, chair of the Commission for Patient and Public
Involvement in Health, said: "These findings indicate that the NHS
dental system is letting many patients down very badly."
(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2007)