People pulling own teeth due to lack of urgent NHS dental care in England, watchdog finds | Dentists
People needing urgent dental care in England are being refused despite guidance saying NHS help should be available, in some cases resorting to risky self-treatment such as pulling their own teeth, the patient watchdog has found.
Patients experiencing a sudden dental crisis, such as a broken tooth, abscess or severe toothache, should be able to get help from their dentist or by calling NHS 111.
But research by Healthwatch UK shows sufferers are unable to get appointments and in some cases are being forced to travel more than 100 miles, spend hundreds of pounds to get to special locations and even travel abroad for treatment.
In some cases, people turn to self-treatment, including having teeth pulled or taking over-the-counter antibiotics.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services was contacted for comment.
Healthwatch England said in a blog: “People across England are telling us they are unable to register with an NHS dentist for routine care. Even if they are considered regular patients at an NHS dentist, many people wait months for a routine appointment. We have repeatedly highlighted these key issues around access to NHS dentists.”
As a result, problems cannot be prevented or treated early enough, and urgent care becomes the only form of dental care people can access.
The government has committed to providing an additional 700,000 urgent appointments a year by 2028-29.
In the event of a dental emergency, people should be able to make an urgent appointment within 24 hours or seven days, depending on symptoms. Sometimes this can be done through an urgent appointment arranged through the person’s regular NHS dentist or by calling 111, which may have details of practices that will deal with urgent cases.
NHS 111 data It shows that calls about dental problems have increased recently in the UK. Between July and September 2025, call volumes were approximately 20% higher than in the same period the previous year.
When local Health monitoring teams in the northeast Volunteers who recently conducted secret shopping searches for emergency services made up to 15 calls without finding any urgent care.
People told the watchdog about long and exhausting attempts to get an urgent NHS dentist appointment. For some, this meant waiting hours until 111, while for others it meant being transferred to urgent care and then being told there were no appointments available.
Elsewhere, the watchdog found that relief was only temporary when patients managed to get emergency dental treatment.
“When emergency dental services transition from a safety net for occasional crises to a default route for care, prevention is neglected and patients suffer,” the blog said.
He added: “People complain of extreme pain, sleepless nights and deteriorating dental health. Many people feel forced to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds for private treatment, borrow from family and friends or use their pension or benefits to cover the costs.”
“Practices offering emergency dental appointments are often located far from people’s homes. People described journeys of up to 180 kilometres, round trips taking two to five hours, with some even traveling abroad for treatment. Some people told us they had resorted to self-medication or over-the-counter antibiotics, which posed serious risks.”
The watchdog has made a number of recommendations, including calling for the NHS Commercial Services Authority to publish monthly progress data on its target of 700,000 urgent appointments. As part of dental contract reform, the government should introduce a legal right for people to register with an NHS dentist to improve access, strengthen prevention and patient pathways and support long-term planning.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “This government inherited a decaying NHS dental system after years of neglect. We are working hard to turn things around, introducing extra emergency dental appointments and reforming dental contracting to increase capacity and get more NHS dentists on the front line. There is more to do, but this government is determined to fix Britain’s broken dental sector.”
