Difficulty seeing the dentist? People in England struggle to get appointments

  • last year
Let's talk teeth, as recent data indicates that many of you haven't seen your dentist for a while.

This has been an issue for years, with numbers dropping significantly during the height of the pandemic, and though there has been some recovery, the sector is still struggling.

Recent NHS data suggests that, in England, only four out of ten adults have been to the dentist in the past two years. The figure for children is almost 6 out of ten, but there are concerns that some children may have never been to a dentist in their lives.

One of the main issues according to industry leaders is that the sector has been chronically underfunded for years, with poor pay, long working hours and burnout resulting in dentists leaving the health service.

The government says they are making progress to boost NHS dental services.

In Wales, well, the data on such matters is unclear, however work has begun to centralise the data to get a clearer picture and address any subsequent concerns.

There have been reports of people performing DIY dentistry, which experts and charities are warning against this, as it could result in more misery for your mouth.
Transcript
00:00 Recent NHS data suggests that in England, only four out of ten adults have been to the
00:07 dentist in the past two years. The figure for children is almost six out of ten, but
00:12 there are concerns that some children may have never been to a dentist in their lives.
00:18 One of the main issues, according to industry leaders, is that the sector has been chronically
00:23 underfunded for years, with poor pay, long working hours and burnout resulting in dentists
00:29 leaving the health service. The government says they are making progress to boost NHS
00:35 dental services.
00:38 In Wales, well, the data on such matters is unclear. However, work has begun to centralise
00:44 the data to get a clearer picture and address any subsequent concerns. There have been reports
00:49 of people performing DIY dentistry, which experts and charities are warning against,
00:55 as it could result in more misery for your mouth.
00:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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