Leeds locals reflect on dentistry

Do you pay for private dental treatment, or do you use NHS services? How difficult is it to get a dental appointment where you live?

Transcript

00:00I can't get a dentist appointment. I'm an ex-soldier and when I was away with the military

00:07obviously I weren't coming back to my NHS appointments. I got struck off from the register

00:12and I've been back on Civvy Street now for over 10 years and still not managed to get an NHS dentist.

00:19Well I wear false teeth. I've had these teeth for 21 years. I can't get a dentist. Pontyflat,

00:26Nottingham, Castleford, Featherstone, nobody's taking the NHS on. Finding a dentist whether

00:34on the NHS or private is really hard and very tough, very expensive, especially since Covid

00:40it's been really tough. Until I became a pensioner I didn't know that you had to pay and I got a bit

00:46of a shock when just for a cheque, £25 please, hey yes you're paying now, you're on state pension.

00:52Well okay, it doesn't cost a great deal though. I think that all in all they've improved in recent

00:58years I think dentists.