More than eight in 10 dentists have treated DIY dentistry cases since lockdown, a poll has suggested.
The poll asked 500 UK dentists: Since lockdown have you ever treated a patient that has performed any form of DIY dentistry (this could include any form of DIY dental care, from a simple filling kit to an attempt at extraction)?
The responses were:
- ‘Yes’ – 82%
- ‘No’ – 13.8%
- ‘Don’t know’ –4.2%.
The respondents also reported cases in which patients used pliers to extract teeth, superglue to mend broken crown and chewing gum as a temporary fillings. In addition, some patients have attempted to construct their own dentures.
As a result of ‘rampant’ DIY dentistry, the British Dental Association (BDA) has urged the government to produce an NHS dentistry recovery plan ‘worthy of the title’.
‘Victorian era’
This comes as the government is expected to propose a recovery plan this week after it was first pledged last spring. Ministers have rejected the Health and Social Care Committee’s recommendations to make a ‘clean break’ from the current NHS dentistry contract, which the BDA says has fuelled the NHS dentist exodus and ongoing access crisis.
In addition, a funding increase for rural dental practices is expected to be announced in the upcoming Spring Budget as an attempt to reduce dental deserts. But the BDA has claimed that this move is ‘wilfully ignoring the national scale of this crisis’.
The professional body has also has deplored the ‘epidemic’ of DIY dentistry, alongside rising cases of dental sepsis, and patients needing dental treatment following scurvy.
Eddie Crouch, BDA chair, commented: ‘Day in, day out dentists in our hospitals are seeing scenes straight out of a Dickens novel.
‘Ministers need to take some responsibility. A wealthy 21st Century nation is slipping back to the Victorian era on their watch.’
What are your thoughts on this story? Have you treated patients who have carried out DIY dentistry? Contact [email protected].
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