Around 7% of UK adults said they had carried out some form of DIY dentistry in a new survey – with some areas seeing levels as high as 14%.
Of those who had attempted to perform their own dentistry, 35% said they had pulled out a loose or painful tooth with pliers. A further 44% said they had used clove oil or other numbing oils to reduce dental pain.
Three in 10 had glued a crown or filling back in place, while a similar 29% had filed down a chipped tooth. Almost one fifth (18%) had attempted to drain an abscess with a sharp tool.
When asked why they had acted so extremely, one third said the cost of private care was too high and three in 10 said they couldn’t get an NHS dental appointment. More than one quarter (26%) felt their pain was so severe that they had to act immediately.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has previously warned that DIY dentistry is becoming ‘rampant’ across the UK. 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.’
Does DIY dentistry vary by region?
The survey also considered geographical disparities in the level of DIY dentistry carried out. Plymouth reported the highest levels, at one in seven (14.3%).
The 10 cities which were found to have the highest instance of DIY dentistry were:
- Plymouth (14.3%)
- Glasgow (10.5%)
- Manchester (10.1%)
- Norwich (9.2%)
- Liverpool (8.5%)
- Birmingham (7.8%)
- Leeds (7.1%)
- Cambridge (6.9%)
- London (6.6%)
- Sheffield (6.4%).
The research additionally ranked the UK cities by the amount of residents struggling to get an NHS dental appointment. While Bristol, Cardiff and Stoke-on-Trent topped this ranking without appearing in the DIY dentistry top 10, there was also significant overlap between the two lists.
The 10 cities where Brits are struggling most to get an NHS dental appointment were:
- Bristol (23%)
- Cardiff (18%)
- Stoke-on-Trent (12%)
- Plymouth (12%)
- Nottingham (11%)
- Norwich (11%)
- Leeds (11%)
- Newcastle upon Tyne (10%)
- Manchester (9%)
- Sheffield (9%).
Attempts to combat dental access problems are underway across the country in the form of new training centres that provide affordable care to those in need. This week saw a new dental school and NHS treatment hub set to open in Gloucester, with construction starting within the month.
The Three Counties Dental School will initially offer a dental hygiene programme, beginning to deliver NHS community dental services from spring 2027.
‘More painful, more complicated, and much more expensive’
The survey of 2,000 UK adults was carried out by banking app Thinkmoney in February 2026.
Consumer expert at Thinkmoney Vix Leyton said: ‘Pulling out your own tooth with pliers might sound like something from history books, but for some households it is becoming a last resort they’re turning to. When people cannot get an appointment or feel they cannot afford treatment, they start looking for solutions at the kitchen table instead of the dentist’s chair.
‘The worrying thing is that DIY dentistry rarely solves the problem. It often makes things more painful, more complicated, and much more expensive to fix later.’
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