From the BBC, an account of 21st Century British dentistry: “We couldn’t see an NHS dentist so we pulled out our own teeth.”
The NHS carried out 39 million dental treatments in England last year, but Rebecca Brearey and Nick Oldroyd, who live in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said no local NHS dentists would treat them.
“We’ve been trying for four years but no dentist will take us on. Every time I go, I get told there’s a two-year waiting list for NHS patients,” said Ms Brearey.
“It’s got so bad that after taking a combination of paracetamol and alcohol I ripped my half-rotten teeth out.
“The state of my teeth has made me depressed and I’ve literally begged to be taken on by an NHS dentist, but every time I’ve been turned away.”
That happened on the 19th Century frontier, too–a few shots of whiskey and a pair of pliers, and no more aching tooth.
Nazreen Akhtar, from Bradford, said it had taken her five years to find a dentist in the city who would accept both of her children, Shaban and Muhammad.
Photos, none too appetizing, at the link, and more here.
[T]he BDA says 21 million adults and 5 million children have not recently seen an NHS dentist.
“There is an emerging crisis with more and more dentists not accepting NHS patients,” said Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, chair of general dental practice at the BDA.“The government has only commissioned enough dentistry to treat about half the adult population and this is an absolute disgrace.”
The socialist paradise becomes ever more alluring.
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