Exclusive: warning that lack of NHS dentists and soaring cost of private work puts essential care out of reach for many

Summary

Access to dental care in the UK is worsening as private fees for procedures like root canals (£775), tooth extractions (£435), and white fillings (£325) have risen by up to 32% since 2022.

The scarcity of NHS dentists is forcing patients to turn to expensive private care, leaving many unable to afford treatment.

Patient groups warn this trend risks deteriorating public oral health.

Rising operational costs, a nationwide dentist shortage, and underfunded NHS services are fueling the crisis, prompting calls for reforms and increased NHS investment.

  • Flying SquidMEnglish
    14•4 days ago

    Those jokes were about pre-NHS dental care and lack thereof. My working-class British dad had teeth so bad that about 10 years after he retired, he and my mom went down to Costa Rica because a vacation to Costa Rica where he could get free dental care was cheaper than what he was going to have to pay in the U.S. Medicare also doesn’t cover dental and it would have cost $20,000 to fix all the problems that hadn’t been fixed when he was a kid. He had been in the U.S. since the 1960s, but it was always way too expensive to fix no matter what dental plan he was on.

    For a long time, the NHS made those jokes no longer true.

    They’re going to be true again.