A desperate mother of two had her teeth extracted three times after failing to get a dentist appointment on the NHS.
Layla Waters, 52, said that despite contacting every NHS dentist within 70 miles of her home, in the past two years she has never We were unable to secure an in-person appointment.
After her first infected tooth caused pain in March 2020, she resorted to her desperate measures when her tooth became loose and the pain became unbearable. .
Layla wrapped her kitchen towel around her affected tooth and she pulled it out herself.
But just two months later, she was forced to do the same again when her second tooth became infected.
In February of this year, she achieved a dubious hat-trick when she had to have her third infected tooth extracted.
Layla says: And I must have had about 10 prescriptions over the past few years to control the infection.
"I grabbed it with kitchen paper to keep my teeth from slipping and pulled.
"I tried a couple of times and it came out. I was out of bed for a few days. Couldn't get out.I was crying.
( David Lowndes / Peterborough Te SWNS)
Only 5 weeks later , Layla had another infected tooth extracted, and most recently a third, six months old.
Now she has one tooth on the left side of her mouth and two back teeth on the right side.
Layla of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, described the situation as "a nightmare from start to finish" and said it affected her confidence "massively".
She said:
"It has had a huge effect on my self-confidence. I don't go out or socialize because the minute I open my mouth it's obvious that I'm missing a tooth.
} "I take a pack of painkillers every two days. I suffer from toothache and I am missing all my teeth.
"To date, I have visited a total of 49 dentists. I called, and the best reaction I had was that I might be put on the waiting list, but it was 18 months long. Circling around, she keeps hitting a brick wall:
"We need more NHS dentists. I just want my teeth fixed." , claims universal credit because he is no longer able to work due to fibromyalgia, but continues to seek an NHS dentist because he cannot afford the cost of private dental care.
However, there are currently no her NHS dental clinics in Peterborough accepting new adult patients, according to the NHS website.
A BBC survey found that 9 out of 10 of her NHS dentists in the UK were not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the Health Service. It became clear.
Nearly a third of her more than 200 municipalities in the UK had a dental clinic serving her adult NHS patients, according to a survey that contacted nearly 7,000 dental practices. I found that there was no doctor.
Leila added:
``I could always get a prescription when I needed it.
"I don't want to bashing dentists because it's not their fault.
"I don't understand the policy, nor do I pretend to. But whoever is responsible for creating incentives to become NHS dentists needs to look into it.
``There was never a shortage before. I don't know if there is a shortage of dentists all of a sudden."
