Nine out of 10 practices in England do not offer NHS appointments to young adult patients amid chronic underfunding and the pandemic. Funding cuts over the past decade mean NHS dentistry would require an extra £880 million to return to 2010 levels, according to the British Dental Association. Meanwhile, patients are also choosing to go abroad for dental work such as implants, which are not routinely offered on the NHS and cost thousands of pounds to do privately. Here, four patients discuss traveling abroad for dental care due to cost and their inability to receive treatment locally.
“His whole face was swollen”
Adriana Clarke. Photo: Adriana Clark Adriana Clark, 38, had dental work in Egypt after being unable to get an appointment in Nottingham this year, either on the NHS or privately. Clark, who teaches at a university, recently had two fillings and a bridge done by a dentist in Ismailia while visiting her husband’s family. She had been trying to get an appointment for the fillings since January. Meanwhile, her husband was unable to access care for two months due to a severe dental infection. “It was impossible to get an appointment,” she says. Clark describes a 111 call cycle. given the number of a practice; told they were not accepting patients. and to call 111. Meanwhile he suffered. He said: “He had an infection so big his eyes were closed – his whole face was swollen.” He was eventually given an emergency extraction by a dentist they knew. Clarke paid £10 for two fillings at a dental practice in Ismailia. an eight-tooth bridge cost her £350. “It was done privately in the UK, it would probably cost £4,000-£5,000,” he says. “I don’t think I would go to the dentist [in the UK] unless you had to. Dentists are severely understaffed – it’s the system, not individual clinics.”
“It’s getting so bad that the painkillers aren’t helping”
When 28-year-old Dessi started suffering from a toothache two years ago, she rang all the dentists in the London borough who said they worked with NHS patients. In what has become a familiar story to people across the country, none were accepting NHS patients. “It was just impossible. I still haven’t fixed the tooth,” he says, adding that there is “a big hole” in it and will likely need to be extracted. “If food touches it, the pain gets so bad that painkillers don’t help.” Private practice is out of the question for the compliance professional, who says most of her income goes to rent and bills. Desi, who has lived in the UK for 10 years, extended her trip this month to see her family in Bulgaria in order to receive treatment. He says he previously paid less than £50 for a check-up, x-ray and export to Bulgaria. received hundreds of pounds for the same work from a private dentist in the UK. “I spend half my time at home taking care of my teeth,” she says. “I have to deal with it and it’s not going to happen here.”
“I wish I had done it sooner”
David Watkins. Photo: David Watkins Britons also travel abroad for treatments not usually available on the NHS, such as dental implants. After David Watkins, a 54-year-old coach driver in Pontypridd, Wales, had his last two molars removed following a tooth infection in 2021, his dentist advised him he would need dentures. “I freaked out – I said, no, I’m not ready for dentures yet,” she says. He had a consultation with an implant specialist who told him £3,500 per implant. “There was no way I was going to do that.” Watkins considered his options for treatment abroad and agreed to go to a clinic in Istanbul to fix his teeth “all, once and for all”. For two extractions, 10 dental implants, a bone graft and 28 crowns, as well as a seven-day hotel stay, Watkins paid around £7,000 – a fraction of what he would have paid in the UK. He had the implants done in May and will be back in November for the crowns. He felt nervous before leaving, but thought, “What have I got to lose? If I don’t do anything, I’ll get dentures.” He was impressed with the treatment. “My teeth have been the Achilles heel of my life – I just wish I had done it all sooner,” she says.
“Dentistry abroad is fine – as long as nothing goes wrong”
But treatment abroad carries significant risks, as Paul* learned when he had an implant incorrectly placed in France. The self-employed 48-year-old did so in July 2020 during a work trip as he was unable to book an appointment in London amid Covid restrictions. “Everything was going well until about six months ago,” he says. “Then the implant started to smell. Turns out it didn’t fit very well and the gap was allowing fluid to collect causing gum infection.” His dentist in the UK was unable to change the crown as the implant was made by a French company that did not register with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after Brexit. “The problem is they can’t even take it out, because then you have this hole in your bone,” he says. “So I’m in a worse position now than if I’d never had the implant in the first place.” Paul says it will take at least two trips abroad to repair the damage. Having dental work done abroad “is fine – as long as nothing goes wrong,” he says. *The name has been changed
