Toothless in England, the pressure group set up in 2021 calling for ‘a NHS dentist for everyone’, has launched a campaign group on the Isle of Wight.
‘Toothless on the Isle of Wight’ aims to highlight the plight of islanders who have found themselves increasingly unable to access NHS dental care.
The number of NHS dental practices on the Island offering either preventative or urgent NHS dental treatment to residents has been in freefall for years. The negative impact this is having on families, men, women and children is taking its toll.
It is often so severe that some are taking matters into their own hands. Stories of DIY dentistry are commonplace. Needless to say, such practices put people at risk of harm and serious illness.
There are also concerns that with fewer dental practices offering NHS treatments, many oral cancers will simply go undetected. In fact, the latest data released by the Mouth Cancer Foundation shows that incidence of oral cancer has risen by 49% over the past 10 years.
Chris Mace, campaign volunteer and spokesperson for Toothless on the Isle of Wight, says:
“Myself and my wife moved to the Island in October 2021. We’ve have had an NHS Dentist all our lives. We managed to get registered at our local NHS doctors Surgery here in East Cowes straight away. But when it comes to finding an NHS dentist, we’ve been met by a brick wall. No Dentist has a NHS waiting list. Every Dentist we contact wants us to go private.”
British Dental Association Chair Eddie Crouch said:
“Even before COVID struck, NHS dentistry on the Isle of Wight was in crisis. The pandemic has left this service on the critical list, and we’ll only see progress if the new Government turns the page on a decade of failed contracts and underfunding. Over summer Rishi Sunak pledged to ‘restore’ NHS dentistry. His slogans will ring hollow until we see some urgency from Ministers, and real commitment to save a service on the brink.”
The launch of the Toothless campaign on the Isle of Wight comes at a critical time for NHS dentistry. The House of Commons’ Health and Social Care Committee recently launched an inquiry into NHS dentistry, as it found that 90% of NHS dentists were not accepting new patients.
Toothless on the Isle of Wight is asking Islanders to email them their stories about how the lack of access to NHS dental services has affected them and their quality of life. You can email [email protected].
My D.I.L earliest NHS appointment for her kids is August !
This year?
Sunak – How can you restore a corpse?
Nice of them to name a campaign after our local politicians.
Go private? Some very very good ones are here on the island, some can’t take on new patients but worth phoning around. It’s not always as expensive as you may think. I’ve had 2 teeth removed and need 3 fillings along with initial checkup and a hygienist session, cost less than £1000. Worth it for dental care. Even NHS would have cost £100s added with the waiting time I may have needed root canal treatment. Also by going private they will typically carry out preventative work too, the NHS will mostly do the bare minimum.
Sadly the people who need an NHS dentist can’t afford £1000 .
And I am sure if they could they would .
Everyone deserves to have an NHS dentist .
The problem is they are all going private, more money in it , ….
Imo I think if you train with the NHS you should have to do so many year’s with them , before going private……
But first things we need to get more Dentists, and that is proving difficult!!!!
I genuinely feel for those who are suffering toothache is horrendous . And hope the situation can improve ?
That’s the problem with the way people treat the NHS, we deserve it. Actually no we don’t, people have and are taking it for granted, I work in the NHS and the amount of time wasted due to people not turning up for appointments, telling lies about their diet or amount of alcohol consumption etc. We have patients coming in who genuinely need help, urgent help that can’t wait for a GP. On the other hand we have a good 50% of people who turn up demanding help for things that are not an emergency, that a 3 week wait for a GP appointment will absolutely be fine for. The NHS is something brilliant to have but has been abused by everyone from the government to the people requiring it.
Perhaps those that don’t turn up should be fined and moved to the back of the queue ?????
I know this doesn’t help the NHS ,,,,, but I remember from the cradle to the grave !!!!
And without dentists ,mouth cancer , and also bad oral hygiene or treatment vacancies cause all sorts of health problems so this needs sorting or the NHS will truly be overwhelmed !!!@
Totally agree, perhaps those appointment letters should contain a sentence stating “Failure to attend or cancel appointment if not convenient will result in you being removed from the appointments list. If you do not attend for other reasons you need to contact us to discuss future appointments.” At least this may deter those “who couldn’t be bothered to attend” in contacting you so others who could be bothered will. Naturally depends on what department the appointments were for as some cannot control the way they feel on certain days, but quite a few can who just “can’t be bothered”.
They are not going private .they always were private ,but who happen to have a contract with the NHS, but as they are not getting paid enough they are ditching the NHS part of their bussiness .and who can blame then no one works for free .
Finally someone speaking a lot of sense.
“Myself and my wife moved to the Island in October 2021.
They are Part of the problem and have only made things worse for islanders by moving here.
perhaps they should have checked this out before moving and saved theirselves the bother
As always, allowing in, or not returning countless new bodies and mouths to treat into the UK will mean that true British people will have to wait longer for treatment and pay more due to supply and demand. Not rocket science.
IF the UK had work only visas, then we could allow dentists, doctors and nurses along with any ‘needed’ labour to come here to work and be useful.
As it is, we allow in anything, and just hope that one or two in a thousand will fill a gap in our needs.
Whilst the BBC and other lefty institutions and liberal lovies people will ‘single out’ the ‘useful’ newcomer, the thousands of others, adding to our burdens won’t be mentioned.
See it how it is
An ironic (as well as Xenophobic) comment given many of the dentists on this Island are Eastern European.
Lets not forget Charlesworth’s usual gammony squealing about “lefties”.
Because the “righty authoritarian haters” have done so well over the last few years, haven’t they. He’s also conveniently forgetting that, far from stopping migration, the current far-right Brexit supporting Government has seen illegal migration triple since 2018.
And Brexit means there is no longer a legal way to send them back to the EU (EU Dublin Regulation)
Charlesworth needs to shut up and accept that if he voted for Brexit (and I suspect he did), then he was warned this would be a consequence and only has himself, and his fellow far-right nutters, to blame.
What you’re saying is absolute nonsense – but it’s exactly what the government would like us all to believe. They want us to blame immigration for the crisis in the NHS when they know it’s been caused by twelve years of underfunding and managed decline. The evidence shows this.
Talk about publicly displaying your ignorance.
You know a large proportion of the crisis in NHS dentistry was caused by Eastern European dentists leaving because of Brexit, right?
You know we do have work visas, right? Coming here under EU freedom of movement is one thing, going through the time and expense (yes, it costs money) of a visa application to work as an NHS dentist, is another.
If you have ever listened to the way the Today programme gives Tories and easy ride in their interviews you wouldn’t think the BBC was “lefty”. Just the opposite, in fact. Lets not forget the partisan “wall-to-wall gammon” Question Time Brexit audiences, either.
smiffy – perhaps you could take your benefit claiming, immigrant excusing, anti british drivel somewhere else because it is boring.
you have the opportunity to move to the EU if you love it so much – well go on, ferries are running.
The government will continue the drive to implement efficiencies in the NHS which will drive away the time wasters, hypochondriacs, NHS tourists and anyone else who isn’t actually in need of life saving treatment. One of those efficiency levers is to reduce funding to actually increase waiting times, so that only those in genuine need will actually hang around for treatment.
the rest that want lipo, gender reassignment and all the other non essential crap can pay for it themselves, privately.
You really are a complete smeghead, aren’t you, wighter.
When my dentist left from a Ventnor surgery, I was promised a new one and that the surgery would contact me with a new one. That was over 4 years ago. And I’ve not heard a single word from said dental surgery.. absolute disgrace
Then go private and been see quicker. It ain’t rocket science lol.
I wonder if that was the same dental practice I attended for over 36 years. I was then told, fairly recently, that as I had not been during the pandemic, I was taken of their patient list!
Apparently, with the exception of 6 weeks, they had remained open during the pandemic. My belief was that they were open for dental emergencies – which I have a great deal of sympathy for, as it is so painful.
Clearly, I was wrong.
It is however a disgrace that children’s teeth are not being cared for. We all hated the school dentist when I was young, but they served a purpose – possibly not allowed anymore with new laws and restrictions – I’m not sure, but something should be done.
I’ve been saying this. It won’t be long before we start seeing toothless people walking about; People with wooden legs; So worrying what’s happening to the NHS.
For toothache I do this and it works swish HOT tea or coffee around affected area then crunch down on ice alternately for around half an hour it is very acute for that time but this does work and the pain goes.
How to wreck your enamel for good on the rest of your teeth in two simple steps.
What the Government needs to realise is that if dental treatment was available and affordable then the NHS wouldn’t have so many illnesses to deal with. The mouth and teeth are the main cause of many health issues requiring long ongoing treatment to other parts of the body.
If you look after your teeth, you won’t need a dentist. Maybe an orthodontist but for kids the cost is negligible.
You are wrong.
Dentists don’t just deal with teeth. They are, almost always, the first people to spot mouth and throat cancers and other problems that require treatment outside of dentistry.
No being able to see an NHS dentist will result in more of these conditions going undiagnosed until they are at a much more advanced stage. Instead of simple procedure to remove a pre-malignant lesion, it may now need extensive (and expensive) surgery and chemo/radiotherapy and be ultimately fatal.
most of the problem is overpopulation and the second is too many people sponging off the state who expect everything for free. No wonder dentists are going private
More NHS Dentists and Pharmacists please! Poor old Chemists are ‘creaking’ under the strain too.
Why don’t you train to be one then, instead of expecting other to do the work.