A Conservative candidate admitted he needed to wait eight years to see a dentist amid the UK’s ongoing oral healthcare crisis.
Nottingham East candidate Johno Lee waited eight years to see an NHS dentist before relenting and opting to instead go private. His decision to fork out more for private dental care in 2023 comes as millions of Brits remain unable to get appointments.
Mr Lee told The Mirror: “I struggled to find an NHS one [dentist] that could take on more clients and that was because most were going private.” The UK’s dental crisis has escalated over the years with fewer than 12 percent of adults seeing a dentist in some areas of the country last year.
Think-tank Onward shared analysis earlier this year that showed just four in 10 adults managed to see a dentist in 2022 and 2023. A recent YouGov survey suggested NHS dentistry is a major concern for voters with 80% believing the government should do more to improve the service.
Mr Lee, an Iraq veteran, acknowledged the dentistry crisis was “difficult, we know that.” but insisted the situation his area was not due to the Tories handling of oral healthcare during its years in government. He added: “The problem with the dentistry in Newark had nothing to do with the Conservatives, it had to do with the dentist going private and taking the cream off the top and keeping those who could afford to pay private, leaving others having to try and find another dentist.”
Harrowing figures revealed the crisis levels facing dentistry in the UK with a March 2023 YouGov survey finding one in five Britons were not registered with a dentist. Of those, 37% said this was because they could not find an NHS dentist and a further 23% said it was because they could not afford to pay for treatment.
The same survey also found one in 10 Brits admitted to having attempted their own dental work. Of those who said they performed DIY dentistry, 56% said they did so within the last two years, including 36% who said they did it in the last year.
Mr Lee said he left the military in 2013 and was later let go from his dentist due the practice going private. “I struggled to get another, so in the end I decided to go private,” he added..
But the Tory candidate still backs PM Rishi Sunak despite oral healthcare sliding under 14 years of Conservative rule. He told The Mirror: “I would trust the Conservatives to work with the NHS and I don’t trust Labour. I’ve been in the military under their leadership and my friends died to to their leadership. That was a reason I joined the Conservatives.”
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The Tory manifesto pledged to “unlock” 2.5million more NHS dental appointments through a patient premium model. It also said newly qualified dentists would have to work in the NHS for a number of years or pay back their training costs.
Labour has pledged to provide an extra 700,000 urgent dentist appointments and reform the NHS dental contract. Labour leader Keir Starmer previously said: “People are finding it impossible to get an NHS dentist when they need one, with appalling consequences. Horror stories of DIY dentistry are too frequent.
“My Labour government will not stand for millions of people being denied basic healthcare. To rescue dentistry from the immediate crisis, we will provide 700,000 more appointments a year to those in the most urgent need, recruit more dentists to areas with the most severe shortages, and protect children’s teeth.
“But my mission-led government will always do more than fix the basics. We will reform the dental contract to rebuild the service in the long-run, so NHS dentistry is there for all who need it.”