People in need of emergency dental care in the city. England they are being denied help from the NHS despite recommendations it should be available, in some cases resorting to risky self-medication such as pulling out their own teeth, a watchdog has found.
Patients who experience a sudden dental crisis, such as a broken tooth, abscess, or severe toothache, should be able to get help from their dentist or by calling. National Health Service 111.
But research from Healthwatch England shows that people suffering from pain are unable to get appointments and in some cases are forced to travel more than 100 miles, spend hundreds of pounds on private travel or even travel abroad to get help.
In some cases people let's move on to self-medication including having teeth removed or taking antibiotics not prescribed by a doctor.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.
The Healthwatch England blog says: “People across England tell us they are unable to book an appointment with an NHS dentist for routine care. Even when they are seen as a regular patient with an NHS dentist, many people wait months for a routine appointment. We have repeatedly highlighted these important issues with access to NHS dentists.”
As a result, problems are not prevented or treated early enough, and emergency care becomes the only form of dental care people can access.
The government has committed to making 700,000 additional urgent appointments a year until 2028-29.
In the case of a dental emergency, people should be able to get an urgent appointment within 24 hours or seven days, depending on their symptoms. Sometimes this happens through a regular NHS dentist or through an urgent appointment made by calling 111, who may have details of practices that will deal with emergency cases.
NHS 111 data shows that calls about dental problems have increased in England recently. Between July and September 2025, call volumes were approximately 20% higher than the same period the previous year.
When local Healthwatch groups in the North East Recently conducting mystery shopping calls to emergency services, volunteers made up to 15 calls without finding any emergency help available.
People told the Observer of long and grueling attempts to get an urgent appointment with an NHS dentist. For some, this meant hours spent waiting to call 111, while for others it meant being sent to A&E and then told there was no appointment available.
Elsewhere, observers found that when patients were able to get emergency dental care, the relief was only temporary.
The blog states, “When emergency dental care ceases to be a defense against occasional crises and becomes the standard mode of care, prevention is neglected and patients suffer.”
It added: “People are reporting severe pain, sleepless nights and deteriorating dental health. “Many people feel forced to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds for private treatment, borrow money from family and friends or use their pensions or benefits to cover costs.
“Medical facilities offering urgent dental appointments are often located far from people's homes. People describe trips of up to 110 miles, round trips taking two to five hours, and some even traveling abroad for treatment. Some people told us they have resorted to self-medicating or taking antibiotics without a prescription, which increases serious risks.”
The watchdog made a number of recommendations, including calling on the NHS Business Services Authority to publish monthly data on progress towards the target of 700,000 urgent visits. As part of dental contract reform, the government should introduce a legal right for people to register with an NHS dentist to improve access, strengthen prevention and treatment practices for patients, and support long-term planning.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “This government inherited an NHS dental system in disrepair after years of neglect. We are working hard to change that, opening up more urgent dental appointments and reforming the dental contract to increase capacity and get more NHS dentists on the frontline. There is still a lot to do, but this government is determined to fix the UK's broken dental sector.”
