Steep Rise In Tooth Extractions Revealed

Mon, 06 Apr 2009

The number of people having teeth extracted has soared by 32 per cent in the past four years, according to new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats.

The party revealed that more than 175,000 Brits had one or more teeth taken out under general anaesthetic in 2007/08, an increase of 40,000 on the 2003/04 figure.

Of these, 44,300 were kids aged between 6 and 18 and 14,200 were children under the age of five.

LibDem health spokesman Norman Lamb claims the statistics highlight how much dental care has deteriorated under Labour, despite government pledges to expand preventative dental care by improving access to NHS dentists .

"It seems that the staggering rise in tooth extractions is another example of the failure of the dental contracts to deliver better access to dentists across the country," he commented.

"I am hearing from people who still cannot see an NHS dentist and are therefore neglecting their teeth or waiting until it is an emergency. Other patients have to pay extortionate amounts for private treatment to save a tooth or else wait weeks, often in pain, to get a tooth extracted on the NHS ."

He added: "These are the unpalatable and unacceptable choices people are facing, and ministers need to get their heads out of the sand and admit that dental care remains in disarray."

A recent survey by Simply Health found that 35 per cent of UK adults are finding it difficult to get the dental care they need on the NHS - up 12 per cent on last year.
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

Health cover, life insurance and PMIProtect Your Health

Find Critical illness, Life and Private Medical Insurance PMI policies.

Save money on your mortgageSave on Your Mortgage

Would you like to save money on your mortgage? Fill out our quick mortgage enquiry form