BRITAIN’S dental care crisis is now so bad that 6 per cent of adults go abroad for treatment, a poll revealed today.

The high cost of treatments in this country is the main reason for seeking care abroad, according to a new report by the General Dental Council (GDC), which regulates dental professionals.

People also said they had tried and failed to join a regular dental practice at home or had been unable to book an appointment locally.

Nearly 30 countries, including France and India, are destinations for British dental tourists, the survey found.

One man man in his fifties told the GDC that he built dental care into his regular holidays to Greece after being unable to register with an NHS dentist near their home in the East Midlands.

“The cost here in the UK is double or triple compared to Greece,” said the man, who is originally from that country.

“Some of us can afford to pay, but there are people who can’t afford to pay and they can’t book an appointment. And they don’t have any option to travel abroad.

“The system needs more practices, more dentists.”

GDC executive director of strategy Stefan Czerniawski said it was “particularly concerning” that that recovery of dental services following the Covid-19 pandemic “has not only stalled but may have gone into reverse.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it was “unacceptable that so many people struggle to simply get a dental appointment,” with there being “large parts of the country where NHS dentistry barely exists any more.”

They said: “We will rebuild NHS dentistry, starting with an extra 700,000 emergency dentistry appointments. 

“We will also reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.”