THE number of 111 calls made for dental problems are at a record high of over 1.2 million this year, figures published today show.
The figures even surpass the number of calls made during the pandemic, when patients could not see an NHS dentist.
An analysis of government data by the Labour Party found that 4.8 million people called NHS 111 for dental problems in the last five years.
Many rang with issues that are classified by the NHS as “urgent,” such as severe dental pain.
Millions are unable to gain access to NHS dental treatment, with eight out of 10 dental practices no longer accepting new patients.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has stressed that many callers will not have secured needed care.
BDA chairman Eddie Crouch said: “What this data can’t tell you is how many callers walked away with an appointment.
“Ministers keep telling desperate patients to hit the phones or the NHS website and all will be well.
“The reality is government is offering magic beans, not silver bullets.”
Mark Jones, founder of campaign group Toothless in England said: “Dramatic as they are, these figures betray the fact that Westminster MPs of all political stripes have watched over the managed decline of NHS dentistry, but they have done little to nothing to prevent it from happening.
“The public wants to see an immediate return of NHS dental practices to the local high street, so they can access the vital oral healthcare they’ve been denied for years.”
The government announced a “recovery plan” earlier this year offering dentists up to £50 to take on new patients, which they say would create more than 2.5 million new appointments.
Dubbed “unworthy of the title” by the BDA, only 3 per cent of dentists believe it will solve the crisis.
The body quashed government claims that it is funded by £200m in “new” money, arguing that it is actually funded by recycling underspends in the service’s £3bn budget, which has barely increased in a decade.
Health Minister Dame Andrea Leadsom claimed the plan would make dental services “faster, simpler and fairer” for NHS dental patients.
She admitted however that “no estimates are currently available for the number of urgent and emergency dental appointments that will be delivered through the plan.”
