No NHS dental help for 2m with issues

700k extra check-ups 'still risk more people yanking out teeth'

- BY MARTIN BAGOT

MORE than two million people with teeth problems cannot get an NHS dentist.

The NHS estimate comes after the government began a rollout of 700,000 extra emergency appointments.

But the British Dental Association says only providing a third of the appointments needed risks more people having to pull out their own teeth.

An NHS England letter to local health leaders said: "This calculation gives a total estimate of 2.2 million each year (3.5% of the population) currently unable to get an NHS dentist appointment and who have a treatment need."