The ugly tooth

GoFundMe appeals to help get private dental care for pain-riddled people double

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

Bluebelle Boot can no longer sing due to pain

CROWDFUNDING appeals by desperate people going private for essential dentistry are soaring amid the NHS dental crisis.

A Sunday Mirror probe shows such appeals on site GoFundMe have more than doubled in recent years.

The Mirror's Dentists for All campaign reported how a decade of Tory funding cuts has led to millions locked out of accessing NHS care.

The budget for NHS dentistry in England is only enough to care for half the population so most dentists are not taking on new adult NHS patients.

We reported how for many people in pain and without the cash to go private, crowdfunding is the only hope.

Blackpool chef Paul Gwynne, 40, who launched an appeal, said: "I have been struggling with the way I look with the loss of most of my teeth. I can't find an NHS dentist. I do work but don't have thousands to spare to get new teeth. This seems to be my final hope."