Desperate dental patients go for DIY or Turkey teeth

MORE than a quarter of people who failed to get an appointment with an NHS dentist in the last two years treated themselves at home while almost one in five went abroad to places such as Turkey, a poll found.

- By Storm Newton

Experts urged the Government to hasten dentistry help to avoid patients “reaching for pliers or cheap flights”.

NHS and professional dental bodies have raised concerns about cheap overseas treatment with some patients needing more ops to fix botched foreign surgery.

A survey found fewer than half had made an appointment with an NHS dentist in the past two years.

More than a third had not tried, while nearly a fifth said they could not get an appointment.

Of those who had secured an appointment, 36% said they waited longer than they would have liked, while 13% were forced to travel out of their area.