Coronavirus: Man refused appointment pulls out tooth at home

Billy Taylor pulled out his own tooth at home with the help of his 11-year-old son

A man decided to pull out his own tooth after he was refused an emergency dental appointment due to the lockdown.

Aircraft fitter Billy Taylor, 33, from Axminster, Devon, said he was told not to come in unless he could not breathe.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said DIY dentistry was "inevitable" given the "failure" to get urgent care centres up and running.

NHS England, which is setting up urgent care centres, apologised to anyone "having problems" getting dental care.

Mr Taylor said he rang 111 to find out about getting an emergency appointment.

"They said unless you can't breathe or it is blocking your airway... we have advised nobody to come in."

He said he was not told about any of the emergency centres in the area, nor was he aware of any.

Mr Taylor said the pain had been getting "worse and worse" before he made the decision to make a DIY extraction, with the help of his 11-year-old son, Leo.

"The pain was excruciating but the main thing was the whole left hand side of my face was swelling up," he said.

"Every half an hour it was getting bigger. I looked like Elephant Man.

"I thought if this is an infection and it gets into my brain it's really serious."

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The extraction took about an hour and a half.

"It was hideous, I thought I was going to faint half way through," he said.

He said the pain went away "instantly" although he did have some bruising on his cheek.

But he said he would not advise other people to do it.

NHS England said patients were receiving treatment at 15 urgent dental centres in the South West

The BDA said NHS England was getting a network of urgent care centres up and running but it was at a "slow pace".

Mick Armstrong, its chair, said: "Dentists are taking calls from patients in agony, but have nowhere to send them.

"Whenever access problems emerge people with toothache will take matters into their own hands."

NHS England said patients were receiving treatment at 15 urgent dental centres in the South West.

"We continue to set up more centres so patient journeys are reduced," it said.

"Having created the service from scratch in a few weeks, it might take a short time to make sure everything is running smoothly.

"We apologise if this means anybody is having problems getting the treatment they need in the mean time."