Blackpool mum removed six-year-old child's teeth with pliers - MP

A mother was so desperate to stop her daughter's suffering she used pliers to take out teeth

A mother used pliers to remove her six-year-old daughter's teeth as she could not get an appointment with an NHS dentist, an MP has said.

Blackpool South MP Scott Benton told the Commons it was "sadly impossible" for new patients to find a health service dentist.

He said his constituents were attending surgeries "pleading with me to get them the treatment they so badly need".

The Department for Health said it had taken steps to improve access.

The independent MP told Parliament: "It is estimated that 40% of my constituents - some 35,000 people - cannot currently access NHS treatment.

"Only last week, a mother attended my surgery who had to physically remove the teeth of her six-year-old daughter with pliers because she was in so much pain and could not access the treatment her family needed.

"As the NHS dentistry recovery plan is long overdue, would it be in order for the House to receive a ministerial statement on when we may finally see some progress on this issue?"

The leader of the Commons, Penny Mordaunt, replied that she was "sorry to hear about the situation" and "the government have given a considerable uplift to local commissioners to ensure that providers are in place".

Blackpool South MP Scott Benton told the Commons new patients say it is "sadly impossible" to find an NHS dentist

Mr Benton told the BBC the child "had several rotten teeth" and "was in pain and they didn't have a local dentist".

The mother "wasn't aware of the emergency dental care provided locally at Whitegate Drive and took several of her child's teeth out as a result.," he said, adding it was "an absolutely harrowing and heartbreaking case".

"Our lack of local NHS dentists is unsustainable and unacceptable and the government needs to publish its dental recovery plan urgently and match this with funding to start to repair the situation," he said.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it would be publishing a dental recovery plan shortly and had already taken steps to improve access, including increasing dental training places by 40%.

In 2022, a BBC investigation found nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK were not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service.

That investigation was unable to find any practices in Blackpool taking on new NHS patients, with one woman in the resort saying she had resorted to making her own dentures.

In December, the Nuffield Trust think tank said the NHS dental service in England had been cut back so much it was now in the most perilous position in its 75-year history.

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