Patients spend 6 hours round trip to dentists amid severe shortages of NHS treatment.
With no medical help available, some resort to measures such as ``scraping teeth with a metal nail file'' and ``purchasing dental cement from Germany''.
Sarah Young, 34, from Suffolkhas to put up with her toothache after losing half of her teeth when her filling came off .
She was out of treatment for almost a year and a half because her NHS dentist was not in the area to accept her as a patient.
Do you have to do your own dental care? If so, send an email to holly.bancroft@independent.co.uk.
Care Home Her worker Ms. Young said she moved to Suffolk almost two years ago and is now taking a six hour round trip. She turned to her old dentist in Aldershot, Hampshire for help.
With her fuel costs skyrocketing, she cannot afford to travel or take time off from her job to receive medical attention.
"I've tried everywhere," she told The Independent,. , it just says 'Not accepting NHS patients'.
"I've dealt with painkillers. I've gotten used to the pain, but at first I was taking painkillers every day.
"Having only half a tooth makes it difficult to eat. I keep hooking my tongue and it hurts."
34-year-old Sarah Young suffers from half her teeth because there are no dentists near where she lives
(Sarah Young)
The BBC revealed on Monday that 9 out of 10 NHS dental clinics across the UK are not accepting treatment for new adult patients.
Young said: I don't want to waste my days off going to the dentist.
"At the moment we have gas costs, but we can't afford fuel. And we have to pay for treatment. That's too much. On the other hand, if Saxmundham has it,
"I work a lot of night shifts at work right now, so I can't afford to take a 6 hour round trip and be away all night. I can't afford that."
"There is no paid sick leave," she added. "I personally can't afford to go private."
(PA)
British campaign group Toothless said: They have written letters to MPs and local media, and called on radio stations across the country, but no one in government seems to be listening.''
reform" and to create a "funding scheme that is fair to dentists and ultimately addresses oral health inequalities in the country".
The patient group Healthwatch said it has been contacted by people doing "DIY dental care" themselves.
One wrote that he could not find an NHS dentist, so he bought tooth filler from Amazon to fill his teeth.
As a terrifying example, another A person said he had 5 broken teeth and his top denture didn't fit. "My GP had to prescribe me antibiotics because I had four tooth abscesses and I couldn't see a dentist," they wrote. I had to file down part of my tooth with a file because it had cut my tongue.”
Another said. I had an accident 3 years ago and the crown of my head came off. I resorted to purchasing dental cement from Germany. I am tired of calling.
Another parent wrote that she was unable to find a local dentist to treat her 11-year-old daughter's toothache. ``The local dentist hasn't seen her or any of us because we are new patients,'' they said. They said they could not help unless their lives were threatened and told their daughter to get a filling kit and do it herself.
