LONDON — A shortage of National Health Service dentists in England has led some people to pull out their own teeth or use Super Glue to stick crowns back on, a study says.
Many dentists abandoned Britain’s publicly funded health care system after reforms backfired.
In April 2006, the government reformed National Health Service dentistry in an effort to increase patients’ access to treatment and to simplify payments. Dentists objected, complaining it reduced income. Some dentists cut the number of health service patients, or stopped taking them altogether.
Forty-five percent of dentists surveyed said they no longer accept National Health Service patients.
A survey released Monday by the British Dental Association of 5,212 patients and 750 dentists in England found 6 percent of patients resorted to self-treatment, including one person who extracted 14 of his teeth with pliers.
Other patients reported using Super Glue on crowns after they popped off, the study said.
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