Truro man pulls out his own tooth after struggling to find a dentist for 18 months

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A man from Truro in Cornwall has pulled out his own tooth after struggling to find an NHS dentist for over 18 months.
David Woodhouse, 62, said that he decided to extract his own tooth after finding it impossible to get an appointment with a dentist near his home. Mr Woodhouse was experiencing ongoing pain with a loose tooth, and took the decision to remove the tooth after waiting over a year and a half to register with a dentist.
Using needle-nose pliers, the engineer gently prised the tooth from the socket. Afterwards, he said that the actual extraction was a lot less painful than the discomfort he had been battling with the loose tooth, but stressed that DIY dentistry isn’t something he wanted to rely on. When the next tooth comes loose, Mr Woodhouse suggested that he might have to get a loan to pay for private dental care, but he questioned why this should be the only option when NHS dentistry is supposed to be accessible to all.
Mr Woodhouse found himself without a dentist after returning from working overseas. He had previously been to the dentist near Truro for regular check-ups, but was removed from the register after spending a period of time abroad. Since then, he has struggled to find a practice accepting new patients and was even informed that he would have to wait for 7 days for an emergency appointment. This delay lead to him resorting to taking out his own tooth.
According to NHS England, there are almost 50,000 people currently waiting for a dental place in Devon and Cornwall, and the NHS Choices website revealed that there is only one practice in Cornwall taking on new patients.

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