Last summer, Deacon Galloway was busy getting ready for university in North Yorkshire when he was hit with an unexpected bill. His grandparents had been putting money aside to help with his costs, but he needed dental work – and could not find an NHS dentist anywhere near where he lived.
Deacon, now 19, felt he had no choice but to go private. It cost him nearly £800 – a third of the money his grandparents had saved up – for two fillings and two replacement fillings. On the NHS, that treatment would have been free because he was under 19 and in full-time education.
“Student spent £800 of grandparents' savings on private dentistry after failing to find an NHS dentist.”
“It was really upsetting, but I had no choice,” says the University of Manchester student. “I knew if I didn't get my teeth done they would get worse.”
His story is far from unique. BBC Your Voice has been contacted by a number of people who say they felt forced to turn to private dentists, dipping into savings and even taking out loans. This comes as the cost of private dentistry is rising rapidly, while access to NHS care remains patchy – with some British towns known as “dental deserts” where there are no NHS dentists at all.
According to the General Dental Council, around a third of people receiving dental treatment in the UK pay for it privately. But less than a fifth of those do so by choice.
A UK-wide analysis by MyTribe Insurance found that the price of initial consultations has risen by 23% in two years to £80 on average, while simple extractions have gone up by 32% to £139. Root canal charges show wide variation, with prices in some places reaching £660, compared with a £400 average. By contrast, NHS root canal treatment costs five times less.
MyTribe warned that “surging” prices in the private sector and a lack of NHS access were leaving patients “struggling to afford essential care”.
The Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into whether dentists are exploiting the lack of NHS care. Alongside looking at price rises, the regulator is examining the way dentists communicate with patients about costs and different options. Many dentists offer a mix of NHS and private work.
Rebecca Curtayne, of the patient watchdog Healthwatch England, says they too have concerns, with people reporting private dentistry is “too expensive”. She says people in deprived and rural areas are disproportionately affected, as they tend to have the poorest access to NHS care and are least likely to be able to afford private treatment.