‘We’ve got no idea when she might be seen - and she’s in a lot of pain.’ From Dentistry to A&E: Jes’s story.

Good oral health in early life is a determinant of good health later on. But many children in the UK are struggling with the pain of tooth decay - and many parents are struggling to find an NHS dentist for their child.?

Last year, 4.4m children in England missed out on appointments with NHS dentists, equating to nearly 40% of all children.?

The result - parents are using emergency care services as their first point of contact - or going to hospital if their child’s tooth pain has got worse. Tooth decay currently stands as the number one cause of hospital admission among children aged 5 to 17.

The challenge in accessing dental care doesn’t just affect oral health. It also impacts children's overall well-being and educational opportunities.

Last year alone, children missed over 15 million school days due to emergency dental issues, highlighting how important it is for everyone to have access to proper dental care.?

Jes’s story

This is the story of Jes, a mum of three whose eldest daughter Ari, 8, has been waiting for a dentist appointment since February 2023, with no sign of one happening anytime soon.?

Ari was born without enamel on her teeth and has always had problems with them despite regular brushing and a healthy diet.?

Jes says, ‘She’s had baby teeth out in the past and there’s always been a long wait for that. But things have got worse now, and we’ve been told she needs to have one of her adult teeth removed.

Waiting list and backlog post Covid

She says, ‘We knew it was a waiting list situation, and we know there’s a backlog after Covid.?

But the problem is that we’ve got no idea when she might be seen - and she’s in a lot of pain.’

Jes relies on Calpol to manage her daughter’s tooth pain day to day, but sometimes the pain gets too much, meaning an emergency hospital visit when they cover the tooth with putty to protect it. ‘It’s not a long term solution, but it takes the pain away for a bit’.?

The rise of the ‘dental desert’

Jes’s daughter is not alone in needing hospital treatment for dental issues. With ‘dental deserts’ (places where people can’t access an NHS dentist) all over the UK, hundreds of thousands of people are going to A&E and hospitals each year for dental treatment.?

A lack of dentists in the NHS means the problem is only going to get worse. Since the start of the pandemic, at least 2,000 dentists have left the profession, meaning the UK currently has its lowest number of NHS dentists in a decade. What’s more, nearly half of the remaining dentists have reduced their commitment to treating NHS patients.?

With private patients dentists can simply charge for work done, compared to NHS work where they’re paid a flat fee per treatment band, irrespective of how many procedures a patient might need.?

Waiting list inefficiency

The inefficiency of waiting lists becomes clear in the context of tooth extraction; a relatively straightforward procedure that Jes recalls taking about 20 minutes for her daughter’s baby tooth removal.?

But as the months go by, Ari’s situation gets worse, with more pain, more sleepless nights…and more hospital appointments. The hospital visits take their toll on Jes’s work schedule too; each appointment means a day lost at work.?

And while the hospital staff can patch the tooth up in the short term, Ari is left dealing with a situation where pain can crop up unexpectedly, causing upset and disruption particularly at school.?

Jes says,

‘the hospital staff are great, but it must be so much more expensive to patch kids’ teeth up in hospital every few months than it is to provide basic dentistry services that could stop them having tooth decay in the first place.’

What next

In the meantime, the NHS has been in touch with Jes to say she’s not been forgotten and is still on the list, which gives some reassurance. But she still doesn’t know when she might finally be able to get her daughter the treatment she needs.?

Jes has three children, 3, 6 and 8 and lives in Bridport with her husband.?

About Deep Medical

At Deep Medical we’re tackling health inequality by using AI to reduce NHS waiting lists and improve patient access to clinical care.?

We use AI to increase clinical capacity and understand the barriers hindering healthcare access.?

But our focus goes beyond numbers; we want to understand the human stories behind the waiting lists too.?

Learn more about the work we do here >> https://www.deep-medical.ai