New report highlights concerns faced by people living in the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas

The document, entitled ‘Accessing NHS Dental Care: Getting to the Root of the Problem’, is a follow-up to issues raised with the local health board in a previous report published in 2020.

Wales Online reveals, “The new report, based on feedback received from 1,370 people, has found that many patients in the region are continuing to struggle to access NHS dental services, including pregnant women and children. It also claims that some dentists, if they couldn’t offer an appointment, actually directed patients to buy dental repair kits to carry out work on themselves.

“The most startling finding however is reports that people have actually pulled their own teeth out at home. Others, meanwhile, have resorted to trying to find an appointment 15 miles away from where they live. It was also claimed that some practices are encouraging patients to go private even though they are entitled to free dental care on the NHS, and that a lack of information about NHS practices in general is a cause of frustration for many patients.