Just a third of English adults have seen a dentists since June 2020 and less than half of children have had their teeth and gums checked in the past 12 months damning NHS data show.
Danielle Watts, 42, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, pulled out more than a dozen of her own teeth because she was unable to see a dentist for six years and had severe gum disease.
More than half of all council areas in England have no NHS dentists taking on new adult patients (stock image), and just under a third are not accepting children.