NHS dentistry is said to be at a tipping point, with millions of patients unable to get the care they need – from routine check-ups to major surgery.

With few practices taking on new NHS patients and private costs being too much for most, Kent residents have shared their experiences of struggling to see a dentist with reporter Amy Tregenna.

Helen Martin, a part-time cleaner and housewife from Yalding, near Maidstone, has several broken teeth and other dental issues, believed to be caused by her rheumatoid arthritis medication.

After being taken off of the books at her dental practice more than a year ago for a missed appointment, she still hasn't been able to join an NHS practice. There are none with available spaces near where she lives, but she cannot afford to go privately.

She said that because she was not registered to a dentist she was referred to DentaLine, an out of hours emergency dental service, and explained her swollen mouth and broken tooth over the phone.

She was told to take antibiotics, but after four days the condition got worse. She was then given a different antibiotic, but 10 days later, the swelling was so bad she had to go to Maidstone A&E. Her symptoms only improved after being given two antibiotics at once.

The 45-year-old mother said: "The pain is like, you don't want to get up in the morning, you can't sleep at night. It's just awful and it affects every aspect of life. I can't eat or drink certain things.

"I got one tooth taken out with a private dentist after my dad died with the money he left me, but it cost £400. They told me it would cost £1,000 to fix everything.

"You don't want to get up in the morning, you can't sleep at night, it's just awful."

"I work and my husband works. I'm trying to save but how do I do that with the cost of living?

"You can save all you like but if something goes wrong with the car or anything like that, the money's gone.

"There's lots of nuts and bolts and metal in my teeth already because of my health problems so I really need to be checked on.

"It shouldn't have to be like that but there are almost no NHS dentists with space left in Kent. I know the dentists can't help it. I don't know what the solution is really."

Helen is not the only person having trouble making dentist appointments.

Health and safety worker Chantelle Marriott has been waiting more than two years for an appointment with her NHS dental practice.

After her check-up was cancelled in 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions, she was told a year later that they would be in contact in the near future.

Six weeks ago she called again and was told they are still not dealing with routine check-ups due to their backlog of appointments.

The Strood mother-of-two said: "Both of my children, who are 17 and 15, have had braces, so I'm getting quite worried. I want to keep an eye on their teeth.

"We haven't had an emergency yet but we don't want it to get to that point. That's what routine check-ups are for."

The 37-year-old says she has lived in Strood for most of her life and has never had any issues with dentists. She said: "We've been patients of the dental surgery for over 15 years and the children were always seen every six months.

"It had never crossed my mind about moving dentists as they have always been so efficient.

"The likelihood of me registering for another local NHS dentist is very slim as they are already full. It's not good.

"With work and school commitments we need a surgery that's local as sometimes appointments can be during the day, which would be fine if we could get both children to and from school or college or work without missing too much time."

The problem is country-wide, as many dentists have chosen to leave the NHS and switch to private care.

"With every day that passes, dentists are walking away from the NHS."

A large part of the issue is the NHS contract which pays dentists for hitting targets that, the British Dental Association (BDA) said, are not necessarily related to the amount of work that dentists undertake. Dentists also face penalties for not reaching these targets, which are measured by Units of Dental Activity (UDAs).

According to NHS England, UDAs are a measure of how much work is done during a dental treatment. The more complex the treatment, the more UDAs earned.

For example, an examination is one UDA, fillings are three UDAs, and dentures are 12 UDAs. A treatment involving two fillings would then earn the same number of UDAs as a treatment involving 10.

The BDA said this penalises the patients as well as the dentists, particularly patients that are most in need. And routine appointments, which are usually only worth one UDA, are then sidelined so that dentists can meet their targets and avoid being fined.

The BDA continued that the NHS dentistry funding barely covers half of the UK population and puts targets ahead of patient care.

Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee, said: “NHS dentistry is at a tipping point, with millions unable to get the care they need.

"With every day that passes dentists are walking away from the NHS, and it will take more than rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic to stem the flow.

"We have yet to see any movement on meaningful reform and adequate funding.

"Until Ministers wake up the very future of a service millions depend on remains in doubt."