New data from NHS England has revealed that in 2022, Londoners waited an average of 6.5 weeks to begin treatment for oral surgery. The longest waiting time was in May, which saw people waiting 11.5 weeks after a 2,202.7% increase in the number of people waiting.
Analysed by Hermes London Dental Clinic, the waiting times for oral surgery in London last year saw an overall increase of 871 people waiting, compared to 2021, while across England a reported 252,915 people have waited an average of 16.5 weeks to begin treatment.
Across the country, the dentistry sector under the NHS is in a severe crisis, as chronic underfunding is pressuring dentists who find it no longer financially viable to offer NHS treatment options. At the start of this year, there was only one NHS dental practice for every 4,975 people.
Through this data, Dr Parneet Sehmi, principal dentist at Hermes London Dental Clinic, wants to draw attention to the long wait times for oral surgery, mainly as more and more Brits are resorting to DIY dentistry to solve their pain.
Parneet observes, “Since the beginning of last year, a reported 252,915 people have been waiting for oral surgery and this number has only increased month by month. London has particularly been affected, with a sudden spike in May from 73 people waiting to 1,681, and a wait time of 11.5 weeks.”
“This is a serious concern as prolonged waiting times can have a significant impact on people’s oral health. When your dentist recommends oral surgery to treat your dental condition, putting off oral surgery generally can mean your condition will deteriorate until it is dealt with.”
“While a small delay is not usually a cause for alarm, waiting for over six weeks to begin treatment can be disconcerting.”
Oral surgery is a specialist area within dentistry, and applies to procedures of a surgical nature including the extraction of teeth or wisdom teeth.
Due to its surgical nature, oral surgery requires additional training in techniques to perform procedures with care.
With the current NHS crisis, the lack of available dentists able to do the procedure could be one of the reasons why there is a long waiting list.
Parneet says, “Patients waiting for oral surgery are most likely experiencing unrelenting pain, which could be from impacted wisdom teeth, or a misaligned jaw. Tooth and mouth pain can disrupt every area of your life, affecting social plans, sleeping patterns, and ability to concentrate.”
“Long delays waiting for oral surgery can also cause conditions to worsen, depending on the cause of the issue. For instance, an impacted wisdom tooth left untreated can put a patient at risk of infection.”
Infections can lead to additional complications for patients, such as heightened pain, longer recovery times, or even result in the need for additional appointments.
Parneet continues “With long waiting times for the procedure through the NHS, I am predicting that more and more patients will end up requiring emergency dental appointments. Either due to an escalation in dental pain, or from attempts to do DIY dentistry.”
“Dental pain is serious, and early intervention when problems are identified is crucial for patients to have the issue resolved, and have shorter recovery periods.”
“Continued delays could result in the oral surgery no longer effectively fixing all the problems, which may lead to further necessary dental work and patients being placed on yet another waiting list.”
Healthcare England’s 2020-2021 annual report identified a 425% increase in people struggling to see an NHS dentist, with access and affordability as two of the main concerns noted.
Further issues included patients being provided with medication, but offered no further treatment or being told to treat issues themselves with dental repair kits.
Parneet says, “This is an alarming trend which can end up with patients in much more pain and further damage done to their teeth. Improvements across the board need to be made to ensure that patients are being seen within shorter time periods so that their dental issues are addressed quickly.”
“With the current waiting period, I also would urge that more people should consider private dentistry care for more serious operations, to prevent conditions from worsening and resolve present pains so that you can get back to your daily routine faster.”
While private dentistry has long been viewed as expensive, Healthcare England’s report also noted that when people can get access to dental care on the health service, 61% of people deemed treatment as too expensive.
Parneet continues, “Most private dentists are now offering payment plan systems and special discounts to help people with the fees of their treatments, making it more affordable than perhaps initially believed.”
“Nonetheless, the reality is more and more people are turning to DIY dentistry to resolve dental pain, or skipping their appointments altogether to avoid further fees. More needs to be done to provide awareness and access to payment plans, and help people get access to the dentistry they need.”
