Rising costs are putting people off having check-ups.
More people are putting off visits to the dentist because of money worries, new research has discovered.
SimplyHealth’s Annual Dental Survey for 2010, which questioned 1,005 working adults earlier this year, found that one in ten of those surveyed admitted to not having a dentist at all.
One in 30 parents also claimed that they had never taken their children to a dentist because of financial constraints.
In addition, the poll found that 35 per cent of those not seeking regular dental treatment revealed that this has had a negative impact on their oral health.
Michael Thomas, practising dentist, explained that those people not receiving regular check-ups could be forced to seek emergency dentistry when their problems became worse.
He said: “Failure to look after your teeth can have an impact not just on your oral health, but that of your entire body – and in some cases can result in problems requiring severe treatment.”
SimplyHealth’s annual poll also disclosed that companies are increasingly including dentistry as a staff benefit because of its popularity and effect on absences.