Dental kits that allow patients to carry out DIY dental work at home are becoming popular as more people look for a cheaper alternative to costly professional treatment. The kits, which include materials to carry out fillings and repair crowns, can be bought on the high street for as little as five pounds. According to The Guardian, Department for Health figures suggest that more people than ever are receiving dental treatment on the NHS but sales of products such as DenTek, a DIY repair kit, are still said to be on the rise.
John Wildman, professor of health economics at Newcastle University told the paper that people with lower income in poorer areas of the country don’t take part in surveys and don’t visit their GP’s, which is how they essentially fall through the cracks when research is carried out into DIY dentistry.
According to British Dental Health Foundation, one in five people admitted they would carry out DIY dentistry, such as extracting their own teeth, because of the cost of dental treatment.
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said that ‘DIY dentistry is both dangerous and unnecessary. There are too many senseless examples of people either pulling out the wrong tooth or ending up with an infection. It is all too easy to make the problem worse, which could result in more invasive and expensive treatment.’