UK dental health crisis ‘affecting women hardest’
Report reveals the unique oral health challenges women face.
A new report from the Women’s Institute (WI) says that a lack of access to NHS dental care is affecting women hardest and deepening a uniquely gendered health crisis.
The WI said the report “casts a stark light on the hidden experiences of women who are often the designated primary caregivers for their families and yet are left battling to access dental care, often sacrificing their own health to support their loved ones.”
It also reveals the unique oral health challenges women face compared with men. The report highlights that women are:
- Sacrificing seeing a dentist themselves to afford private dental care for their loved ones due to the lack of access to NHS dentistry
- Self-medicating with online-purchased temporary fillings, over the counter remedies, and overdosing on painkillers to alleviate oral pain
- Forced to go to A&E for dental pain due to a lack of access to preventative care, including severe infections
- Travelling up to 250 miles across the UK and even abroad to find affordable dental care
- Taking loans, using credit cards, and even downsizing homes to release income to afford dental care
- Missing out on vital dental care during pregnancies and failing to find any dentists willing to see their children as NHS patients.
The WI’s Dental Health Matters campaign calls on the UK Government to recognise and act on the impact of this dental health crisis on women – “caused by a dental health service unfit for purpose” – by reviewing NHS contracts and providing more dental training places.
Jeryl Stone, Chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) said: “Women up and down the country have been left at breaking point by the crisis in dental care. The hundreds of women who took part in our research have shared heart-breaking stories of personal sacrifice, and at the risk of personal health.
“We at the Women’s Institute stand united in demanding a fair and accessible NHS dental healthcare system for every woman and their community – this requires urgent reform to NHS dental contracts and offering more training spaces for our dentists of the future. Dental health matters, and so do we.”
In support of the campaign and its report – which carries the lived experiences of hundreds of women – British Dental Association Chair, Eddie Crouch, said: “The crisis in NHS dentistry is having a unique impact on women up and down the country. From pregnancy to menopause, as parents and as carers, access problems often hit women hardest.”
The WI’s Dental Health Matters report calls for the UK Government to:
- Address the gendered impact of the dental health crisis
- Reform NHS dental contracts
- Increase NHS dental workforce
- Make dental care affordable and accessible.