Blackpool mum forced to used pliers to remove six-year-old's rotten teeth says town's MP Scott Benton

A Blackpool mum used pliers to remove her six-year-old daughter’s teeth due to the lack of dentists in the town, MPs have been told.

Blackpool South MP Scott Benton told the House of Commons many of his constituents had complained about the lack of access to NHS dental services.

He told Parliament: “It is estimated that 40 per cent of my constituents – some 35,000 people – cannot currently access NHS treatment.

“Only last week, a mother attended my surgery who had to physically remove the teeth of her six-year-old daughter with pliers because she was in so much pain and could not access the treatment her family needed.”

Speaking after highlighting the case in Parliament, Mr Benton said: “The daughter of the lady who came to see me was six years old and had several rotten teeth. She was in pain and they didn’t have a local dentist. She wasn’t aware of the emergency dental care provided locally at Whitegate Drive and took several of her child’s teeth out as a result.

"This is an absolutely harrowing and heartbreaking case. Sadly I suspect it isn’t unique. Thousands and thousands of local families don’t have access to an NHS dentist The lack of preventative care creates significant health problems for many people down the line and ends up costing the NHS more in the long run as a result.

“Our lack of local NHS dentists is unsustainable and unacceptable and the government needs to publish its dental recovery plan urgently and match this with funding to start to repair the situation.”

The issue was also recently raised in Parliament by Labour, with their research showing pregnant women in Blackpool are being denied free dental treatment because NHS dental practices in the town are not accepting new adult patients, it has been claimed.

Research based on NHS data found of the 12 dental surgeries which have provided a recent update in Blackpool, all 12 are not currently accepting any new adult patients.

Speaking in response to Mr Benton’s concerns, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “Even Conservative MPs now admit that they have broken NHS dentistry and left patients choosing between going private and going without.

“The question is, why did every Conservative MP vote against Labour’s plan for 700,000 extra appointments and recruiting new dentists to the area’s most in need? Only Labour has a plan to rescue NHS dentistry, and only a vote for Labour will get patients the appointments they need.”

 Health secretary Victoria Atkins told a Commons debate earlier this month that investment meant 800,000 more children nationally saw a dentist in the year to June 2023.