Barnsley man 'yanks his own tooth out with pliers' due to difficulty in getting dentist appointment
21-year-old Macaulay Lawton treated himself at home last year
A man from South Yorkshire admits he was left feeling 'so desperate' - after struggling to get an emergency dentist appointment - that he had 'no alternative' but to remove one of his own teeth.
21-year-old Macaulay Lawton - from Barnsley - resorted to treating himself with a pair of pliers - when he couldn't get seen for an infection in 2024:
"I waited for months on end in agony with an infection.
"I ended up in that much pain that I grabbed some pliers and snapped my own tooth out.
"That made things ten times worse in the long run, but that's how bad things can get.
"When you're waiting that long just to be seen, never mind an actual appointment, then you act desperately.
"I still had to wait a couple of months after to get an appointment to get the rest of the tooth removed from my mouth, and it was the worst pain I've felt in ages.
"Every night I was taking pain killers, as well as every morning and afternoon.
"Midway through the night I'd be waking up in pain - constantly having to put hot water on my face, and then cold water after, until I reached breaking point with it and yanked it out myself."
It comes as new research has found more than a quarter of people - who haven't been able to get an appointment with an NHS dentist in the last 2 years - have treated themselves at home.
Meanwhile, almost one in five went abroad to seek treatment - according to a new poll commissioned by the Press Association.