'I spent uni savings on getting my teeth fixed' - how NHS dentist shortage is costing a fortune

Last summer Deacon Galloway was busy getting ready for university. His grandparents had been putting money away to help him with the costs, but then he faced an unexpected bill.

He needed some dental work done and could not find an NHS dentist close to where he lived in North Yorkshire.

Deacon, now 19, felt he had no choice but to go private. It cost him nearly £800 - a third of the money his grandparents had saved up - for two fillings and two replacement fillings. On the NHS, he could have got this free because he was under 19 and in full-time education.

"It was really upsetting, but I had no choice," says the University of Manchester student. "I knew if I didn't get my teeth done they would get worse."

It is a dilemma many are facing because of problems accessing NHS care.

For years, we've reported on the issue, with some British towns known as 'dental deserts' - where there are simply no NHS dentists at all.

BBC Your Voice has been contacted by a number of people who felt they had no option but to turn to private dentists and describe dipping into savings and even taking out loans to get treatment. And this is happening as the cost of private dentistry is rising rapidly.

A UK-wide analysis by MyTribe Insurance found the price of initial consultations had risen by 23% in two years to £80 on average, while simple extractions have gone up by 32% to £139. It also found a wide variation in root canal charges with prices in some places reaching £660 compared to a £400 average.

In comparison, NHS treatment is subsidised by the UK governments - meaning for the public it is free for certain groups or capped at one of three price bands for others.

For root canal treatment, for example, NHS treatment costs five times less than it does to go privately.

MyTribe warned "surging" prices in the private sector and lack of NHS access was leaving patients "struggling to afford essential care".

Are dentists exploiting the lack of NHS care? It is an issue being looked at by the Competition and Markets Authority who has launched an investigation – alongside looking at price rises, the regulator is also examining the way dentists communicate with patients about cost and different options. Many dentists offer a mix of NHS and private work.

Rebecca Curtayne, of Healthwatch England, a patient watchdog, says they too have concerns with people reporting private dentistry is "too expensive". She says people in deprived and rural areas are disproportionately affected as they tend to have the poorest access to NHS care and are least likely to be able to afford private fees.

For Deacon, his £800 bill meant he couldn't afford specialist equipment to help him with his studies

"It has just made juggling everything more difficult this year. It shouldn't be like this."

Another person who contacted Your Voice was Sophie Bingham, a 32-year-old mother-of-one from Suffolk.

Since the age of 18, she has been paying for private dental treatment, but became frustrated when she was unable to get free care while pregnant. In the UK, all pregnant women can access free NHS dental treatment - hormonal changes as well as things like morning sickness and acid reflux increase the risk of damage to teeth.

Sophie had a maternity exemption certificate, but was told it could not be used at a private practice.

She had to pay for check-ups during her pregnancy and the first year after childbirth. She eventually ended up having her first filling costing £200.

"I certainly think pregnancy affected my teeth – that's why it was so frustrating not to get the free dental care I was entitled to. I was paying out £70 for check-ups, but could not afford as many as I would have liked. It was too expensive," she says.

"That is money that I should have been able to put towards my daughter."

The British Dental Association (BDA) says it has sympathy for patients as people should not be forced into paying for private care.

"Millions make a positive decision to go private," says BDA chair Eddie Crouch. "But many have felt forced to do so or simply gone without the care they need."

But Crouch is insistent the price rises are justified, saying there is particularly high inflation in the sector.

He also says another factor is that dentists are having to "subsidise" NHS work with income from private patients because they are not paid enough by the health service.

In its submission to the CMA investigation, the BDA suggests in England it costs £4.2bn to provide NHS dentistry, but only £3bn of that comes from the government, leaving dentists a £1.2bn shortfall.

It is, the BDA argues, one of the main reasons dental practices are shifting to do more private work with figures suggesting a third of practices are aiming to do this and more than a quarter are now private only.

If this trend continues, the impact could be devastating, says Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust health think-tank.

At a time when people are already struggling with the cost of living, she says that risks "locking people out of care altogether" and is why ministers must urgently reform the "broken NHS system".

Governments in all four UK nations are increasing investment in NHS dentistry and making changes to dental contracts in the hope of giving people more choice. In England, this will involve a complete overhaul of the way NHS dentistry works by 2029.

But England's Department of Health and Social Care is also clear that private dentistry has to be held to account, which is why the CMA has been asked to investigate, it says.

"Families up and down the country are still feeling the pressure of the cost of living and no-one should have to choose between paying their bills and looking after their teeth," a spokesman adds.

Additional reporting by Kris Bramwell