A mother from Macclesfield has said it was "inhumane" that her seven-year-old autistic son had to wait four months in intense pain before having six teeth removed due to a dental abscess. Hayley Bramhall said it was "devastating" to see her son Philip in agony, and that during the wait for "urgent" treatment, his abscess grew, leading to the need for extractions.
Mother's account of son's ordeal
Bramhall said her non-verbal son has been holding his mouth and avoiding toothbrushing in a particular area since his surgery in July, and she fears they might face another long and painful battle if he has another dental problem. Speaking about the extractions, she said: "Eating's become more challenging because of that. He's a lot more irate and upset. As a family and for me, it's traumatic. It's frustrating. It makes you feel angry - angry at the lack of services."
She added: "Frustrated at the fact that, for example, now I need to start the process again because I think he's got toothache. Although I don't know whether it's because he was in pain for four months, which is just inhumane in itself." Bramhall has launched a petition on the Parliament website calling for a maximum 12-week wait for children with special educational needs requiring urgent dental care under sedation or general anaesthetic. She said her son needs sedation and general anaesthetic just for a check-up, which can mean long waits that result in the problem getting worse.
National figures on children's tooth decay
Nearly 10,000 children were admitted to hospital for rotting teeth last year, according to analysis by the Liberal Democrats. In 2025, 8,930 under-18s were admitted for tooth decay, slightly up from 8,925 the year before. Children under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education, can get free NHS dental appointments and treatment, but there is a shortage of NHS practices. Around 14 million people – or well over one in four of England's adult population – were unable to access NHS dental care in 2025.
The study found 470 dental practices have pulled out of the NHS and handed back their contracts since 2020 as 'dental deserts' spread across the country. The research also found particular damage in rural areas, with higher numbers of dentists approaching retirement and a higher proportion leaving the profession. Elsewhere, researchers found local education authorities have spent over £2.5 million for school-aged pupils since 2020, including on toothbrush kits and public health initiatives.
Calls for action and government response
Tooth decay remains the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children. The British Dental Association says some children are waiting years to have teeth extracted because the surgery is competing with other operations on the NHS waiting list for operating theatre time. Children usually require going under general anaesthetic for tooth extractions, so this has to be done in hospital.
Lib Dem primary care spokeswoman Helen Maguire said: "Thousands of young children are being forced into hospital beds just to have their rotting teeth pulled out, millions are trapped in expanding 'dental deserts' unable to get an appointment, and local councils are being forced to shell out millions to patch up a broken system." The Liberal Democrats have demanded a £750 million Dental Rescue Package to revive access to local NHS appointments and guarantee regular checkups for children. It is also calling for emergency dental A&Es in every community across the country that provide walk-in urgent care seven days a week.
The British Dental Association welcomed the commitment to new money and criticised a lack of new investment from the Labour Government. Eddie Crouch, BDA chair, said: "When millions of people have no options, it's refreshing to see serious proposals to invest in expanding access to NHS dental care. The real threat to NHS dentistry has always been a poverty of ambition. Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic won't help."
More than 40,000 people have signed a petition launched by 38 Degrees calling on Andy Burnham to make NHS Dentistry a priority, amid a crisis of people being forced to carry out DIY dentistry and pull out their own teeth. Veronica Hawking, Campaigns Director at 38 Degrees, said: "Nobody in modern Britain should be pulling out their own teeth because they can't get an NHS dentist. The Government has the public firmly on side - now it needs to properly fund NHS dentistry, so no one else is forced to take matters into their own hands."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government is fixing NHS dentistry after a decade of decline. We have improved access to urgent dental treatment by prioritising patients with the greatest need, and millions of additional courses of treatment have been delivered, including a significant amount for children. But there is still more to do - especially to increase the dentistry workforce - and that is why we're rolling out more dentistry school training places in areas which need them, and cutting red tape to allow qualified dentists to practise."
