A despairing pensioner yanked out his own tooth with his fingers after he couldn't get an NHS dentist appointment.
Phil Shepherdson, 72, was in agony with his tooth feeling "quite loose" and, though he tried to book a trip to the dentist, he was unable to do so.
His NHS practice in York said he could only see a dental hygienist - not a dentist - so Phil took drastic action himself.
Speaking from his home in Woodthorpe, York, Phil said: "My only resort to my tooth problems was extracting my own tooth.
"I would not recommend it – we should not have to do this."
Phil told York Press he used only his fingers to pull out the tooth, then swilled his mouth out with mouthwash and saline solution so it didn’t get infected.
The former government worker continued: "If I had gone private, I would probably have got straight in. But that would have costs hundreds of pounds."
Phil is one of millions of Brits unable to get an appointment with NHS dentists, the Mirror found in March, largely due to a mass exodus of dentist leaving the NHS to pursue private work for more money.
And York Central MP Rachael Maskell, who was Shadow Employment Secretary, has also calling on the Government to do more to help Brits. She said she was "continually shocked" by the poor state of dentistry in York, following the news BUPA Dental Care facility in the Holgate area - which has 4,200 registered NHS patients - is to shut.
The 50-year-old politician added: "I have heard of several cases of ‘DIY dentistry’. It is just not acceptable."
She said she would be calling a summit of dental health care professionals and organisations in York next month to discuss the issue.
She and fellow York MP Julian Sturdy have also had meetings with health minister Neil O’Brien .
Ms Maskell said NHS dentistry in York was getting "worse and worse".
In a parliamentary debate on dentistry in May this year, meanwhile, she told MPs York and North Yorkshire had become a ‘dental desert’.
“Thousands of my constituents cannot even get on a waiting list,” she said. “Children are having their teeth pulled out, and adults are getting the pliers out."
Mirror has contacted Department of Health and Social Care.
