A man has pulled out 11 of his own teeth after failing to get dental appointments.
George Glinos has been carrying out his own dental procedures for around four years, claiming he has been unable to get treatment on the NHS.
The 67-year-old keeps the teeth he's removed in a jar.
He said he rings different surgeries on the first day of every month but "nobody is interested" in taking on new patients.
The NHS advised against self-treatment and asks people instead to call 111 or a local dentistry practice.
George, from Childwall in Liverpool, said he hasn't had an appointment for in years but it's "not for the want of trying".
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Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, he said: "Every time I try, nobody is interested in taking new people on.
"I ring up the first day of every month, usually on all the National Health dentist lists and nobody is interested. Nobody takes your name down or anything.
He continued: "In the four years or so where I have not had a dentist, I have had to extract my own teeth.
"I have a little jar here and there are 11 teeth in it and they are all the teeth I have extracted myself over the four years.
"I just can't get anyone to look at my teeth."
George said this is impacting his "whole personal life", physical and mental health.
He has one tooth left on the bottom jaw which he uses to bite things, adding: "Basically, that is my life now."
"I have trouble eating, I have trouble digesting food, I get pains in my stomach.
"I just can't seem to get a dentist anywhere and I certainly don't have the money for private."
George uses painkillers to manage the excruciating discomfort, and pulls out any infected teeth once they become loose.
"I force the looseness of it to try and get rid of the tooth. I have to work at them for a few weeks and then pull the damn thing out with pliers," he explained.
"It's incredibly painful, but what can you do?"
He said something needs to change so others don't have to resort to what he does.
A spokesperson for the NHS in the North West said: “The NHS recently announced the first reforms to dentistry services since 2006 which will support practices to improve access including giving high-performing practices the opportunity to increase their activity and treat more patients – discussions around further changes that benefit patients and staff are ongoing.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on the North West region, has inevitably led to a disruption in routine dental care with NHS dentists having to focus on providing care for those with an urgent dental need.
“It is important to note that anyone who is in dental pain or in urgent need of support, help or advice, can telephone their own dental practice in the usual way.
"If they don’t have a usual dentist and have an urgent need they can contact the dental helpline on 0161 476 9651 (standard local telephone charges apply).”
