'I can't eat steak - unless it's soup': Agony of Rotherham man waiting for NHS dentist

A man living with a "massive orifice" in his mouth after losing several teeth says he is surviving on soup and painkillers because he cannot get NHS treatment.

Ex-miner David Creamer, from Rotherham, said he has been living in agony for the last year after a full dental crown fell out.

The 62-year-old said he had been unable to register with an NHS dentist despite calling "25 clinics".

Mr Creamer has been told all but two of his teeth need removing.

"Apart from the normal embarrassment of having a massive orifice inside my mouth, not wanting to talk to people, not wanting to smile it's the problem of the eating that's worse than anything," he said.

"It's been a struggle to eat proper food.

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"Steak's out of the question, unless its steak soup, and then I can drink it.

"I'm having to eat rubbish food. I can't even have a bacon sandwich. It's ruining my life completely now."

Mr Creamer's case was been raised in Parliament by his MP, Sarah Champion.

She read from a letter he had been sent saying most of his teeth were "decayed and unsaveable".

"He has been living for over a year on painkillers and soup. I have raised it with the minister, I've got no satisfaction," she said.

Mr Creamer said he had been quoted £5,500 for private treatment and would need to secure a loan to pay for it.

"I'm not asking for a replacement heart or a spare lung," he said.

"If I'm turned down for the loan it's back to square one and all I'll have to do then is continue as I am until the remainder of my teeth drop out.

"I used to work at Silverwood [coal mine], not Hollywood."

A report by the Nuffield Trust has warned that NHS-funded dental services in England are in near-terminal decline, with nearly six million fewer courses of NHS dental treatment provided last year than in the pre-pandemic year.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said dentistry was a top priority and that NHS dentistry "should be accessible and available for all those who need it" with the government promising to publish its long-awaited dental recovery plan.

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