Kent man says NHS dentist saved his life by spotting his mouth cancer

Campaigner Tony Page says he owes his life to an NHS dentist who spotted mouth cancer during a routine check-up.

Mr Page, who's 74, was attending an appointment in 2014 when the dentist noticed something "suspicious" in his mouth.

He was referred to the hospital and following various tests was diagnosed with mouth cancer.

Six weeks after seeing the dentist, he had an operation which removed part of his tongue and cheek.

He said: "Had it not been for the dentist spotting my mouth cancer at that stage, the early signs of it, I might never have known.

"My view is my NHS dentist saved my life."

Mr Page, from Kent, was one of the campaigners who handed a petition into Downing Street this afternoon (Tuesday 7 January) calling on the government to take urgent action about the crisis in dental care.

It had been signed by more than 250,000 supporters.

He says "people deserve to be seen and have dental checkups at a reasonable cost".

He added: "There will be some people who can't see a dentist and will end up dying early because they couldn't see a dentist."

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the government must move at pace to honour pledges to save NHS dentistry, warning the service is now in a more fragile state than it was at the time of the July election.

The BDA has said NHS dentistry has effectively ceased to exist for new patients, with ONS data in December showing 94% of new patients who attempted to secure NHS care were unsuccessful.

BDA analysis of government data places unmet need for NHS dentistry at over 13 million, or 1 in 4 of England’s adult population.

BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: “The public and this profession have a simple message for the PM.

“The clock is ticking on NHS dentistry and this government must make good on its promises. 

“If reform is kicked into the long grass there won’t be a service left to save.”

At the University of Portsmouth dental students treat patients - including members of the community - in a clinic as part of their training.

Professor Chris Louca, Director of Dentistry, University of Portsmouth, says "there are not enough dentists in the Portsmouth area and we are referred to as a so-called dental desert".

He added: "There are just not enough dental services available in the city so you can imagine the demand for dental treatment within the school is quite high, so we have a lot of patients who come here in pain, a lot of patients who have all manner of dental disease.

"A lot of dental disease is preventable and of course by the time most of our patients come here their dental disease - whether it's tooth decay or gum disease - is really quite advanced.

"It's a real shame these issues could not have been prevented some time ago."

• Professor Chris Louca, Director of Dentistry, says Portsmouth is a "dental desert"

Sally Taylor manages six surgeries across Kent and says dentistry is basic care.

She said: "We’ve seen a couple of children that are early teens, they have never seen a dentist their whole life.

"So they are coming into us early teens and because they have never seen a dentist, they’re terrified from the moment they walk in.

"They have got multiple issues and we are having to refer a good 70 to 75% of children to be sedated to have their treatment done because by the time we're getting to see them it's so extreme and they are in pain."

Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, says NHS dentistry is "broken after years of neglect, and has failed patients and staff for far too long".

He said: “We’ve heard deeply disturbing accounts of desperate patients being forced to take matters into their own hands because they were unable to get an appointment.

“This government is committed to rebuilding dentistry, but it will take time. We will start with an extra 700,000 urgent dentistry appointments to help those who need it most, and reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.”

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