Woman pulls out own tooth with pliers after calling 100 dentists
15.05.2024 - 10:55
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A woman resorted to extracting her own tooth using a pair of pliers as she failed to secure a dentist appointment, despite contacting over 100 clinics.
Tobye Spencer, 57, encountered dental health issues as a result of recurrent vomiting due to pancreatitis, leading to the loss of most of her teeth. In her quest to have a painful tooth removed and dentures fitted, she spent countless hours reaching out to over 100 private and NHS dental surgeries across the southern coast.
Given the full waiting lists at all practices, Tobye was left with no choice but to extract her own rotten tooth. She has been left with eight teeth and an urgent need for dentures, yet there's still no dental practice willing to accept her as a patient.
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Tobye believes that the unavailability of any dentists willing to treat NHS patients stems from their inability to charge as much as they could for private treatment.
Opting for private treatment would set her back by up to £800, a sum she cannot afford. Besides her remaining real teeth, Tobye has a "bridge" including three artificial teeth that were placed during her stay in Spain in 2005 prior to falling ill.
Tobye, from Poole, Dorset, said: "It's not just vanity - my teeth are wobbly."
"It's not a nice feeling - it stops me eating certain things. I just want to have teeth and I don't think that's a big ask."
Tobye's symptoms, which included weight loss and frequent sickness, warranted her hospital admission after a year in 2018. Doctors were stunned to find that Tobye had developed severe pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas, and