The British Dental Association brands it ‘Victorian’ that Brits having to beg for charity to pay for essential dentistry which should be available on the NHS
The NHS dental crisis has seen a surge in crowdfunding appeals from desperate people having to go private for essential dentistry.
A Mirror investigation today shows such appeals on popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe have more than doubled in recent years and dentists are warning dentistry is going “back to the Victorian era”. The Mirror’s Dentists for All campaign has reported how a decade of Tory funding cuts resulted in an almost complete closed shop – with millions locked out of accessing NHS care. The budget for NHS dentistry in England is only enough to care for half the population so most dentists are not taking on new adult NHS patients.
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The Mirror reported how people are ripping out their own teeth and going into debt to travel abroad for private treatment. However for many desperate patients living in pain and without access to funds to go private, crowdfunding is their only hope.
Paul Gwynne, a 40-year-old chef from Blackpool, launched one appeal, saying: “For a long time now I have been struggling with the way I look with the loss of most of my teeth. It’s affected all parts of my life and I cannot cope like this any more. I can’t find a NHS dentist, I do work but don’t have thousands to spare to get new teeth. This seems to be my final hope.”
GoFundMe data seen by the Mirror shows the number of crowdfunding appeals for dentistry increased from 627 launched in 2019 to 1,297 started up in 2024. And data for the first six months of 2025 showed 852 new campaigns had been started – suggesting a 31% rise in such crowdfunding appeals this year.
BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: “Before the NHS much of our healthcare was dependent on charities. The fundraising might be digital, but this is another step back to the Victorian era.”
Mum Lisa Cavanagh Smith, from Sandbach in Cheshire, launched an appeal to help her son Mikey. She said: “He was in that much pain he actually pulled one of his own teeth out but unfortunately it was all his teeth that were infected. We finally got him an emergency appointment at a dentist and he told Mikey that all he can do is take one tooth out but he needed all of them out… he suggested to have a private consultation.
“I really can’t describe the pain he is going through daily with his teeth but I really want to help him to get them sorted. The only option the dentist gave him was to have all his teeth removed and false teeth put in. He’s so embarrassed as he is only 29 and he can’t smile and always has his hand over his mouth.”
The Mirror launched the Dentists for All campaign which saw Labour pledge to reform the “flawed” NHS contract, which leaves dentists making a loss treating patients who need the most care. It pays dentists the same if a patient needs three fillings or 20. Lack of access to routine check-ups has stored up problems, leaving many patients needing major treatment.
Another GoFundMe appeal was set up by event manager Alex Boot to help his wife Bluebelle. Bluebelle, 33, from Street in Somerset, is a singer-songwriter but has had to stop singing due to the pain.
Alex said: “For the past year, Bluebelle has been suffering with serious dental problems that have left her in constant pain. Eating, sleeping, and even speaking has become difficult – let alone singing. She’s now at a critical point where major dental surgery is the only option left to relieve the pain and give her a chance to get back to doing what she loves most: making music.
“We’ve explored every possible route through the NHS and community dentistry, but the severity of the work she needs – including surgical extractions, reconstruction, and implants – is not accessible without going private. The total cost is £12,000, and we simply can’t cover this alone.”
A GoFundMe spokesperson said: “More and more people are turning to GoFundMe not just in emergencies, but for everyday dental care they can’t otherwise access. It’s a powerful reaction of how many communities rally to help when people need it most.”
The Mirror has launched an online petition with the British Dental Association (BDA) demanding the Government reverses a decade of Tory stealth cuts. Our Dentists for All campaign is calling for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to properly fund dental care to tackle our growing oral health crisis.
The total budget for NHS dentistry in England has remained at around £3 billion since 2010, despite soaring inflation or population growth. The British Dental Association estimates that this has translated into a real-terms budget cut of over a third.
BDA chair Eddie Crouch added: “As with DIY dentistry and queues round the block, ministers could end this all tomorrow if they chose to.”
Labour has launched a consultation on reforming the dental contract but funding is key to this. The Westminster government is responsible for direct funding for dental care in England as the NHS is a devolved matter for the other UK nations. Per head of population, the Westminster government puts almost half the amount into dental services than other parts of the UK.
In 2022/23 government spend on NHS dentistry per head was £38 in England, compared to £57 in Wales, £59 in Northern Ireland and £73 in Scotland. And the UK has the lowest ratio of dentists per capita of any country in the G7.
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Dentistry got 3.3% of the NHS budget for England in 2010, but it is now down to 1.5%.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Years of neglect left NHS dentistry in an appalling state, but we are stopping the decay through our Plan for Change.
“We have already rolled out thousands of extra urgent dental appointments and are reforming the dental contract to better incentivise dentists to improve access for patients. And we’re ensuring today’s children will need less dental work in the future through our supervised tooth brushing scheme, helping three-to-five year-olds in the most deprived communities develop good habits, because prevention is better than cure.”
