AN OSWESTRY dad resorted to yanking out a loose tooth with a pair of pliers after failing to get
a dentist appointment - saying he had no option.
Chris Langston, 50, was left in excruciating pain for six months as he tried to arrange an NHS dentist appointment to resolve the issue.
His back molar had become loose, causing pain from eating, drinking and even talking.
Chris says that he couldn’t afford the £90 private fees for tooth removals and that the nearest emergency dentist was over 30 miles away.
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Instead he grabbed his pliers and extracted the tooth in the bathroom of his home.
He said: “I’d been trying to get an appointment for around six months but I couldn't get one.
"Private dentists wanted £40 for the check up and another £40 or £50 for the removal. It was £80 or £90 for the extraction privately, and I couldn't afford that.
“It was around six months ago that I felt it go loose. It gradually got worse, you sort of leave it.
"I’ve never had a major toothache. As it got looser it was really painful every time I spoke. I could hear it niggling.
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“Every time I spoke or swallowed or drank or ate, it was agony. I wanted to go for an emergency dentist but that was a 60 mile round trip.
"I couldn’t get there with the kids. So I took the pliers.
“I heard the prices and thought I had to suck this up. A little tug and a pull down on the pliers and it was done. I wouldn’t recommend it. Not to anyone. It was horrible.
“It was just out of necessity at the time, it was the circumstances. I can imagine there's a dentist rolling their eyes reading this."
“I was in the worst pain with the tooth. I could see it hanging out. I had the kids so I couldn't have the brandy.
"I had a strong cup of tea afterwards. It felt like a massive void in my mouth.”
Chris, who runs metal detecting holidays, admitted he felt "weak at the knees" when he came out of the bathroom and nearly fainted, but says the pain relief was worth it.
He added: “What I had to do was get the pliers, because it was right at the back, give it a tug and out it came.
“It’s impossible to get an NHS appointment in Oswestry. In the future, I’m still left without a dentist, I can’t afford to pay private.
"Fingers crossed everything stays in place so that I don’t have to get these out again."
He added: “The kids were horrified. I did it in the bathroom, I nearly passed out, I was weak at the knees.
“My sister was like oh my God, but I haven’t shown my mum as she’ll say it’s disgusting.
“It was a relief. There was a little bit of blood. It pulled out nice and easy. There was a little bit of blood.
"There were two roots in and half a root out. It took quite a pull. It makes me cringe. The metal on the teeth is not a nice feeling.”
Chris says that since tugging the tooth out on Saturday (3/2) the pain has reduced to a dull ache but says the Government needs to get a grip on the dentistry crisis.
He added: "The week before all I could eat was soup and a roll. Now I can eat steak. The pain is not nearly as bad as it was. It just aches.
“It’s been like this in Oswestry for years. When I first moved here you could ring up and get an appointment in the afternoon.
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