'I glued my dentures waiting for an NHS dentist'
Llinos HughesA woman who glued her dentures back together says she has "given up" trying to find an NHS dentist despite dealing with constant pain.
Llinos Hughes, from Llangefni on Anglesey, said her dentist gave up the service last year and she has had to rely on emergency dental appointments to deal with ongoing issues.
This month changes to the NHS dental contract were introduced, prompting a small number of practices across Wales to hand back their contracts and offer only private care.
With the Senedd election on 7 May, a British Dental Association poll found dentistry to be one of the top local priorities for voters.
The Welsh government said the changes were "the most significant in 20 years".
In Wales, those over 16 who have not seen an NHS dentist in four years can join the Dental Access Portal (DAP).
The service is designed to allocate patients a local dentist for routine care when one becomes available.
Hughes, 40, said she has two teeth that need removing.
"I have to eat on one side," she said.
"The bottom tooth is loose and the top tooth is quite painful."
She said she had tried to glue her dentures whilst she waits for an NHS appointment.
"It's uncomfortable to eat and talk without it. I get very self- conscious.
"I said [to the emergency dentist] 'take all my teeth out and give me dentures'.
"I'd rather that than going through the anxiety."
Hughes added that the portal "isn't thought through", with no space to declare a disability.
"It's hard to get an NHS appointment, but it's a nightmare if you are disabled."
As someone with mobility issues, she said it was "giving her anxiety" that she could be given a practice that was not fully accessible.
She has been calling practices to try and secure a place, as well as awaiting allocation on the DAP.
"I can't afford to go private. Money is really tight as it is," she said.
Llinos HughesThe number of people able to access an NHS dentist has fallen since 2020.
In the years before the pandemic, about 53% of the adult population in Wales were treated by the NHS. That figure dropped significantly during Covid, but has since returned to about 40% - which is the same in England.
Public Health Scotland said 97% of the adult population were registered with an NHS dentist.
In Wales, 48% of children were treated by the NHS, compared to 57% in England and 90% in Scotland.
NHS dental care is not free to everyone, with the number of free courses of treatment provided to adults halved in the last decade - from more than 767,000 in 2014/15 to just under 374,000 in 2024/25.
Over that same period, the number of courses of treatments for adults who paid for their treatment also fell, from more than a million to about 630,000.
Efforts have been made to increase provision and data shows that between April 2025 and January 2026, nearly 112,000 new patients had routine treatments in Wales.
A further 65,000 urgent treatments were also carried out.
However, Stats Wales figures also suggest that the number of NHS dental contracts issued has fallen by 11% over three years.
The British Dental Association (BDA) claimed many practices subsequently handed back their NHS dental contract to health boards when details of a new contract emerged in February, coming into effect this month.
Aneurin Bevan health board confirmed 10 practices in its area have handed back their NHS contracts, specifically because of contract changes.
There were a further eight in Powys, six in Hywel Dda and three in Swansea Bay Health Board.
Betsi Cadwaladr, Cardiff and Vale and Cwm Taf Morannwg said a Freedom of Information request was required to access the information.
'I'm on maternity but will have to pay £6,000'
Women who are pregnant or on maternity leave are entitled to free dental care.
Hannah McCluskay, from Taff's Well in Rhondda Cynon Taf, said she had been waiting to be allocated an NHS dentist on the portal, but time was running out before she returned to work in June.
Her family lost their NHS dentist three years ago, when they moved from Pembrokeshire.
In February 2026, a local NHS practice was able to take on her husband and three children as their care was routine, but she was told she needed to wait and be allocated a service via the portal as she had "ongoing problems" which need to be remedied.
"That's the whole point of going to a dentist [to deal with problems]," McCluskay said.
Hannah McCluskayThe new mum has now opted to pay for private care owing to the pain, despite being eligible for NHS services.
"After the consultation, [with] everything priced up and scans... I think it will be about £6000."
McCluskay said that she feels a lot of her issues "could have been prevented", adding that she had cracked a tooth during labour and had incomplete treatments from an emergency dentist, while a lack of regular check-ups saw matters escalate.
"If I had seen a dentist earlier, it wouldn't have got to this point."
The BDA raised concerns that the contract changes, which were introduced on 1 April, were "untested" and poorly communicated with both the profession and patients.
It claimed that some health boards had recently seen 10% or more of their contract allocations returned by practices quitting the NHS.
It added that some patients would have less frequent appointments as a result and those with healthier teeth may need to wait between 18 and 24 months for routine check-ups.
In some cases, costs for those who pay for NHS dental work would also increase, the BDA stated - with check-up examinations rising by 22% to £24.50, while someone with poor gums could see fees rise from £60 to £93.50.
Dr Katie Davis works across multiple practices in Swansea, both within the NHS and private clinics.
She said she had seen contract changes every year since she graduated.
She said, while the new contract would offer a fairer remuneration for more complex care like root canals, a lack of consultation had left many feeling it was an "untried and untested system".
"Dental practices in Wales are already reporting that they're at capacity and they haven't got space for patients.
"I believe in the NHS. I want to work in it, but I don't know how long I can work in a system that's so busy and ever-changing," she said.
The 29-year-old added that she was worried patients would feel they were not going to get an appointment, and may not see dentists if they had any "lumps or bumps" they were worried about.
"If we're seeing them less often, we're not catching things as early as maybe we would like - maybe the filling is bigger than it would have been, or maybe now they need an extraction."
She added it was a difficult decision for many to go private, both "financially and morally".
Russell Gidney, chairman of the BDA's Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, said: "Whoever forms the next administration in Cardiff Bay will inherit a service on the very brink.
"They will need to put together a rescue package if NHS dentistry in Wales is going to have a future."
A spokesperson for the Welsh government said April's changes were "the most significant change to NHS dentistry in 20 years and realise the ambition to provide NHS dentistry on the basis of individual risk and need".
They added: "The new contract arrangements ensure there is capacity for a steady flow of new patients, whilst at the same time providing continuity of care for existing patients.
"It is not a leap into the unknown, but a consolidation of what has already been shown to work.
"We are proud to have developed the new contract arrangements in partnership with the BDA, the NHS and the people of Wales."
What do the political parties say?
The Welsh Liberal Democrats said they "would boost funding to bring Wales in line with other parts of the UK, set clear targets to cut waiting lists, and remove barriers so dental professionals can treat more patients".
The Welsh Conservatives said they were "committed to ensuring everyone in Wales can access an annual check-up with an NHS dentist, alongside tackling Labour's long-standing recruitment and retention crisis in the health service by training, retaining and recruiting more dentists and other health professionals".
Reform Wales said: "Reform UK will redesign and replace the existing NHS dental contract to improve retention, introduce targeted recruitment incentives where access is weakest, and establish a new dental school in Bangor."
Wales' Green Party said they would "expand access to NHS Dentistry with fairer funding that reflects the true cost of treatment".
They added they would expand preventative oral health programmes in communities and schools, and ensure better targeting of the most vulnerable patients groups and the patients with the highest need.
Welsh Labour said it will "improve access to NHS dentistry by making more appointments available through the new contract".
The spokesperson added they will back plans for a new dental school.
Plaid Cymru said they wanted to "address the dental crisis in Wales".
THE spokesperson said: "We'll place a duty on health boards to assess dental needs across Wales to improve access to community dentists - particularly for more disadvantaged communities - and support the application for a new dental school in Bangor and Aberystwyth to help make plans for more training opportunities come to fruition."