A Dundee student who almost died from blood poisoning after struggling to get a dentist appointment says he fears others may lose their lives without urgent action.
Nick Whelan, 20, ended up developing deadly sepsis and had be put in an induced coma with a ventilator when an abscess in his mouth went untreated for six months.
He needed multiple major procedures, including one which was described as a last attempt to save his life.
Doctors later told him he would only have needed root canal work and some antibiotics if he had been able to get a dentist appointment from the beginning.
Mr Whelan is now encouraging everyone to make sure they go to their dentist regularly, as new figures so the number of people doing so has fallen every year for almost 15 years.
‘I got really unwell’
Mr Whelan’s infection began in September 2021 but he wasn’t able to get an appointment because of long waiting times and coronavirus restrictions.
This left him with “unbearable pain” and he needed to take painkillers constantly for six months.
By February 2022 he was admitted to Ninewells Hospital with sepsis.
He said: “I got really unwell, I got sepsis all over my body and mediastinitis which caused the tissue around my heart to swell.
“That put pressure on my organs, my lungs collapsed and I had to go into intensive care for around six weeks.”
After being transferred for treatment in Edinburgh Mr Whelan was put on life support and a ventilator and needed to undergo three “major, life-saving” procedures.
‘It totally disrupted my life’
Mr Whelan said: “It totally disrupted my life, I had to drop out of Dundee and Angus College and stop my job.
“If I had been seen before Christmas it would have just been a painful tooth removal and that is all.
“It was really scary but I am young, fit and healthy with no pre-existing conditions.
“If this had happened to someone else it could have killed them.”
Pandemic impact
Official figures show the number of people in Tayside regularly going to see their NHS dentist has fallen over time.
In March 2007 almost all adults and children who were registered with an NHS dentist were going to see them.
By March 2020 only 71.7% of adults and 86.7% of children in Tayside were going to their NHS dentist.
Figures from Public Health Scotland show the number fell even further during the pandemic.
By March 2021 65.3% of adults and 79% of children were getting regular appointments.
On top of this, around four in 10 children from Scotland’s poorest communities are not accessing NHS dentist treatment.
Despite this decline, the number of adults in Tayside registered with a dentist has risen from 47.2% in 2007 to 92.5% by 2021.
The percentage of adults registered with a dentist in Tayside fell from 56% in 2002 to 48% in 2006 when Labour and the Lib Dems controlled Holyrood.
‘Collapsed’
Dundee-based MSP Michael Marra says these figures show NHS dentistry has “collapsed” under the SNP Government.
He said: “When the SNP took power in 2007 there was near universal use of services in Tayside.
“The decline started almost immediately and we are now in a position where more than 40% of adults and one in three children do not see a dentist for years at a time.”
Mr Marra added these figures leave people in the area at “huge risk” of pain, infection and potentially deadly cancers.
He said: “These figures show a clear trend of decline long before the pandemic.
“This do-nothing, eye-off-the-ball government sat on its hands.
“These figures lay bare the disastrous SNP record that has put the existence of NHS dentistry on the line and the lives of Scots at risk.”
‘Huge’ backlog will take years to clear
The British Dental Association in Scotland said the suspension of routine care during the coronavirus lockdown has created a “huge” backlog that will take years to clear.
Around 82% of NHS practices in Scotland do not accept any new adult patients.
One in five have waiting times of more than a year.
David McColl, chair of the the association’s Scottish dental practice committee, said: “NHS dentistry in Scotland remains a shadow of its former self, tackling an historic backlog while huge numbers struggle to access care.
“The Scottish Government promised free NHS dentistry for all.
“Without urgent action Scotland risks ending up with the exact opposite, leaving millions with few options.
“The only thing that will bring this service back from the brink is real reform and fair funding.”
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf attacked Labour for criticising provision.
“The SNP has almost doubled NHS adult dental provision in Tayside from what we inherited from Labour, whose comments are the height of hypocrisy,” he said.
“We have also massively boosted NHS provision for children compared to Labour’s record.
“The most recent statistics show almost a quarter of a million patients per month attending dental appointments since April to tackle the backlog of appointments.
“And overall a record number of people, more than 95% of the population, are registered with an NHS dentist across Scotland.”
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