'I was forced to extract three of my own teeth after waiting for an NHS dentist for seven years'

A woman was forced to go to the extreme length of extracting three of her own teeth after waiting nearly seven years on an NHS dental waiting list.

Linda Colla, 76, moved from Nottingham to Ottery St Mary in Devon in 2018 and says she immediately started looking for an NHS dentist.

But she quickly found that local practices were not accepting new NHS patients. Linda, who receives pension credit, says she couldn't afford to seek private treatment.

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So when three of her teeth became loose earlier this year, she was forced to take drastic measures.

Linda extracted two molars and one canine tooth herself at home in a "very painful" DIY procedure, after the pain from the loose teeth became so severe that it was impacting her ability to eat.

The 76 year old said: "I didn’t have any other option. When I moved down here to the south west, that’s when the problems started.

"I started looking for an NHS dentist, and couldn’t find one, so I phoned the NHS and they put me on the list. I’ve been here since April 2018, and I started looking for a dentist in June or July that year - and I’ve still not got one.

"Three teeth started to work loose, and it was not very comfortable. It was painful to eat, so I had to pull them out. They were getting looser and looser, so one at a time, I took them out.

"It was two back teeth and a canine, and they had quite long roots. It was very painful - but I've apparently got a high pain tolerance."

Linda then had to pay £300 out of pocket for work on her dental plate in order to be able to eat again. She says she would happily travel more than 20 miles to see an NHS