“It became so painful that I started pulling them out”: woman removes 12 teeth using pliers

This is an act of a desperate person. Caroline Pursey, 63, from Scunthorpe, England, pulled out 12 teeth due to unbearable pain after being unable to get an appointment with a dentist.

“I was told I couldn’t be accepted or that there was a three-year waiting list”, she said. “You can’t imagine what it feels like to no longer be able to smile. It ruins my face“. she laments to the American media ITV News.

Caroline Pursey said her former dentist had “gone private” and she had contacted a list of other dentists in the health sector, without success. “It became so painful that I started tearing them off” she said.

“As soon as I open my mouth, things go wrong, because I can’t smile”

Unemployed and surviving on Universal Credit, Ms Pursey said her appearance even hampered her attempts to find a job.

“I had three interviews”she said. “They do these group interviews, and I did really well, but as soon as they do a one-on-one interview, as soon as I open my mouth, it goes badly, because I can’t smile.”

The Secretary of State for Health, Victoria Atkins, reacted to his case: “Someone who is in this much pain should always remember that if they need it, they can always go to their local accident and emergency department for help, because this shouldn’t be happening.”

The statement came as Ms Atkins announced that dentists would be offered £20,000 in grants to encourage them to open practices in underserved areas of the country, as part of a “dentistry recovery plan”.