Why Dental Deserts Make Getting Antibiotics Online Vital

here is no doubt that there is a crisis in dentistry in the UK. In recent years, the number of NHS dentists has dwindled, not least as many practices that used to work in the health service switched to private. In addition, some areas are even short of private providers.

This combination of scarcity and cost has led to some grim stories of people having to pull out their own teeth with pliers, or suffering terrible decay and more infections than they otherwise would.

In many cases, this can lead to a lot more pain and suffering, but in the case of dental abscesses, the situation can be a whole lot worse; an untreated infection, if allowed to deteriorate, can lead to dire consequences, such as life-threatening sepsis in the worst instances.

For this reason, it can be vital to get amoxicillin antibiotics online to treat the infection, holding it at bay until dental treatment can be carried out. This is not a substitute for going to the dentist, but it will restrict the infection and reduce pain until a dentist can tackle the root cause of the problem.

How Bad Are The Dental Deserts?

The extent of the dental desert problem was highlighted by a report produced in 2022 by the Local Government Association (LGA). It noted that NHS dentistry was particularly scarce in areas of high deprivation and also rural areas, while affluent urban areas fared better.

However, the report found, even the best-off areas have some scarcity, with none of the 350 English and Welsh local authority districts surveyed having more than one NHS dentist per 1,000 people.

At the opposite end of the scale, the ten worst-served local authority areas were all rural or had high deprivation levels. The City of Westminster in central London, which had the best NHS dental provision, had six times the rate of dentists per 1,000 than Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, which has some of the most deprived areas in the UK.

“This stark new analysis shows a shortage in affordable dental treatments for communities all over the country,” said the chairman of the LGA’s Wellbeing Board, Cllr David Fothergill.

He added: “In particular, it is concerning that it is rural areas as well as those living with the highest levels of deprivation that are more likely to miss out on NHS dental provision.”

Why Things Are Not Getting Better

In short, the report highlighted that the situation across England and Wales varied from bad to worse. Small wonder many patients have been left seeking alternatives when faced with the misery and danger of a dental abscess.

As the report came out nearly three years ago, some may wonder if the situation is much better now. The answer is no. The government of the time did make some efforts to increase NHS dental provision and last year, when a new government took office, it did so with a manifesto pledge to tackle dental deserts and provide 700,000 more appointments a year.

In making this pledge, the government noted that things had got so bad that, according to the 2024 GP patient survey, a quarter of people who had tried to get a dental appointment in 2024 had not been able to do so at all, however often they tried.

The research found that 52.6 per cent of patients responding to the survey had tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the previous two years. Among the most common reasons for failure to do so were that the dentist was not taking on any new patients (11.1 per cent) or there were no appointments available (9.5 per cent).

Of those not trying to get an appointment, just under 27 per cent always go private instead, which suggests that approach may work for some. However, as that tends to be far more expensive, this could be a difficult thing for many people to do, especially those living in deprived areas who, by definition, are more likely to be on low incomes.

Barriers To Progress

For all these reasons, the government’s plans for more appointments are important, but how much difference will they really make?

On the face of it, providing an extra 700,000 appointments should be seen as good news. An optimistic view of this policy move is that, in time, it will hit the target and provide much relief. However, in doing so, those with abscesses will still find themselves chasing appointment slots alongside many others seeking solutions to long-term problems.

In addition, achieving so many more appointments requires getting more dentists employed by the NHS and setting up lots of new surgeries, neither of which are things that can be done overnight. From starting a dentistry degree to becoming a dentist in the UK takes five years.

All these realities make it so important to have a means of getting dental antibiotics for abscesses. Our experts can provide the assessment you need to diagnose your problem and establish if this is what you require.

Using Antibiotics In The Right Way

For the dental profession, the state of UK dentistry and the need to use antibiotics does raise some concern. It is, of course, true that overuse or misuse can lead to growing antibiotic resistance.

As previous blogs have noted, this is a matter that needs to be taken very seriously, and it was highlighted in an open letter to health secretary Wes Streeting by the British Dental Association earlier this year.

While acknowledging the 700,000 appointments pledge, the letter said even this was not enough and there were further issues to consider, not least concerning the overprescribing of antibiotics.

However, while the communication highlighted the importance of having more resources to be able to take the time to treat dental problems (which require longer appointments) and not just medicate them, it still acknowledged that “sometimes antibiotics are vital”.

Indeed, while there are many instances where antibiotics might be prescribed when they are not essential, abscesses are not among them. That is why, in a situation where dentists lament the lack of capacity to meet the UK’s oral treatment needs, it is so important for there to be oases of online antibiotic availability amid these dental deserts.