Toothless in Suffolk

Communities across Suffolk are suffering from dentist closures and the widespread lack of accessible NHS dentistry provision. ‘An NHS dentist for everyone’.

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 Four years ago today – December 2021 – @BBCTheOneShow The One Show visited Bury St Edmunds to highlight the growing crisis in NHS dentistry. They heard heartbreaking stories of people resorting to DIY dentistry and charities, set up to help people in developing countries, stepping in to provide emergency care right here in England.

Fast forward to December 2025, and for millions of families the situation remains desperately bleak. Successive governments have tried “recovery plans” with new patient premiums, golden hellos – but as MPs have confirmed this year, these initiatives have comprehensively failed. Access is still below pre-pandemic levels, fewer dentists are doing NHS work, and people continue to suffer in pain or turn to desperate measures.

Enough is enough. Our simple demand remains: an NHS dentist for everyone.

Watch the original report and share your story if you’re still waiting.
https://t.co/UjcWBZ2MyN
#DentalCrisis #NHSDentist #NHSDentistry #Dentist #ToothlessInEngland

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 Nothing completes a trip to the movies like the sharp realisation that the 'movie star smile' you've just seen on screen is a luxury product being sold next door - one that the NHS no longer covers for the people of Bury St Edmunds.
Read @EADT24 reporting on Toothless in England’s observations and concerns.
https://t.co/Mif1RT7Gz5
#nhsdentistry #dentalcare #OralHealth #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 𝗨𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗟: If you live in Suffolk / Norfolk / Essex / Cambs / Beds / Northants, regional TV news who we've worked with before would like to do a short on-camera interview with you if you're having dental issues but struggling to get treatment. It'd be straightforward in terms of asking you about the effect your dental issues are having on you, and what having more NHS dentists in their area would mean to you, your friends and family. 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥@𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝.𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄, 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑. 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏. 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔!
#Suffolk #Norfolk #Essex #Cambs #Beds #Northants #nhsdentistry

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 Statement from Toothless in England, in response to the LGA’s @LGAcomms ‘Dental Deserts’ Analysis

This damning analysis from the Local Government Association confirms what our 100,000+ supporters have been screaming from the rooftops for years: NHS dentistry is in a state of collapse, and it is the most vulnerable who are being left behind to suffer in agony.

The term ‘dental desert’ is no mere metaphor; it is the bleak reality for millions across England. This report meticulously charts a national map of pain and neglect, where your postcode and your wealth now definitively dictate whether you can access basic oral healthcare.

The findings are a scandal, but they are not a surprise:

· That not a single area meets a basic threshold of provision is a shocking indictment of fifteen years of political neglect.
· That a child’s rotten teeth in Middlesbrough are deemed less worthy of treatment than a child’s in Richmond is a grotesque health inequality that this government is failing to address.
· That areas with the highest levels of tooth decay do not have more dentists proves the system is not driven by need, but by a failed contract that pushes dentists away from the NHS.

We agree with the LGA and the British Dental Association @TheBDA: tinkering at the edges is not enough. The government’s current plans, while a step, are a drop in the ocean. The core problem remains the 2006 contract, which financially penalises dentists for taking on complex cases in high-needs areas. It has made NHS dentistry unviable, forcing practitioners to go fully private or go bankrupt.

This isn't just about teeth. As Cllr Dr Taylor rightly states, it is about cardiovascular health, malnutrition, and overall wellbeing. It is about people in unbearable pain, resorting to DIY dentistry, or too ashamed to smile.

This is a public health emergency!

The government must stop with the piecemeal initiatives and urgently deliver three things:
1) Fundamental reform of the broken dental contract.
2) Significant and sustainable new funding.
3) The immediate deployment of mobile dental clinics to serve rural and coastal communities now.

Until then, these deserts will continue to expand, and the health gap will widen.

We have mapped the crisis. We have diagnosed the problem. The question now is whether the government has the political will to provide the cure.

The ball is firmly in your court @SKinnock @wesstreeting.

https://t.co/HgSVhKYvYh
#nhsdentistry #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 Your constituents have supported our campaign from the day we began demanding an NHS dentist for everyone. Will you @PeterPrinsley? @suffolkteeth #nhsdentistry #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 KICKED IN THE TEETH reads the headline in the Summer 2025 edition of the Country Standard 🗞️

🚨 Toothless in England won’t stay silent! 🚨

Rural and coastal patients deserve equal healthcare, yet many are left struggling. We demand urgent action to fix this injustice. #nhsdentistry #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 SUFFOLK / NORFOLK / ESSEX

IMPORTANT: Hello everyone. We’re still doing everything we can to keep the dental crisis in the media spotlight. We’d love to speak to you about your experiences trying to get dental treatment on the NHS. Can you please DM us or send info to [email protected] with a brief description, whereabouts you live along with your phone number, please. Thank you 🙏
#dentalcrisis #nhsdentist

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 National Public Service Broadcaster Catalunya TV have been following the UK's dental crisis for some time. They will be in #Leiston this morning asking residents and visitors for an update on the situation four years after NHS dental care was withdrawn from the town. Pop along to the Toothless in Suffolk street stall outside the Co-op 10.30am ‘til 1pm and make your views known. Please help us keep up the pressure on the NHS commissioners and government.
#nhsdentistry #dentalcrisis #nhsdentist

[Nikki Fox BBC @nikkijfox]

Toothless in Suffolk warns dental access still a 'major crisis' - BBC News https://t.co/oTwjLRwOe7

[Greatest Hits Radio Suffolk News @GHRSuffolk]

@englandsteeth protesting outside Endeavour House today.
Calling for better communication and reform of NHS dental contracts so people can access a dentist

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷We've heard NHS commissioners' 'jam tomorrow' promises before. They've failed Leiston before. Moreover, the CEO of @SNEEICB_IES's assertion that emergency dental care is locally accessible for Suffolk patients by calling NHS 111 is untrue. #dentalcrisis #nhsdentistry

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 OK, so the weather wasn't particularly kind to us for our rally outside NHS SNEE ICB HQ in Ipswich today 🌧
But what did brighten up the day was the public and news media support. Thank you!

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 Toothless in Suffolk will be holding a rally outside the headquarters of NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB at Endeavour House in Ipswich this Thursday, 5th June at midday, to mark the fourth anniversary of the Toothless in Suffolk campaign and four years since NHS dentistry was withdrawn from the town of Leiston.

Join the rally if you can. Let’s remind the NHS commissioners that they are continuing to fail dental patients. #dentalcrisis #nhsdentistry

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 "The idea that people in suits in offices, who inevitably have enough money to go private, know what's best for us without any consultation is so frustrating.” — Steve Marsling in today’s @EADT24

https://t.co/29tXXX3lMk ICB announce expansion to Suffolk dental health services | East Anglian Daily Times
#dentalcrisis #nhsdentistry

[Toothless in Suffolk @suffolkteeth]

🦷 Four years. Four long years @SNEEICB_IES and you’ve done nothing for the patients left behind. What have you to say for yourself.

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 The catalyst for this grassroots movement occurred four years ago today, on 30th April 2021. The last remaining NHS dental practice in Leiston, in rural Suffolk, closed its doors on townspeople and local villagers for the final time.

Mark Jones, who leads the ‘Toothless’ campaign, reflected “When my mate Steve Marsling, who was one of thousands directly affected by the practice closure, asked me to put a campaign together calling for the return of an NHS dentist to the town, we all thought - extremely naively, in retrospect - that a replacement NHS practice would be found relatively quickly. Neither of us thought back then that we’d still be waiting for NHS SNEE ICB - Ipswich and East Suffolk @SNEEICB_IES to pull their finger out and provide Leiston locals access to basic oral health services four years on. Nor did we know, for that matter, that patients across the whole of the country were being left to suffer in similar circumstances. Patients are always the ones who end up paying the price for governmental and local health authority incompetence and betrayal. We’ll continue to hold them both accountable. As long as there’s public support, we’ll not give up until there’s an NHS dentist for everyone.” #dentalcrisis #nhsdentistry #nhsdentist

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 Back at the Department of Health and Social Care tomorrow for a meeting with the Minister for Care, Rt Hon Stephen Kinnock MP. GDS contract reform consultation will only be effective if ALL professional representative bodies are involved and also include those advocating for dental patients such as Toothless in England. #nhsdentistry #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 "Be Brave. Don't be ashamed. Tell your story."
Danielle Watts, a long-suffering dental patient who gained the confidence to tell her horrifying and painful story through our campaign, has a simple message for patients denied access to NHS treatment - a consequence of a government-engineered dental crisis: To make our voices heard clearly in Westminster, we need to unite. Share your story with Toothless in England!
📨 [email protected]
#dentalcrisis #nhsdentistry

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 More horror stories incoming….@itvanglia @Rosiedowsing: 'I was left to file down my own teeth after my dentist suddenly closed'

https://t.co/OoS0zs5sww
#nhsdentist #nhsdentistry #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 TOOTHLESS IN ENGLAND RESPONDS TO PAC REPORT:

HOW LONG MUST WE WAIT?

Toothless in England has responded to another damning report into the failure of the (NHSE) 2024 dental recovery plan that aimed to deliver an estimated 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment to patients in need.

“Notwithstanding the dental recovery plan’s shortcomings already identified by ourselves and others, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England’s part in this can only be regarded as an abject failure”, says Mark Jones, Toothless in England’s founder.

“The PAC's (Public Accounts Committee @CommonsPAC) report has revealed a gaping hole between what the government says it will do to alleviate some of the difficulties patients face when attempting to access NHS dentistry and what is actually done by those in charge of fulfilling that promise. The questions we’re asking is how much longer must dental patients wait before their oral health needs are met and can we ever trust the answer?”

#NHSdentistry #dentalcrisis

[Toothless in England @englandsteeth]

🦷 @itvanglia’s lead story yesterday.
Inaccessible NHS dentistry 🤝 DIY dentistry