Stowbridge man John Evans claims his lack of dental treatment is a ‘death sentence’ after losing another tooth

A 73-year-old has hit out at Norfolk’s dentist industry once again after losing yet another tooth.

Last month, Stowbridge pensioner John Evans told the Lynn News about his catalogue of oral issues - claiming he had been denied NHS treatment.

Now, he says another of his teeth “fell off” while he was eating solid food - meaning he has to resort to living on a diet of soup and frozen mashed potatoes.

Mr Evans says he first approached a nearby dentist in 2018 when he lost a filling, but was told there was no room for him to be taken on as an NHS patient.

He needed a set of partial dentures on his lower teeth, but after becoming left frustrated at not being admitted, he did not pursue the matter.

After losing his latest tooth, he said: “Thankfully, the upper set are dentures but that is a depressing sight isn't it?

“They just keep breaking - the last one fell victim to a soft scrambled egg.”

Mr Evans says that because of dietary limitations, he has lost 4lbs - or 2kg - in weight in just over a week.

He claims that heading into winter, “weight loss like this is potentially a death sentence”.

“I'd suggest something like crowdfunding but this is free NHS dental work I'm legally entitled to so nobody should be paying some bunch of private dental scammers for it,” he added.

“I nearly choked on bread and soup this evening.”

West Norfolk’s “dental desert” has been well documented in recent years, with NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board publishing a long-term plan for services earlier this year.

The plan lays out the key priorities for the next five years to improve services following the ICB’s own scathing report last year into the state of NHS dentistry in the area.

Five-year-olds in the borough have the highest levels of tooth decay in the entire Eastern region - with almost one in four already suffering poor oral health.