One in ten Britons have acted as their own dentists—pulling teeth and even attempting root canals—according to a new YouGov survey. Why? Because 20% of Britons don't have a regular dentist with 37% of them saying they can't find one who will see them and 23% believe they couldn't afford it anyway. From YouGOv:
The survey revealed cases of people using cement and superglue to fix crowns and dentures, killing an infection with urine, using 'heated polybeads' to replace a missing tooth and applying chemical metal (an adhesive usually used for household or outdoor repairs) as a filling.
A third (34%) of those who revealed what kind of dental work they'd attempted say they pulled out – or tried to pull out – their own teeth.
A similar proportion (32%) gave themselves fillings, while others removed or repaired crowns (4%), tried their hand at a scale and polish (4%), filed their broken teeth down (3%) or treated their own abscesses and infections (3%).
