New survey highlights over-50s’ concerns over dental bills

Over-50s are having trouble affording the cost of dental bills, which could be creating a barrier to effective treatment.

This is according to new survey from Saga, which polled more than 10,000 people, revealing that 59 percent of over-50s consider the high costs to be their main issue with securing dental treatment in this country.

Four in 10 people over the age of 50 say they have had to pay for emergency dental treatment at some point following an accident or infection, having to pay £228 on average. Other common gripes include the difficulty of getting an appointment, delays in seeing the dentist and the hassle of not having a practice in the local area.

This comes after a recent study from Newcastle University showed that oral health is markedly worse among the poorest 20 percent of British society compared with the richest.

Moreover, 65-year-olds in the poorest fifth of the UK population have, on average, eight fewer teeth than the richest fifth, highlighting the scale of this problem.