Alex Cole Hamilton – leader of the 5th biggest party gets another platform to misleadingly attack the SNP.

Tonight, he even claims, and STV don’t challenge it, that declines in dentists doing NHS treatment is leading to people buying tools on Amazon to do dentistry themselves.

So, first, the availability of dentistry in Scotland:

95.4% of the Scottish population were registered with an NHS dentist as at 30 September 2022. Nearly all adults living in the most deprived areas were registered with an NHS dentist in September 2022, compared to 91.9% in the least deprived areas.

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/dental-statistics-registration-and-participation/dental-statistics-nhs-registration-and-participation-24-january-2023

Meanwhile in England:

Thousands of children in England facing ‘heartbreaking’ waits for NHS dental care

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/19/thousands-of-children-in-england-facing-heartbreaking-waits-for-nhs-dental-care

The Scottish government said that more than 95% of the population were registered with an NHS dentist. It added that the dental workforce in Scotland (54 dentists per 100,000 population) was stronger than in England (42 per 100,000 population).https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66327813

From Public Health Scotland on 22 August 2023: The number of examinations paid in the quarter ending June 2023 was 782,783; an increase of 8% compared to the previous quarter (727,751).

This was the fourth quarter in a row when examinations increased: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-dental-treatments-report-quarterly/nhs-dental-treatment-statistics-quarter-ending-30-june-2023

Back to the self-dentistry, what’s the evidence?

Try searching for ‘Scot pulls own teeth‘ and you’ll get a handful (3-4) of eccentrics who have done it but not one in Scotland and no sign that it’s beyond a few crazies, even in England.

STV News? Not even approaching minimal standards.