Downham Market man pulled his own tooth out using pipe wrench after struggling to get NHS dentist appointment

A man pulled out his own tooth using a pipe wrench after struggling to get an NHS dentist appointment for "unbearable" toothache.

Downham man Kaspars Grenenbergs, 44, suddenly began experiencing extreme tooth pain in one of his back molars last week.

Having developed cold sweats and desperate to stop the pain, Kaspars dialled 111 - having not been registered with an NHS dentist.

He was given a list of numbers for four different NHS dentists to try in his area to call in an attempt to get an emergency appointment but says he struggled to secure a spot.

Kaspars called and emailed multiple practices and when he finally got through to one, he was told they had no available appointments.

He even debated paying flying back to his home country of Latvia to get a 24-hour appointment - but decided against this because of the pain he was in.

With it getting worse and his situation becoming increasingly desperate, Kaspars decided to tackle it himself.

He readied 100g of Jim Beam bourbon for disinfection, loaded up on painkillers to try and numb the pain as best as possible, and wiggled the tooth with a pipe wrench until it eventually came out.

The dad-of-two said the pain disappeared immediately.

Kaspars, who works for a cable company, said: "The pain was really bad, unbearable - it's hard to explain how painful it is.”

He pulled the tooth out in front of the bathroom mirror after preparing some salt water.

"It took a lot of twisting to get out - I tried to move it as much as I could before I pulled it out,” Kaspars said.

"It was one of the big molars at the back and I tried not to break the root off as otherwise I'd be putting myself in more danger with the root left in.

"The kids were at home with my partner, and they thought I was joking at first, but the pain was just so bad.

"After I pulled it out, straight away the pain was gone, and I felt much better immediately."

Kaspars had been having minor pain for a few days, but on Monday, March 31, it suddenly intensified.

He said: "I couldn't wait and no one was getting back to me.

"I started getting cold sweats from the pain, and I was getting bad headaches and everything was pulsing - I don't know how bad that could have ended up.

"So I pulled it out the same day."

The lack of dentist availability even had Kaspars considering boarding a plane for an appointment - something he says his partner, Nadezda, 39, a retail worker, has done before.

He added: "Over here, you could be travelling from county to county just to get an appointment.

"It happened to my missus as well.

"She couldn't get an appointment at the dentist before Covid-19, so she flew home to Latvia for an appointment and came back 24 hours later.

"Here you're paying National Insurance and suddenly when you're faced with a situation like this, you feel outcast.

"I managed to get through to one dentist, but they said they had no slots, or they offered me private.

"But they then realised they couldn't offer me private because they were dealing with an NHS emergency.

"I think if they had space, they were supposed to take me as an NHS patient so they couldn't offer private."

The NHS advises anyone who has toothache for more than two days to see a dentist and use pain-relieving gel while waiting for an appointment.