Pamela Widdison, Kevin Paul and Billy Crotty said they were left in pain after they could not get an NHS dentist.
Some found solutions privately, one could not afford it, but they all believed the NHS dental system was in crisis and needed to change.
They were among the many people who got in touch with the BBC via Your Voice, Your Vote and said NHS dentistry was the most important issue for them in the general election.
“Our teeth are rotting and decaying and we deserve better,” Mrs Widdison said.
Mrs Widdison, a retired teacher from Watton in Norfolk, said her teeth were “crumbling” and that people like her were “suffering in silence”.
She said she could not afford private treatment and did not want to discuss the extreme measures that she had taken, as she was worried it might influence others.
“We are not in Victorian England,” she added.
“People are resorting to doing things that mean they’ll end up in an accident and emergency department.”
She said she got through the day by taking painkillers and “just prayed the day came to an end” and she could get to sleep.
Mrs Widdison said she had been left with “stumps” and had to prepare herself a contraption to support the tooth that caused her pain if she wanted to talk.
She said it was “a humiliation” to walk outside and added: “You spit, it is not nice at all.
“My chances of ever getting a job or contributing to the community I love, is zero.”
‘Money we can’t afford’
Kevin Paul, 65, a welder from Mattishall in Norfolk said his friend couldn’t get emergency dental care for six days.
He said together, they had spent more than £6,000 on private dental care in two years.
Mr Paul felt they had paid national insurance for 45 years, so should not need to budget for dental care.
“We’re getting to retirement age and we’re having to pay this money out which seems so unfair,” he said.
Mr Paul said he hadn’t been able to spend money “on a holiday or changing the car,”
“It’s quite a bit of money we can’t afford,” he added.
‘Going private helps’
Billy Crotty, 42, from Wimpole in Cambridgeshire, previously knocked a tooth out and said his mouth was in a bad state as he did not have an NHS dentist.
The tree surgeon, who now travelled abroad to see a dentist in Bulgaria every two years, said it was considerably cheaper than paying private prices in England.
“I paid around £80 for a root canal treatment compared to £1,200 in this country,” he said.
“I also had three implants which were £500 compared to £2,000 each here.”
He said he was so pleased with the work, which stopped his pain, that his wife was joining him next time.
“I feel it takes the strain off the NHS in this country,” he added.
“Going private helps and travelling abroad is a good solution. I think by going to Bulgaria it saves having to take their workforce.”
Mr Crotty believed the government after the election would find it difficult to get dentists to work in the NHS, for less money and more stress.
“I think one of the solutions might be to train people and pay for their university fees, then perhaps they could be contracted to work for the NHS for a couple of years,” he suggested.
