When finding a dentist is like pulling teeth.

William Kelly, 43, of Rochdale, England, couldn't get professional, treatment for his aching tooth. Finally, he says, "I snapped it out myself." Kelly's predicament is due in large part to deficiencies in Britain's state-financed dental service: There are too few dentists for too many people. Discouraged by what they say is the assembly-line nature of their job, dentists are leaving the National Health Service (NHS) and going into private practice. Every time Kelly tried to sign up with an NHS dentist--lining up with hundreds of others who were desperate and hurting--he arrived too late and missed the cutoff. "You could say that Britain has not seen lines like this since World War II," says Mark Pritchard, a member of Parliament. "Churchill once said that the British are great queuers, but I don't think he meant that in connection to dental care."