It's annoying as hell sitting for 6 hours in throbbing agony just to speak to a doctor in A&E sometimes though! Having said that, if it wasn't for the NHS my mother might not be here as she had cancer about ten years ago and although 'in the clear' now, she still receives medication which she obviously needs. If this was done through insurance, where would the line have been drawn given that she smokes? If the private system had failed her, then she would've had nowhere else to turn but under the NHS one simply does not have to worry about such a scenario.
The dentistry in this country is a sham and it's easy to blame the NHS but the simple reality is that it has nothing to do with the NHS. We have a mixed system of private dentists willing to whip through as many NHS patients (unemployed, young/old, etc.) as possible so as to get the extra money. It's the private dentists who don't give the adequate care or are simply stuck for time that are the problem.
Recently my old dentist stopped taking NHS patients for this very reason as he wanted to give better care to his patients. As soon as I'm earning, I intend to go back to his surgery as he is a very, very good dentist. As I'm currently unemployed, I recently popped to a different dentist through the NHS system to have a check-up and a few issues resolved. My experience ended up being one of in the door and out as soon as possible. I had the quickest filling of my life, and the dentist refused to listen to me when I was trying to explain that I had pain (which was the whole point of the visit). As far as I was aware, I didn't even need the filling but I'm no dentist. The denist in question eventually gave me sub-par treatment (something which she will obviously claim full costs for through the NHS) but only after I twisted her arm and refused to leave until it was sorted and whilst also trying to contend with an unexpected language barrier was no easy task.
Likewise, when I was 15 I had an accident which involved me smashing and twisting my front teeth and as a result I needed braces to correct it. Initially I went to a private orthodontist who wanted to charge many thousands of pounds for treatment (something which I could have not afforded as I'm not from a wealthy background - so I was potentially feeling guilty at being a burden to my parents whilst also realising I was probably looking at having the mess of a smile for the rest of my life or until early adulthood) and he also seemed to want to make the treatment as long and costly as possible - which included hypothetically breaking my jaw, removing several teeth and wearing a head-brace at night. Quite rightly, as it turns out, he was told to do one.
My dentist referred me to the NHS where I subsequently had my treatment free of charge (due to the financial and mental complications - you have no idea how much this whole episode effected my self esteem at the time!). The staff were more polite, friendlier and took their time on the NHS. The treatment I eventually received resulted in only having one tooth removed and a normal fixed brace for a couple of years. The only thing I ever paid for was for a crown at around £120 when the braces came off and I was a student (probably around the time I originally signed up to here). That said, the treatment I received through the NHS was excellent and I have nothing but praise.
Personally, I think dentistry in this country needs a huge shake down: better regulation, and more importantly: more dentists themselves. It is not the NHS' fault that things are difficult when it comes to dentistry; it is the private practices being forced to take on the burden of NHS patients. We either need to introduce large, complete NHS only surgeries or we need to shift over to a completely private service as at the moment it's a bit of a mess. The fragmented mess of thousands of private clinics only makes searching treatment more difficult.
Personally, I don't think the private system works that well as the cultural legacy of the NHS is simply one of us now expecting free health care unless we are in the fortunate position of being able go private through choice rather than necessity. Our teeth get as bad as they do in this country because we get bounced around, rather than simply going to a single dentistry and getting our problems addressed there. Indeed, I wonder how many people here do not bother with their 6 monthly appointments purely because they cost money? I know I'm guilty of this, and as such I only go when things are ridiculously bad or painful. As such, private practices struggling to stay afloat will always be a curse. What we need is a strong institution of dentistry with strong financial backing.
