What the hell is going on in this country regarding dentistry?

Things change I've changed

Things change I've changed

Things change I've changed

Soldato
Joined
27 Jul 2005
Posts
13,122
Location
The Orion Spur

I've just received a letter this morning announcing that my local NHS dentist is going private from the 1st of october!, I've rang them up and the best they can offer is monthly plan where you get 10% off private treatment!, what the hell are people supposed to do, there are zero NHS places in the entirety of Cornwall.

How far does this country have to fall before people wake up seriously, people that voted conservatives, hang your heads in shame, you've genuinely contributed to the down fall of this country, I'm sorry to be so blunt but this is soo incredibly frustrating, It's practically impossible to see a doctor face to face now in my area, now I've lost me NHS dentist.
 
It's happening everywhere to loads of them. Not many left. But there are some. Helps if you live in a scummy town with peasants like me, but one that still commands half a million pound 3 bed houses coz it's the South East and close to London. ;)
 
The financial incentives aren't there to be an NHS dentist, so it's unfortunately no surprise that dentists are going 100% private. The equivalent here in the USA is dentists who don't accept any dental insurance. More and more dentists (and other healthcare providers) are doing the same over here.

To play devil's advocate, why would a dentist accept £35 for a procedure under the NHS when they can get £70 or more for the same procedure as a private dentist? Would you do the same in your job?
 
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One of the 2 main dentists in the town I work in is kicking all their NHS patients off when one of their dentists, their "NHS dentist", retires - about 4000 people or something losing their NHS dentist - and there is pretty much nowhere in the area taking on new NHS patients - one person complaining the nearest place they could get their kids in was Bradford-on-Avon which is over an hours drive away and they weren't taking on new adult patients.

Mine used the pandemic as an excuse to kick me off their books despite going there for ~40 years and just leaving it a few months longer than usual at the worst of the pandemic... (not that I'm too bothered as I'm fortunately in a position to be able to pay privately).

Absolutely shameful situation IMO especially how many kids are going to suffer because of it yet there seems to be hardly any noise being made.
 
Dentists have been smart about how well they should be remunerated for their time, skills and expertise. Let's see how the government respond to the latest doctor strikes, as this could lead down the same path potentially.
 
As a foreigner/UK resident I just visit the dentist whenever I travel back home...

We tried to find an NHS dentist for years, none around us or all full.
 
Ayahuasca said:
It's an absolute shambles throughout most of the country.

This will absolutely lead to a few needless deaths from things like tooth infections spreading.
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Although not purely down to one or the other one of my colleagues, only mid 20s, developed a serious heart condition due to a mixture of COVID infection scarring and an untreated tooth infection due to losing his NHS dentist, not able to get in anywhere else for months (partly due to COVID but also due to places not taking on new NHS patients) and unable to afford to go private mixed with a reluctance to get emergency treatment.
 
skyripper said:
The simple fact is that various governments and NHS decisions have made it almost unaffordable to provide NHS dentistry treatment. This has been going on for decades.
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There was a recently retired dental nurse interviewed on the radio this morning, she said something similar. But she also added that a small portion of the blame should be on dentists for being greedy.

jon86 said:
why would a dentist accept £35 for a procedure under the NHS when they can get £70 or more for the same procedure as a private dentist? Would you do the same in your job?
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I would like to think that a majority of healthcare professionals are there to help people rather than get rich. NHS dentists still earn plenty of money. But can I honestly say I wouldn't do the same? I'm not sure. So what is the solution? Legislation to cap the prices of private dental care so they're only slightly higher than the NHS charges?

For anyone that lives near London and needs dental care but can't afford it, I can recommend applying to be seen by the dental students at Guy's hospital. That's what I did, very easy (but not necessarily quick) process. Yeah I was essentially a guinea pig for a student to practice on, but at the end of they day I got top quality dental work done for FREE. Other than the train fares I didn't pay a penny.
 
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