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

Similar to a post above, my dentist used Covid as an excuse to dump all his NHS patients.

Funnily enough, didn't seem to affect his private patients.

Damned disgrace.
 
I hadn't been for years but my bupa place got in touch to arrange a check up on an nhs basis so thought i had better take it, maybe me paying for a mouthguard privately helped but who knows how long i am safe for
 
I've given up on my dentist. Three weeks wait or pay £70 for a private checkup which includes an x-ray. I pay for NHS treatment anyway so paying private isn't that much more.
 
Tom_ed1987 said:
If you look up what dentists actuslly get paid for NHS work is it any wonder? Private has been the only way to access quality dental care for at least 10 years IMO
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That or medical tourism.

413x said:
Its a slippery slope to the USA method where if you are poor you just die.
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That's not quite right. Hospitals in the USA are required by law to treat patients who come to the ER with an emergency whether they can pay or not. You'll get stitched up and sent on your way, for sure, but you won't (usually) just be left to die.
 
jon86 said:
That or medical tourism.


That's not quite right. Hospitals in the USA are required by law to treat patients who come to the ER with an emergency whether they can pay or not. You'll get stitched up and sent on your way, for sure, but you won't (usually) just be left to die.
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Not knowing much about USA healthcare, would you still get billed for this?
 
I’ve been with the same dentist practice since 1999 when it opened. Offers both NHS and private. My parents go for private crowns as NHS ones are rubbish.

For the 5.5 years I lived in Leeds and Wakefield (2002-7) I couldn’t register with a practice there unless I had a child! Fortunately my dental issues didn’t happen then. When I had check ups, I drove or coached it down to Leicester on Thursday afternoon/early evening, stayed at my parents. Had dental check up on Friday and stayed the weekend. All communication was still at my parents address. One job I had, worked 4 days a week and every 6 weeks, had Friday- Sunday off. Knew which weeks these were and booked appt accordingly. Think once I booked the Friday off as coincided with something, can’t remember what.

It’s a disgrace that many can’t get access to a NHS dentist. Especially when our teeth are so badly designed. Expect to have adult teeth from the age of 6. One of my friends’ children’s lost her first baby tooth aged 4.5.
 
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We have been private for nearly two years now. Even with private the waiting list is normally 3-4 week unless it is an emergency.

Fillings around £140-200.

Route canal £500-600.

Check up £50.

Clean and polish £80.

Both of our kids are still on NHS. We had to get in touch with our local MP just to get a list of places that were taking on. Most were only taking on children so no adults at all. That is the state of how things are and we live in a rural area!

The private place had to redo a lot of my fillings anyway as they were done poorly by NHS anyway and the replacements were obviously tooth coloured unlike what you would get with NHS.
 
jon86 said:
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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That £35 is not the final pay out for the dentist. The amount they get from the NHS patient is subsidised.
 
sigma said:
Teeth are overrated anyway.
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I know you're joking, but they definitely aren't! Imagine not being able to chew any real food for years on end because the pain is too much.

There have been people who have committed suicide because of severe and constant toothache as they have no real way of getting it fixed, especially in America where it can cost five figures to get really serious problems fixed.
 
Ayahuasca said:
I know you're joking, but they definitely aren't! Imagine not being able to chew any real food for years on end because the pain is too much.

There have been people who have committed suicide because of severe and constant toothache as they have no real way of getting it fixed, especially in America where it can cost five figures to get really serious problems fixed.
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That's an easy way to weed out the poor then, our masters will be happy.
 
jon86 said:
That's not quite right. Hospitals in the USA are required by law to treat patients who come to the ER with an emergency whether they can pay or not. You'll get stitched up and sent on your way, for sure, but you won't (usually) just be left to die.
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True, but the problem in America for the poor and even lower middle class many there is no preventive treatment until it becomes an emergency so much higher death rate due to this and poor general health, even people on health care plans in America quite often don't pick up their prescriptions as they are not covered in the plan, this is all outlined in the CDC report.


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"Half of the people who are lower or middle class are not getting them," he says, "because they can't afford to go out and pay for it themselves.

Among those earning less than $35,000 a year, 51% did not fill prescriptions. For those earning between $35,000 and $99,999, the poll found that 48% did not fill prescriptions.

Bottom line, Blendon says, "it's just not fair." The idea that to save money everyone has to make "tough choices" is just not true, he says. "The tough choices really don't affect the most wealthy people in the United States; they just affect people who are lower and middle income."
 
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