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I’ve just had notice that my current dentist is no longer renewing its contract with the NHS after 18 years.
They are blaming it on the backlog of patients caused by lockdowns.
Whilst I’m fortunate to be able to pay for treatment, this is going to have a huge effect on the local area in respect of poorer families and especially children who’s treatment is free.
Anybody else having experienced his u-turn with their local practice and is this going to become the norm ?
As part of their NHS training, dentists have to provide so many units of healthcare to patients using the NHS charging model. This goes some way in helping the NHS recoup the cost of training the dentist by being able to provide low cost dental treatment.Originally Posted by TWGL1
Like most people, dentists want to earn the most they can, so once they'd completed their requisite number of units, they stop providing NHS services as they can then charge (and earn) more.
I had to have a bit of work today 460 sovs worth but was also advised that it would be better if i have one of my wisdom jobs removed, would be the 1st wisdom tooth out for me, 2 options, referral to NHS approx. 2 year waiting listor a consultancy with a dentist at the place I go to to get an expert opinion and a price!!!! it seems that the bog std. dentist cannot do this particular procedure.
This isn't political for one party or another, Dentistry is forcing patients into private treatment like it or not.
My Doris had 2 wisdom teeth out over 50 years ago by an NHS bog std. and who was her regular dentist.!!! WTF is going on
I've never really understood why NHS dentistry is any other different to any other type of NHS care.
Why is it so? I appreciate it isn't life and death stuff, but neither are a huge range of healthcare services and I would argue dentistry is more important than some other services that always are free.
It's a total nightmare though and I totally sympathise on it. My mum has to drive an hour and a quarter for her NHS dentist and it took her five years to get that.
Greedy bastards!
Capitalism innit?
I suppose people have to pay for their own dental care because the government prioritises other spending, such as covering accommodation costs for migrants, over expanding NHS dental services.
It makes you wonder what’s next to be cut from the NHS, as essential services continue to be deprioritised.
I'm as angry about the state of the country and mass immigration as anyone and free dental care for asylum seekers when British people don't have it is clearly a very bad look and people will rightly be exasperated about it.
But this is unrelated. NHS dentistry has not been free for as long as Ive known it. I just wonder why that is. Why we accept it etc.
It is curious
A badly drawn up contract in the early 90s is to blame.
Access to treatment via the NHS should be as universal right.
My dentist, who I'm going to ditch, is now more interested in cosmetic dentistry rather than health dentistry. They've also jacked up prices 18% in one year and are trying to push people into a subscription service which requires dentistry work of about £2000 a year in order to make a saving. Many people probably wouldn't do the maths and question them.
They used to say you'd never find a poor farmer but you'll never find a poor dentist these days.
Dentistry is a money making profession to get your teeth into.
Dentistry should be a mainstream NHS service - free.
How it became detached and monetised is a scandal that has happened under Labour and Tory governments. The move towards private for emergency treatment, and cosmetic over dental health has been happening over decades. Means tested or private, and with dentist wastelands in places where demand and need is highest.
I still have a good NHS dentist, but end up paying for everything (less than private), have to cross the city for an appointment, and basic work like crowns and implants are all directed to cosmetic hubs where the cash register is the boss.
It shouldn’t be like that.
I completely agree, an I just don't understand why it is so. Dentistry is only a distinct part of healthcare because it is arbitrarily decided as such. It's not really any more distinct than hearing or heart treatment or GP work. Yet we pay for it, and as far as I'm aware we always have and we accept that too.
In a country where the idea of paying for healthcare at the point of receiving it is blasphemy (rightly in my opinion) I've always found it curious that we accept it in dentistry.
I do accept that dentistry is disproportionately open to cosmetic enhancements too, and I'm not saying that should be free. - I've had whitening and straightening myself - but it's weird that standard procedures do not come under general taxation unlike other (far more costly) parts of the health service.
But while NHS dentistry has never been truly free, the reality is that government budgets are finite, and when huge amounts are being diverted to cover emergency housing and support for migrants, something else has to give. That “something” often ends up being core services like the NHS. So, even if the dental fees aren’t new, the underfunding behind them is worsening, and it's tied directly to where the money is being allocated elsewhere.
It’s not about blaming individuals, it’s about holding leaders to account for letting the system get so stretched in the first place.
The historical reason is that the demand for dental treatment was so high when the NHS was established that the government couldn't afford to keep it free.
Can you not turn everything into some xenophobic rant?
That was my suspicion that it was a cost based decision and one made years ago. It is curious though.
I suppose eye care is the same? Or were "NHS specs" always free back in the day? Maybe prescriptions (in England) too is another example
It is a strange one though. I remember discussions with an American friend once who picked up on the fact NHS dental work isn't free despite essentially everything else being so.
Politically I doubt they could get away with it now.
The NHS funding model for dentistry was not fit for purpose long before the more recent massive increase in immigration. To blame one for another is something straight out of a Reform manifesto.
NHS dentistry was free for the first 3 years: 1948-1951. Then the first charges were introduced for dentures. Over time everything became chargeable (means tested).
It seemed to be accepted - as a compromise between the state and a private medical profession to get the national service established.
I don’t remember much opposition to dentistry charges. There have been regular and growing concerns about lack of coverage and waiting times - but not about the system itself.
Doesn’t the UK state train most UK dentists and don’t dentists from overseas have to have a visa to allow them to practice? Those are two powerful levers if any government wanted to transform the cost and access to dental health.
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