NHS Dentistry Petition

kenshaz

Community dental services
Dentists also work for the salaried community dental service treating patients with special needs who may have difficulty in obtaining treatment in general dental practice or who would not otherwise seek treatment. The Community Dental Service also monitors the dental health of the local population and provides dental health education and preventive programmes. Community dental officers also visit schools to carry out dental inspections of children.
The above also receive a salary and contribute to society.

kenshaz

University teaching & research
A small number of dentists are employed as lecturers and research workers in UK dental schools. They are able to undertake original research as well as treating patients and teaching students. The number of permanent positions is limited but there are opportunities to undertake fixed term periods of postgraduate teaching and research.

The above receive a salary ,teach and research.

Toothsmith

Were you just practising 'copy & paste' functions from Wikipedia above Ken, or was there a point to those last 3 posts?

Good to see you've started a bit of research now anyway.

Any idea of the percentage of the dentistry done by those 3 types of dentist as a function of all the dentistry done in this country?

Oh yes - and any ideas about 'advancements' made by the NHS yet?

sabbykins

Toothsmith wrote:

Were you just practising 'copy & paste' functions from Wikipedia above Ken, or was there a point to those last 3 posts?

Looks like a C & P from here Toothsmith: http://www.bda.org/education/dentalcareers.cfm?ContentID=298

Toothsmith

Spot on sabby.

At least he's started to investigate!

He didn't post the workforce numbers though.

General Dental Practice 22,000
Hospital Dental Services 2,800
Community Dental Services 1,800
University Teaching and Research 700
Armed Forces (Defence Dental Agency) 600

sabbykins

Toothsmith, I'm intrigued/completely bewidered at kenshaz motives for this apparent axe he has to grind against private dentists.
As a person who is entitled to NHS treatment but has found it necessary to go private, along with my two children, due to NHS dentists not being able to provide satisfactory care due to financial restrictions, i am absolutely behind everything you say!

I have happily signed the petition!

Toothsmith

I don't think it's so much against private dentists as blindly Pro-NHS.

From the outside it's easy and convienient to blame the ills of the system on those on the inside.

My frustration is, that it doesn't take very much effort these days to see just what is going wrong with NHS dentistry.

The actions of the Department of Health towards dentistry over the past few months have been very well reported by the media generally, and there are not that many commentators putting it down to 'Greedy dentists' any more.

With a host of Government statistics on dental earnings disproving it as well, it isn't even many MPs that now state that 'dentists go private to earn more money'

All it would take would be a little bit of reading round, and hopefully, he is beginning to do that.

In the meantime though, it does give me the opportunity to show up some of the lies that have been directed towards dentistry over the past 20 years. (Which was when I first started writing to MPs about the state of NHS dentistry - Just after Margaret Thatcher's Government ended free check ups! It was Edwina Curry in charge of Dentistry then!)

Savvy_Sue

kenshaz wrote:

The above also receive a salary and contribute to society.

Does one have to receive a salary to contribute to society?

Only I think I was contributing to society on the two occasions when I helped set up out of school clubs, and I wasn't paid for it either time. And when I was self-employed, I'd have been paying tax if I'd earned enough, so surely I would have contributed to society then? We'll leave aside the fact that I wasn't working because I was bringing up 3 boys.

Then there's my friend: he doesn't have to work for a living, but he contributes to society by paying tax, making substantial charitable donations, and giving his time freely to supporting charities.

Oh, and there's Toothsmith (and all the other private dentists), employing how many members of staff? Paying how much in tax, both personal and presumably in the form of business rates and whatever they call corporation tax these days? And providing a valued dental service to a fair few people while he's at it!

How is that being a drain on society?

kenshaz

sabbykins wrote:

Toothsmith, I'm intrigued/completely bewildered at kenshaz motives for this apparent axe he has to grind against private dentists.
As a person who is entitled to NHS treatment but has found it necessary to go private, along with my two children, due to NHS dentists not being able to provide satisfactory care due to financial restrictions, i am absolutely behind everything you say!

I have happily signed the petition!

I believe that health care and education should be available for all irrespective of ability to pay,it is a basic right in the 21st century,you had the option of chose ,some do not have that option.Why not return us to pre NHS ,children riddled with disease and decaying teeth unable to read or write,I am bewildered as to why you wish to promote private sector health .
I have the funds to purchase private treatment ,but I never will,because I have basic principles and I will not adopt the attitude I am alright Jack.
The British people do not want private health and we live in a democracy,so the few minority views from the biased and mis -guided do not concern me ,widen this debate and you would lose.

Toothsmith

For Goodness sake Ken -

If GOVERNMENT doesn't FUND a healthcare service HOW ON EARTH CAN IT BE PROVIDED?????

I DO NOT HAVE a big pot of money with which to run a dental practice whilst GIVING AWAY my time and materials.

CAN YOU NOT GET THAT INTO YOUR HEAD?????????????


Tell you what - you buy a surgery, and staff it, and be responsible for running it within current regulations, and I will give you a couple of days a month of my time to see whoever you choose for whatever you want to charge them. I'm afraid you're unlikely to get an NHS contract though, as nearly every PCT in the country is too short of cash - so you'd just have to run it for free if you didn't want to dirty your hands with actual money.

How about that?

(Sorry I can't give more, but if you set up the surgery, I'm sure you'd find many other dentists prepared to make the same offer)


oh -and what was the point of your 3 posts above?