Dental Advice Please

justme111

Where does the number come from ?
In any case as I said in a previous post I am not talking about people who genuinely have no money to pay for it or anything else listed in that post.

justme111

its not my business to design the fairest health care system. Present situation when people who have money for the expenses examples of which i given suddenly dont have money for their teeth and expect it to be subsidised (lets be honest , those are the vast majority)results in this nonsense with antibiotic prescriptions for dental pain being just a tip of the iceberg.

BucksLady

justme111 wrote: »

Where does the number come from ?
In any case as I said in a previous post I am not talking about people who genuinely have no money to pay for it or anything else listed in that post.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30323682

BucksLady

justme111 wrote: »

its not my business to design the fairest health care system. Present situation when people who have money for the expenses examples of which i given suddenly dont have money for their teeth and expect it to be subsidised (lets be honest , those are the vast majority)results in this nonsense with antibiotic prescriptions for dental pain being just a tip of the iceberg.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you. My partner is a GP and until quite recently worked in an area which was quite deprived. Many of his patients were living in poverty (despite working). The living conditions were dire and the people were often malnourished. He now works in an area which in comprison is more affluent, but still money is a problem. My dentist charges £40 for a check-up and £40 for a clean. So each visit is £80. That's a small fortune to many people and they would never be able to justify such a cost - even if they had it.

justme111

You said it yourself - they never would be able to justify the cost. 2 check ups , 2 cleans -£160 a year. They prefer ti spend that money on other things - their choice . They should not expect it subsidesed though if they have other priorities.

justme111

By the way you changing definitions middiscussion. Not being able to afford and not being able to justify are two very different things.

ManofLeisure_2

justme111 wrote: »

You said it yourself - they never would be able to justify the cost. 2 check ups , 2 cleans -£160 a year. They prefer ti spend that money on other things - their choice . They should not expect it subsidesed though if they have other priorities.

I agree with BucksLady. The people she is referring to would never be able to justify such sums on private dentistry. How could they when putting food on the table is a struggle. £160 is just the start of the charges. In my practice an extraction is now £150 and a root canal over £450.

justme111

Manofleasure , your post is just a couple of lines long but to reply to it properly i would need to write an essay. Because there are a few aspects of it and each would deserve an extensive reply. Shall do it when i have a bit more time. But before that - are we talking about people who genuinely struggle to put food on a table ? Or about an average punter thinking nhs dentistry should be comprehensive and as good a quality as private?
Buckslady , i looked the link up- it does not say how they reached the conclusion about 4 million people being in danger of hunger. i am highly skeptical of numbers as i have seen quite a few of them to be plucked out of thin air.

welshdent

Straight away I can say my private fees are lower. If there was a truly free market prices would be more competitive. There is no set private fee for people to say they are too expensive. Prices vary significantly. My exam fee is 25 and fillings start from 40 which is not drastically more than nhs charges.. Obviously they are a bit more but that's because nhs fees are subsidised

justme111

ManofLeisure wrote: »

I agree with BucksLady. The people she is referring to would never be able to justify such sums on private dentistry. How could they when putting food on the table is a struggle. £160 is just the start of the charges. In my practice an extraction is now £150 and a root canal over £450.

Now , addressing the points raised. I think we all agreee there should be service for people who go to bed hungry. May be basic , may be comprehensive -i am not talking about them. Can you confirm that you believe that people who own a car , pay tv license , go on holidays , have more than one pair of shoes , have savings , ever go out or to hairdressers should have subsidised or free dental care ?
Re prices. Someone of low risk who looks after their teeth does not even need two check ups a year. Not many people need two cleans a year either. I did not object to the numbers in the first place because assuming they have not been so careful / well served by dentistry in the past they probably will need some work done from time to time. It could be one filling a year because if they have many fillings those qould need ro be replaced. Every few years they may need root canal work or crowns . So i thought £160 a year could roughly cover that. Some people with no caries , gum disease or other more rare problems would actually be fine with one check up a year. £50 for it would be the fee that many practices offer. Many would need work from time to time , lets say a filling every year and a root canal or crown work every 5 years. Which gives us about £1100 over 5 years time , ie £220 a year. Can you confirm that you believe that majority of population do not spend 220 a year on something which is not vital like food and shelter ?
And the last 2 questions : nobody can afford all they want. Why do you think the state should provide people with dentistry but not with cars if one can not afford to buy one or run one for that matter ? Should state provide food to people who are genuinely hungry ? If so - what food should it be ? Should it be voucher for unlimited shopping at waitrose ?
Once those questions replied i will understand better your opinions.