Denplan doing OK 9 August 2020 at 10:15PM in Coronavirus Support and Help 73 replies 2.5K views

onwards&upwards

Dentistry has been in a sorry state in this country for far too long.  Maybe Covid is the push for the public to demand better, as it hopefully will be with social care. 

Jonesy1977

epm-84 said:

brook2jack2 said:

Dental practices wouldn't need anything like the huge numbers of masks that hospitals need. 

Care homes, hospices and small private providers have managed to source PPE.  

Oral health is health, it matters. 

Our practice put in orders for our usual PPE in February and those orders have still not been fulfilled. Most PPE was ring fenced for nhs use and dentists, as independent contractors , were not in that supply chain. 

Most dentists decided in the last 20 years that they could provide a better service by becoming private instead of remaining NHS. The government has a duty to ensure those offering NHS services can provide NHS services, if the dentists don't want to offer NHS services then it's their own problem how to resolve issues with the supply chain and if they can't then they aren't providing the level of service their patients expect.  If any dentist thought by becoming private they could earn more money and offer a better service then they might be thinking again now.

That is a very good point. If (if) you are a private practice dental business that operates under pre defined and understood regulation, particularly if you were trained in the pre fees university system and followed up with training in the publicly funded NHS but decided that private practice was a potential lucrative business opportunity then you need to take the increased operating costs on the chin. 

dcweather

I have some sympathy with Dentists having read this, but you can't really expect the public to subsidise part of their service when they are not able to receive the treatment they have effectively pre-paid. I've yet to see a dentist living in small terraced house on a housing estate! 

MalMonroe

I really can't believe some of the stupidity on here. To my mind, given that it's a known fact that coronavirus is spread by droplets coming from the mouth, dentistry is a really dangerous job right now. Most dentists are doing their best. My own dentist was always fully booked up before the pandemic, now he has to see fewer patients each day, goodness only knows when I'll be able to get an appointment. But I'm happy to wait and I know if I did need an emergency appointment I'd get one, even in these uncertain times. 

Why is everyone being so critical? Dentists are being controlled by government guidance at the moment, there's little they can do. Stop moaning. If you can. (But then again, moaning is our national occupation. That, talking about weather an drinking lots of tea.)

MalMonroe

onwards&upwards said:

Dentistry has been in a sorry state in this country for far too long.  Maybe Covid is the push for the public to demand better, as it hopefully will be with social care. 

Has it really been in a sorry state? What makes you say that? In my experience, dentistry has improved no end since I was young.

You know the British public will never demand better (and what exactly IS that?) because that's just how it is here. 

MalMonroe

dcweather said:

I have some sympathy with Dentists having read this, but you can't really expect the public to subsidise part of their service when they are not able to receive the treatment they have effectively pre-paid. I've yet to see a dentist living in small terraced house on a housing estate! 

Yeh, dentists have to study for at least seven years before they can start working and earning a decent salary. During this pandemic they have had to abide by government directives so through no fault of their own, unfortunately, they're unable to get stuck into work. 

Most dentists have worked very hard to achieve their qualifications, and some of them actually DO live in terraced houses. Maybe not small ones but my dentist lives in a terraced house. They're not all as wealthy as you may think. But even if they are, so what? They deserve it.

Would YOU like to stick your fingers in people's mouths for a living? I know I wouldn't, especially not now when we know that the virus is spread by saliva.

Dentistry has come a long way in the last twenty years, and dentists do a job I'd hate to do. Cut them some slack. 

MalMonroe

anotherbob said:

My Mrs. and I pay about £40 a month for private dental care. This includes routine inspections and visits to the hygienist as well as emergency treatment cover. Between us we've missed four checkups and cleaning sessions during lock-down. I don't know what they would cost if we paid the dentist direct, but presumably the dentist would charge Denplan normally. Seems to me Denplan are doing well out of the crisis since there has been no reduction in the premium. 

Well, dentists have been told what to do by the government so maybe you should write to Boris and ask him what he's going to do about it. 

In the meantime, click on this link, https://www.denplan.co.uk/patients.html  which purports to have the answer to your question. Ask your dentist to ask them for a refund, and see what happens. Should have googled it in the first place.

onwards&upwards

MalMonroe said:

I really can't believe some of the stupidity on here. To my mind, given that it's a known fact that coronavirus is spread by droplets coming from the mouth, dentistry is a really dangerous job right now. Most dentists are doing their best. 

Nursing is a dangerous job right now, medicine is a dangerous job right now, respiratory physiotherapy is a dangerous job right now, ODP is a dangerous job right now.  HCA or carer is a dangerous job right now. 

The difference is, those professions haven't stopped looking after the people they have a duty of care for.  Why have dentists?  Why do other health professions accept that the risk of exposure to an infectious disease is part of the job but that their responsibility to their patients is more important, while the dental profession seems to believe the opposite? 

I don't accept any argument that dental care is somehow less important.  Its absolutely vital to good health and poor oral health can kill. 

onwards&upwards

MalMonroe said:

onwards&upwards said:

Dentistry has been in a sorry state in this country for far too long.  Maybe Covid is the push for the public to demand better, as it hopefully will be with social care. 

Has it really been in a sorry state? What makes you say that? In my experience, dentistry has improved no end since I was young.

You know the British public will never demand better (and what exactly IS that?) because that's just how it is here. 

NHS dentistry is hard to access and for a lot of people is still too expensive for them to be able to get the care they need.  

Private dentists get rich from whitening and straightening the teeth of the well off, NHS dentists struggle to make ends meet trying to care for the people who need them most.  Care of the mouth should never have been considered as a separate entity from caring for the rest of the body, it should be fully integrated into the NHS. 

silvercar

onwards&upwards said:

MalMonroe said:

onwards&upwards said:

Dentistry has been in a sorry state in this country for far too long.  Maybe Covid is the push for the public to demand better, as it hopefully will be with social care. 

Has it really been in a sorry state? What makes you say that? In my experience, dentistry has improved no end since I was young.

You know the British public will never demand better (and what exactly IS that?) because that's just how it is here. 

NHS dentistry is hard to access and for a lot of people is still too expensive for them to be able to get the care they need.  

Private dentists get rich from whitening and straightening the teeth of the well off, NHS dentists struggle to make ends meet trying to care for the people who need them most.  Care of the mouth should never have been considered as a separate entity from caring for the rest of the body, it should be fully integrated into the NHS. 

Private dentists earn a lot of their income from saving teeth - complex root canals, crowns and implants. NHS dentists often can’t afford to provide these options to patients only paying the NHS charges, so end up offering extractions.