Is anything being done about NHS dentistry?

silvercar

fred246 said:

I have just had some excellent private dentistry. Not cheap though. I asked him about his income during COVID. No problems as people kept paying Denplan. I thought Denplan would have kept the cash. Obviously not. The first time I met him I asked him about NHS dentistry. Too rushed. In his private practice he sees half the patients but charges them twice the NHS fee. So overall capacity is less when dentists go private. Result - poor are left with no treatment. 

No, the result is that "the poor" (as you define them) go elsewhere. There are many dentists that run a practice that combines private and NHS work. There are many that are private only. There are also some that are virtually exclusively NHS.

onwards&upwards

silvercar said:

fred246 said:

I have just had some excellent private dentistry. Not cheap though. I asked him about his income during COVID. No problems as people kept paying Denplan. I thought Denplan would have kept the cash. Obviously not. The first time I met him I asked him about NHS dentistry. Too rushed. In his private practice he sees half the patients but charges them twice the NHS fee. So overall capacity is less when dentists go private. Result - poor are left with no treatment. 

No, the result is that "the poor" (as you define them) go elsewhere. There are many dentists that run a practice that combines private and NHS work. There are many that are private only. There are also some that are virtually exclusively NHS.

Except there isn’t always an ‘elsewhere’ available for the poor to go to, and even if there is then just the NHS costs can be prohibitive.  

Nobody can deny that there are huge issues with access to good quality affordable dental care in this country.  

Imagine if it was decided that anything to do with legs, or lungs, was suddenly separate from the rest of the NHS and much more expensive or difficult to access.  That would be insane and there would be uproar, so why do we accept it with the health of the mouth and teeth?

fred246

So who wants to be the last dentist with a syringe of local and a pair of pliers taking out the teeth of the poor for peanuts while their classmates implant, veneer and whiten the rich and live a life of luxury?

silvercar

fred246 said:

So who wants to be the last dentist with a syringe of local and a pair of pliers taking out the teeth of the poor for peanuts while their classmates implant, veneer and whiten the rich and live a life of luxury?

Doing the fancy treatments requires expensive equipment and training. It may not be glamorous, but they is a steady income from NHS work, in times of recession fewer people will be whitening. It must suit some people or NHS dentistry would have folded by now.

fred246

If you read the thread you will find the OP can't find an NHS dentist to treat them.

JamoLew

Thrugelmir said:

RyanHello said:

Thrugelmir said:

RyanHello said:

Someone in my family has been waiting month after month for another scheduled operation. The way the NHS is run is truly shocking. How can you have Drs working from home? It's unbelievable this service keeps getting praise. Very poorly run.

Unless you've an answer to Covid. It's just another thing that we've got to learn to adapt too. This is the new norm. Not anybody's fault. 

Tell that to the cancer patients who are having their treatment delayed because of this. As well as GP appointments by phone. How can GPs do this? We do not need to adapt at all. All this what they're doing is much, much worse than Covid. It's been one huge over reaction

Comments like this are truly depressing. Armchair experts abound these days. 

It is true - I have first hand knowledge/experience of this

Routine examinations/investigations cancelled
Surgeries cancelled
Radiotherapy delayed/reduced
Actually had a Consultant mention to me that had he actually seen the patient rather than do a phone consultation, he would have dealt with him differently. Doctors are also trained to use their eyes.

sweetsand

NHS denitis were awfully slow before the lockdown and much worse now. All NHS services are still affected and many other operations etc are canclled and people are waiting for months and they don't know when they will get the op. My wisdom tooth cracked as we returned from 6 week hols first wekk of march then lockdown and i was scared of going to dentist but went and to my surprise it came out easily a first for me.