NHS Dentists treatment in the UK

Not enough NHS dentists, simple as that.

Let’s see what Labour do to sort it, if they get in.

The NHS pay levels aren’t enough for dentists. Many could barely survive on NHS pay because they had to provide their own premises which is extremely expensive. Plus all their own expensive equipment. As they say, if you want monkeys, pay peanuts. The country has never been willing to pay dentists their true worth, and the new contract imposed on them in 2006 (by Labour, note) decreased their capacity to earn appropriately. They train for six years at university and then are expected to provide their own premises and equipment, and now they have to pay back university tuition fees too. Since 2006 dentists have been gradually moving over to work more and more in private practice. Do you blame them? I don’t.

I had some gum shrinkage over the years and had three filled at the front but these have been lost over time. The dentist told me it would be £415 for to replace these.

Dental degree used to be 4.5 years, They were fully competent at the end, not needing to be junior house officers like the medics, or "new" vets like the vets, where there is so much to learn that at the end of the degree there's still practical skills to be built up.Dentistry does tend to be a career that is attractive because of the remuneration, as not many young people are intrinsically fascinated by teeth, so when income dips below a certain level & there's the option of going private,can't blame the dentists for doing so.

I'd write to the practice manager and tell them you have been with them for 18 years and please can they find you another dentist at the practice. Tell them how upset you are and how you have had good treatment previously.

If you haven't "accepted" this change and they still have an NHS dentist at the practice you can at least argue that you should please be put on the waiting list.

Meanwhile I'd be looking elsewhere.

How disappointing!
Good luck.

The same thing happened to me last year, unfortunately l was unable to find another NHS dentist in my area. I have gone privately and was shocked at the cost initially.
I suppose l am lucky that l can afford to pay within reason but l do worry about those that cannot. I do see a lot of people with awful teeth these days and some seem quite young.
I don't have any answers though to solve the problem.

Exactly what Maddy said.

Successive governments have failed to follow the recommendations of the Dental Review Board. This is the result.

My Practice is private too - most around here are now.
You could ask if your Practice runs a credit facility. At mine, people often pop in to pay money off their balance.
Credit rating good? Get another credit card and transfer your dental treatment costs to it as a no interest balance transfer and just pay over time by direct debit.
It’s not ideal, but I’ve a friend who does that for all her holidays.

NHS dentistry is patchy throughout the UK. Too many people, too few dentists, NHS remuneration is so low fewer dentists are offering NHS treatment.
It's not going to change but desperately needs reviewing so children, those who cant afford treatment and those needing emergency treatment are covered. That's probably the best we can hope for long term.
If you can find an NHS dentist register and attend the free annual checkups. If you can't find one most now offer treatment plans at a set rate so shop around.

Dentists can't just offer NHS treatment. They have to get a contract with a set number of UDAs. They are few and far between.

At my dental practice they do an increasing amount of private work, which must fund the running of the practice. The hygienist is private, then there is alignment, and whitening, plus actual dentistry.
I was lucky enough to be accepted by this practice and despite three changes of dentist I can still get NHS treatment.

I am currently having a crown, and I was offered NHS or private. The price difference was about £500. A crown is not cheap in the first place. I am not surprised that many people simply cannot afford dental care.

Its happening all the time .....nothing you can do......my dental practice is a mixture of private and NHS..... except they are now down to their last nhs dentist.... everytime I go I expect to be told that was my last nhs check up ..... it will happen sometime....then I will have to go private

I’ve been with a private dentist now for three years and they have now closed their waiting list
I did say to my Dentist I bet you never ever thought the day would come when you would need to close a waiting list for private dentistry and she agreed she never thought she’d see the day

The same thing happened to me three year ago. I had to find a private dentist, I needed a crown and two fillings cost £1200
We had to sadly cancel one of our hols fortunately we’d already had a short break.
I had a call last week to say I can now book a check up, they are slowly opening their NHS list again. Thank goodness !

Welcome to our world over here in Oz!

Speak to the practice manager, if the nhs dentist is leaving , they should be replacing them . Unless they’ve decided to go completely private. Also many private practices offer a payment plan to make it more affordable.

You can’t get an NHS dentist around where I live. Unless dentists keep their NHS licence then children have to pay too. That is unacceptable and I’d hope that is high on the next government’s agenda.

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