Is it impossible to get a NHS dentist in 2021?

[onlychildhamster]

I have to go private to get my teeth sorted. No dentists in my area seem to be taking on NHS patients. So I got quoted £460 for a root canal and £140 for a filling and also £595 for a porcelain crown.

What happens to people who can't afford it. It's quite different from 2018 when I managed to get a NHS dentist to see me on the same day, wasn't even registered beforehand!

Pretty much. NHS dentistry is done IMO.

Yes!!
My children’s dentist went private, I now can’t get them registered anywhere & I live in a city!

@TreaslakeandBack it's weird but I am scared that's what would happen with NHS medical.

Why is there no public outrage? Surely teeth is a very important part of health and one of the few things people agree on is that medical treatment should be available to all.

It’s really frustrating. I’ve had to go private - just can’t find an NHS dentist anywhere. Over £100 for a basic clean!

Two EU dentists left the practice I'm at after Brexit and went back to Europe. They've now gone private and will only do check ups on the NHS. No NHS dentists anywhere taking on patients and I've been told by the county waiting list people that it's about a four year wait to be found one.
Write to your MP. Government (and the people who voted for them) created this situation. Personally I think ending NHS dentistry is their plan though.

It’s been like that for years in many areas, we have had private dentistry for approx 10 years including 3 children after being unable to get an nhs dentist within a 2 hour radius.

Why is there no public outrage?

Because the tories are massively popular. After 11 years of Tory rule even people reduced to using food banks because they can't afford to feed their children love them. I just don't understand it.

Even NHS work is limited, so hole in tooth will not do anything until “clinical necessary”. Tooth reinfected after root canal well tough NHS only pay for one root canal so cough up £600 or lose the tooth

Then people laugh and make fun that people living on low incomes have awful teeth as if some moral failing not hard cash.

We’re registered with an NHS dentist.

They’ve stopped doing routine dental checkups for adults since the pandemic started. They’re only seeing adults if it’s an emergency, which they class as being in pain that over the counter painkillers won’t touch.
I had a filling fall out last year, great big hole left in my tooth where the filling had been, and the receptionist said that it didn’t count as a good enough reason to get an appointment unless it started to hurt.

They were still doing routine checkups for children, but my DC were due for a checkup next week, and they’ve just cancelled that because they’ve had a run of dental emergencies - hardly surprising given that for the last 18 months they’ve been refusing to do adult checkups or repair holes in teeth while the damage is in the early stages. The receptionist couldn’t give any idea of when the checkup would be rescheduled to other than “hopefully within the next 6 months”

So even being registered with an NHS dentist isn’t much use at the minute.

And I agree with pp that government policies have created the NHS dentist shortage situation.

Impossible here even for children.

Same here, we’ve been trying to register at an NHS dentist for the last two years. No joy.

We’re in a large town in the north west with loads of dental practices - not a single one is taking on NHS patients.

When my 16yo developed a hole in her tooth that painkillers wouldn't touch she was told by the dentist to buy an over the counter patch to temporarily fill the hole. That was a year ago.

Same here
More chance of finding a unicorn wandering the streets than getting an NHS dentist appointment where we are.

I've just had treatment as a private patient at a local dentist. They haven't taken on any new NHS patients in seven years.

Not a chance here and there hasn't been for years. My DH has been on several waiting lists for over two years. He phoned them recently to find out if he was anywhere near the top. He could only get hold of one of the practices who said the lists are locked in drawer - because covid??! He had to pay a £50 fee just to get in to see the dentist and then it will be at least another £400 to get the treatment he needs.

God knows what family with no money are doing. Even the hosiptal emergency dentist will only see you if you are in pain. We are setting up the UK for a huge health crisis a few years down the line. Children who have never had dental treatment who will need so much work as adults. No wonder the USA think British people have terrible teeth. Unless you have plenty of money they are right. The wealthy will have lovely straight white teeth and the rest of us will struggle to get even basic check ups and scale and polish.

Anyone else think it's deliberate by the government?

@TwoMountains

This is the problem I have. I was told last year that I urgently needed a crown but I was pregnant at the time so they wouldn't do it. Now they won't see me because I need a check up to restart the process. Ive had 4 appointments cancelled so far.

I went private because I wasn’t able to get an NHS appointment due to Covid. I wasn’t willing to let my teeth deteriorate and be ruined for the rest of my life. I paid £1.5k for treatment and I’m just glad that my teeth are fixed. I put it on my credit card and will be paying it off for ages but that’s better than having rotten teeth.

It worries me.

Ours closed down 3 years ago and it been impossible.

We managed 4 months ago to get the children in 25 miles away .
The receptionist is Awful x 1000000 but at least they have been seen.

My husband and I haven't got in . Eventually we will have to go private.

As i assume is the government's plan. They have managed it very effectively

@Kendodd I think dental treatment is classified as low hanging fruit. Maybe a lot of people dont realize it yet as they don't need critical dental treatment yet?

I can't imagine that anyone would be overjoyed at being forced to spend hundreds and thousands on essential dental treatment. I have the money but i still feel like wow its really expensive! And of course a lot of people wouldn't be able to afford it!

Our wonderful NHS is being wound down and ground down. I am beyond furious that Boris and co had the brass neck to stand on the doorstep clapping for a once proud service that is being brought to it's knees by a long term deprivation of investment.

The dentists were the first to go. GP services are already well on their way to being a shadow of their former selves. I don't believe we will ever be abletto see GPs face to face in the way we used to. More and more stress is being placed on A and E services who are doing their best to pick up the pieces. They cannot continue to do this for much longer.

Those with the power to do something about this don't give a damn. They and their families benefit from the private health care system that they can well afford. No doubt staffed by many health care professionals who benefitted from tax payers funding their university courses and training placements.

@amillionmenonmars We have private health insurance but it doesn't cover lots of things. Childbirth as an obvious example.

Dh had a very successful abscess operation done privately but on another occasion when he had another abscess, the private GP told him to go to A & E. Indeed private hospitals don't have A & E.

So we would wind up with a crap system where there would be unequal access to procedures regardless of your personal financial situation. Unless of course you have money to go abroad for treatment

It’s been like this since I was at school 25 years ago. That was under the Major government. I don’t remember things improving under Labour as I still had to go private post-1997 election. No more NHS dentists appeared in the intervening years.

Very, very few countries offer free dental care though. NHS was one of the very few who cover all costs. Most other countries cover their dental costs via a topped up private system, or co-pay.

NHS was one of the very few who cover all costs. Most other countries cover their dental costs via a topped up private system, or co-pay.

That's exactly how nhs treatment works here though. Only children and benefit claiments get free treatment. Even they can't find an NHS dentist though so if you can't afford to pay private prices you get no treatment.