Disgusted By Dentists Behaviour!!!

[Windchangeface]

We moved home week before the pandemic and then non of the dentists were taking on patients.

This made me very nervous, I kept an eye out to jump as soon as they opened up.

Well...as of a few weeks ago 3/5 practises within a 15 mile radius of us put up notices on their websites ‘taking on new patients’ great I rang to register me, DH and small DS. But oh no, they aren’t taking on any NHS patients only private or Denplan! (Would cost us a minimum of £50 per month and I’m currently pregnant so should be free anyway). The receptionists at all 3 massively tried to sell me Denplan and actually made me feel like a total sponge for asking about NHS.

‘Most families prefer Denplan’ erm sorry Shannon but I highly doubt ‘most’ families prefer to spend £50+ per month on something that should be £20 a visit for them and free for their kids!

One of the receptionists even told me (in a very snooty tone) ‘no we aren’t taking NHS patients we’ve got enough of those) another stated ‘we’ve met our quota for NHS so are only taking paying patients’.

Given DH is a Dr who spends all day looking after hospital patients free of charge I’m at a loss to understand why dentists feel they’re above the NHS.

Horrible, elitist attitude excluding people who can’t afford to pay from adequate healthcare and forcing those who can to pay high premiums they shouldn’t have to!

Do you not hear how entitled you sound!!!
As a wife of junior doctor you will eventually be
earning significantly more, and like nursery fees, I’m sorry but you will just have to fund it

So because we’ll earn a good income in the future we should be able to find money we don’t easily have now in order to pay for essential health care for my pregnant self and kids...despite the fact it should be free and covered under the taxes we pay?

And I’m the one who sounds entitled? Can only assume you don’t live in the real world. I can’t pay the dentist with money my DH might earn in 4-5 years time you do understand that right?

You are over 25 years too late to this party unfortunately OP. I couldn't get an NHS dentist in Bristol in 1996. My Edinburgh dentist went private in 2000. The dentist I have now is NHS. Anything beyond bog standard dentistry was private anyway ie white fillings on back teeth etc. Having seen her last week she says shes going to have to offer a mixed private and NHS if she's to stay afloat. This is not a dentists problem this is a government problem.

This has been going on for a while it isn't new
From your outrage I thought he'd propositioned you

NHS pay is not the end of the story though is it. Having recently retired from a company with a final salary/career average scheme the benefit of the pension is huge compared to a private pension.

My DH has a private pension and whilst its fine its nothing compared to mine in terms of benefits and guarantees. I get a straightforward pension for the rest of my life. No annuity to apply for, joint/versus single annunity policies which a lot of people dont understand.

Additionally there will always be a need for doctors and nurses worldwide. Its truly a job for life. You cannot say this about the most other professions and roles.

I haven’t seen a dentist in over 20 years.

• According to a recent NHS survey, a junior doctor can earn as little as £23,448 pa. They can work 50+ hours a week which limits their partner’s earning potential if they have children.

The average nurse salary is £25,578. No one would be telling OP to pay up and go private if her DH was a nurse (and with good reason too!)*

THIS!!!
1000x this!!!

DH does earn more than the basic figure quoted but once all the mandatory deductions are taken and fees paid (it costs him to work as a dr) then it’s certainly not a high wage especially for our area and not ‘you should be paying for private care’ money!!! Also yes his shifts massively limit my ability to work. Although I do hold a pt office job.

@Viviennemary

I was feeling some sympathy till I read your DH is a doctor. So you can afford to pay.

@Viviennemary and everyone else trotting out this nonsense, look at the many posts here pointing out what junior doctors earn. They're not well paid at all, especially when you look at the hours they work.

I moved house (and areas) 25 years ago and had to wait several years before I could get on to a dentist list as an NHS patient. This is not a new problem at all, and I highly doubt it's got anything to do with the pandemic.

You always, without fail, every single post you make, point out that 'DH is a doctor'.

Remember that anyone in the op's area will be facing this, unemployed and disabled people who couldn't possibly pay £50 per month. It's totally unfair and I don't know why access to medical care isn't obligatory.

Do you not hear how entitled you sound

Not entitled at all. There is an entitlement to an NHS dentist but it is theoretical only.

As for dentists not being able to cope on NHS £££, they were paid for doing nothing for months last year.

When your darling husband can't give a patient the best treatment because the NHS won't/can't fund it, I assume he pays for it out of pocket for them? Because that's what you expect dentists to do.

Then OP should have had the sense to wait a year or two till her family income could support her, her DH and their brood. No sympathy whatsoever.

I don't see how what your H does for a job is relevant @Windchangeface

The fact is you moved house and have just found out that NHS dentists are few and far between.

So you have a choice- find one further afield, use dental insurance, or pay as you go.

All the stuff about your H's salary is irrelevant. BUT if you wanted to prioritise health/ dental care, presumably you could forgo 'luxuries' like holidays and entertainment. Other people often make that choice.

Being NHS doesn't mean you don't pay anything. I went yesterday and had an appointment incl x-rays (just a standard check up) and it was £23. The children were free.

We're a year overdue for appointments because of COVID but other than that I can't complain.

It must be area dependant, we don't have any issue seeing NHS dentists here (south east). We have private healthcare insurance but have never bothered with a dentistry plan because we haven't needed it.

I broke my back tooth in half on a toffee over Christmas, thankfully it didn’t cause any pain, I went to my dentist who put in a temporary filling and said it needed capping and went in to tell me about the porcelain cap and the silver cap, I said I’d go for the porcelain one and she said that’s £800 only available on private so I then opted for silver which is Nhs, only to be told they were only doing private at the moment as they had no funding left for Nhs, guess who still has her temporary filling

@Windchangeface I am at some of the responses on here. How very dare you expect to benefit from a health service that you pay in to, there is no choice to opt out of and you are entitled to use! The system is wrong not you. It does make me cross when people try to make out that the NHS is a charitable favour not a funded body funded by YOU. Yes it can’t ‘pay for everything’ but it is meant to include dentistry. If it can’t then it shouldn’t say it can and take money for doing so. It should adhere to its principles.

For what it is worth I recognise the eye roll you mention in your OP when asking to register. I have lived in my village 15 years. There is an NHS dentist that is much praised and recommended. I have to go to one near my work 40 miles away (and yes I am grateful to have one at all and yes they do have my real address, they know I’m not ‘local’) as every time I have asked here there is no room. Fair enough, that’s the message but it IS always delivered with a tut and an expression of what a fool I am for even asking. I’ve joked with other people in the village in the same position that there must be a secret handshake.

You are entitled to have an NHS dentist and there used to be a number to call and request the nearest one. I did do this and got told to go 20 miles north when my work is south so I went with the southern one.

I wish our dentist would accept Denplan! My dentist has their quota of Denplan patients too. I'd jump at the chance of it, OP.

@MsTSwift

If your dh is a doctor surely you can afford to pay? Always assume we have to pay for dental work don’t think the state can stretch to paying for the entire nations dental care.

Yes, because all doctors earn a fortune...

Your DH is a doctor? I don't believe you can't afford to baby, even if just temporarily until you find an NHS dentist.

I agree that dentistry should come under the NHS umbrella (and it used to), but it doesn't and we have to just suck it up, I'm afraid.

I agree with you OP, I don’t pay for the dentist but also struggle to find a NHS dentist, I can’t afford to pay for treatment and because of this I have lost quite a few teeth, because I can’t afford to pay private costs I have to take what ever I can find and often to save money a NHS dentist would rather extract a tooth than repair it, I had a tooth out last year that could have been fixed with a root canal. Obviously if could afford it I would have my teeth sorted out but I can’t so I’m slowly losing all my teeth. I agree that all children should get free dentistry and that it should be covered by the NHS, teeth are health related, if your teeth go bad it can cause many other health issues.

@Windchangeface and for all those saying you can afford private - that is irrelevant. You could be the UK version of Bill Gates. If you pay your tax you should receive the service or as much of a service as the next person. This is the principle of a public funded service. It is not a charity.

I agree . (Eyes up my unused maternity exemption )I chipped a tooth and 2weeks in pain trying to get a dentist . Finally Registered as a private patient - emergency appointment that same day . £100+ for appointment , X-ray & Antibiotics for abscess in the end.

In my area you can Google who is taking nhs patients. I was with a good dentist as an nhs patient for a few years. It then got taken over by someone who obviously didn't want nhs patients. He kept trying to push us to have private stuff done. Once I made an appointment and checked the nhs price for something on the phone. When I arrived he said he'd have to cancel the appointment and started trying to persuade me to have private stuff done next time I came. I moved to another local place taking nhs patients and he was much better and nicer. He retired and someone else took over and he was just as nice and not pushing private treatments all the time.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

Your DH is a doctor? I don't believe you can't afford to baby, even if just temporarily until you find an NHS dentist.

I agree that dentistry should come under the NHS umbrella (and it used to), but it doesn't and we have to just suck it up, I'm afraid.

OPs husbands job is totally irrelevant. And Doctors are not rolling in money anyway- despite what people on here choose to believe.

And no as a nation we should not be “sucking it up” we should demand that our Government provides a decent healthcare service -as we are all actually paying for it and we can as a nation afford it.