AIBU to think that dentists should take on children?

[ChocolateQuiltedShitpig]

I have been calling round all morning to try and get my 16m old DS registered and no one is taking on because of Covid.

I appreciate this is out of their control but what are we supposed to do now? Just leave our children grow up without being seen by one?

Even my own dentist wont register him :( HELP

There are only so many NHS patients that they can take and only so many private patients that they can fit into a day
Sadly it's been like this for years, it's nothing new.
You could try further afield though.

It’s an awful situation, I was supposed to have a check up April 2020. Our dentist has just started booking adult check ups, the next appointment available is in March 2022!
DH has had an emergency appointment with them for a broken tooth that developed an infection repeatedly. They gave him antibiotics and booked him in to have the tooth removed - he had to wait 7 months for the appointment to have it removed because they are only working at 50% capacity due to ventilating the room between patients. They just don’t have the appointments available to be able to take patients on. I’ve no idea what people are supposed to do.

What do you suppose they do? Kick someone else off the register for your child?

If they are full, they are full. There are only so many NHS dentists.
You could always go private.

It's so frightening. I'm worried for our kids. I brush his teeth twice a day for 2 minutes. I also restrict sugary foods but he has developed a yellowing at root of front lower tooth. Stressed

People should be able to access affordable dental care in a timely fashion. That’s not too much to ask for a rich nation like the UK.

Not having access to dental care costs more in the long run.

@CactusFlowers

People should be able to access affordable dental care in a timely fashion. That’s not too much to ask for a rich nation like the UK.

Not having access to dental care costs more in the long run.

This ^^

@ChocolateQuiltedShitpig

It's so frightening. I'm worried for our kids. I brush his teeth twice a day for 2 minutes. I also restrict sugary foods but he has developed a yellowing at root of front lower tooth. Stressed

I’m surprised you’re managing a full 2 minutes brushing with a 16 month old. If it helps, our dentist said it really isn’t necessary at that age, though obviously still good to develop the habit of twice a day brushing.

FWIW, I don’t think your experience is necessarily the case everywhere as we registered DS with a dentist locally at the beginning of the pandemic and he’s been seen for check ups every 6 months since. So I’d probably just keep trying until you find somewhere that has space.

I couldn't get my dc an nhs dentist when we relocated. Dc is 9 and is likely to need braces so critically important to get her seen to. I registered with a private dentist, had a check up myself and they allow dc of registered patients nhs care. Could you try this?

Have you checked www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist
Most of dentists in my area take on children up to the age of 18. Yes long wait for an appointment but better than not having one

So there are 2 methods of payment:
NHS- do x amount of “activity” for x amount of money. Once activity done no more money until April.
Private- you pay the dentist in the same way you pay for your child to be fed, clothed, entertained, haircuts etc.
Most NHS will either have done their activity or it’s accounted for. Many booked up until February. They also have to save some for urgent care as that is supposed to be prioritised. Although if you are booked up until February you can’t do urgent either.
Private is going to be the way forward. Join a plan. We charge £20 to do a kids check up, advice and fluoride application. Hardly a fortune if you can afford to have a child.
I agree that in an ideal world kids would be free. The NHS is broken. NHS dentistry is dying. It’s time to opt out.

I would write to your MP about it. Its awful the inability to access affordable dental care. IMO dental care has pretty much been privatised in England, we need to kick up a political stink about it if we hope to turn it around. Unless of course no NHS dental care is what we want as a country, this might well be what many, many people do want.

When ds was a baby one local dentist agreed to take on any child as an NHS patient which is how it should be.

It’s so frustrating- yes it’s how it should be but it isn’t how it is and it won’t get any better under a Tory government.
I find people’s attitude to Dentistry in this country bizarre. For lots of other things they accept you get what you pay for but not healthcare!

@TrickOrTreat21x oh do fuck off. As if that's what I'm saying? I simply asked what I'm supposed to do.

And I'm a stinking peasant so can't afford to pay £90 for a check up which is what I've been quoted today.

Write to your MP op, I'm going to write to mine about it. It might not make any immediate difference to your child but if enough people complain instead of just letting the gov get away with the stealth privatisation it might make things better for other children.

I agree that in an ideal world kids would be free. The NHS is broken. NHS dentistry is dying. It’s time to opt out.

Or, we could fight to keep it and fund it better as that will be better and cheaper for everyone. If we just let it slide, GPs will be next.
I would much, much rather pay the equivalent or more than the cost of private treatment in tax so that both mine AND the op's child can have good quality free dental care.

Contact your local cal CCG (if I. England)
I think they have a duty to find you someone, although I think I remember reading somewhere that children don’t have to be seen until 2.

If there’s no spaces then there’s no spaces. I expect there are plenty of adults who can’t get a dentist. I’m just about to move city and am expecting problems with this 😢

Not much help but at my surgery they see children of private patients under nhs (dentist no longer sees any adult nhs patients, but still see children as nhs). It's not on, your own dentist should be more accommodating. At your little ones age all he needs is a very brief check in his mouth - even on the end of your appointments!!

@ChocolateQuiltedShitpig we had this issue and de used to go private for them to have a check up. We're in London and it only cost £30.. I'd ring around to get a better figure.

If you are already registered with a dentist, they should be obliged to take your child.

My dentist is private and all the kids get seen free on the NHS there. Both also have free orthodontist care via him.

I can see him but it's only a cursory look now even privately.

Surely any private dentist is the same?

Of course, children should be able to have free, regular dental check-ups. So YANBU.

But the reality is that the system is broken. My 4yo DC has been registered with an NHS dentist from around 6 months but they haven't done any children's check-ups since before Covid and couldn't give me a date for when they would be able to offer my DC one. So we booked a private appointment for them.

£90 seems expensive for a children's check-up, though. Round here, they're around £30-£60 (and sometimes free if the parent is a patient at the practice). I paid around £35 for my DC. So I'd look around because I would have thought you'd get something a lot cheaper than £90.

He’s a baby I really wouldn’t worry, as far as I know most dentists take on patients when they’re a lot older. Ask to be put on the waiting list

Also, for when your little one is a bit older, tooth-friendly lollipops are good for kids at risk of tooth decay.