AIBU to think the Tories have quietly privatised NHS dentistry?

[Kendodd]

Vast swathes of the country it's impossible to get an NHS dentist. I'm on some discussion boards for Ukraine, advice on there seems to be return to Ukraine if you need dental treatment as you won't find it in the UK.

And for some reason people trust the Tories with the rest of the NHS.

I’m in the Midlands and can’t get registered anywhere for an NHS dentist, it’s madness.

YANBU

It’s been like that for years. Yes it’s got worse but it’s been difficult to find an NHS dentist for years. I don’t mind paying for private dentistry for me and my children as I’ve seen 1st hand how much better it is, more preventative.

Yes, they've been doing that for years. They've been doing this to the actual NHS for years too, and that too is already happening. Can't get a dr's appt here for nearly a month, and it's been great for the govt to be able to blame Brexit/Covid/lockdown, when in reality it's been a wet dream for the Tories to dismantle the NHS for decades.
It makes me so sad but I also don't understand why no one seems to see it or care. And then we had to sit there and clap for the NHS when they're chronically underfunding it. It's sickening.

YABU OP, as it wasn't possible for me to get an NHS dentist in the 2000s, with a Labour government.

That's correct, they changed the dentists contracts and I remember all of a sudden nobody could an NHS dentist. Disappointing I know for all the Boris bashers I know 😅
Not to mention the £££ billions in debt from Bliars PFI which we are still paying off

This, I've never managed to find one. Even during labour government

My local dentist stopped taking NHS patients when I was a kid, so about 25 years ago! It's been a problem my entire lifetime.

Yep I agree. We used to have one but couldn't go during Covid amc them got dropped off the list as we hadn't been during Covid.

The poor will have black holes teeth again, like Victorian times

Totally agree. I had this conversation earlier today.

I've had to go private for the first time in my 48 years.

Yep, not had a NHS dentist since Blair was PM. Also sued the local NHS hospital over my shit cancer care and GP for delayed diagnosis around that time.

Plus ca change.

Yanbu I was recently chucked off my dentist's nhs patient list and now have to find an extra £72 a month for basic care for me and my asd adult son and 2 other kids. Not a single nhs dentist to be found where I live.

This!

As much as I despise this current "government", the dentistry thing was a Labour fuck up, along with the PFI disaster which is the biggest cause of harm to the NHS.

YANBU, and I'm a (majority) NHS

Eyes, ears and teeth, completely ignored by the NHS now.

Considering many serious conditions can be diagnosed early or even prevented by regular eye tests/dental checks/hearing checks it really is a false economy.

dentist

Agreed. Haven't been able to get an appointment. Told I need to wait 2 months for a chance of joining - unless I want to go private, in which case I have a 2 week wait...

Yep, I went into my dentist who I'd been going to for years for my appointment and they asked me to fill out a form. Which I did until I got to the bit about bank details. Thats when they told me I had to take out private insurance with them. Labour govt in about 2005. Ish.

This is your brain on twitter hot takes and anti tory policies and like to proclaim others lack critical thinking...

It's peak social media activism, you're essentially showing that the no doubt russle degree is worthless when your initial statement is utterly deviod of any eleemnt of actual political history.

The tories wanting to sell of the NHS is an old meme from the 80's, the only government to ramp up the privatisation was under Blair.

To be fair, it's the current contract which puts a limit on how much nhs dentistry a practice can do. And that was implemented by a labour government.

It changed in the early 90s, must have been under Major. I knew someone who worked on it.

And the Tories have a 12 years in power to fix things, instead, they've turbocharged decline in provision.
It so bad refugees are advising each other to return to an active war zone if they need a dentist.

It was actually 1990 when the contract change to the current model, under John Major. So not the current government, but a Tory government nonetheless.

I’m in the South East and have never had a problem finding a dentist and have even had an extraction at my local hospital which was exceedingly efficient and free. You do need to go regularly if you want to remain on the list though. I know this doesn’t change the situation for other people but it’s unfair to project the idea that the whole of the U.K. is the same.

It was the early 90s when the dentists all started going private. I remember as a child all the dentists in the town agreed between themselves to go private, but keep children NHS. Everyone was outraged, but because they all went together, it was a rural area, residents had no other option.