To think Dentists are greedy and disgrace

[Thisismynamenow]

I have a hole in my tooth (thanks pregnancy for the poor teeth!)

My nhs dentist has apparentpy cancelled their nhs contract to go private (without telling patients) and not a single dentist within 20 miles is willing to take on nhs, but everyone can offer same day private appointments.

I know the nhs is underfunded but it's disgusting dentists are allowed to be only private, they should be made to be half nhs!

My tooth is killing me, I can't afford the £400 I've been quoted for the filling (it's a tiny hole, literally a pin hole!) And the hopsitall will only pull it which I don't want. Its annoying me more as i currently have a maternity exemption which I can't use.

Aibu to think dentists are greedy, and that it shouldn't be allowed?

YANBU... I am in the exact same situation being pregnant and have phoned every dentist up to a 30 mile radius with no luck. The worst thing is I am registered with a dentist who have decided to throw all NHS patients off their books, couldnt see a dentist once during my previous pregnanxy for same reasons and my almost 2 year old daughter has never been to a dentist, I can't register her and can't afford to pay £50 for her 12 teeth to be checked in a 1 minute appointment

£400 for a tiny hole? I've just had a private filling and it was £125. Shop around.

I've just spent £600 after my first dental appt in over 5 years. I had to get one (white) filling, a hygiene appt and a new retainer (bonded and one I can use at night). I don't mind being private although I can barely afford it. The thing that bothers me is I can't get my children (two under 10) in an NHS dentist in our town or the surrounding towns so I have to pay for them to go private too. It's definitely underfunded and a disgrace.

Our government's incredible incompetence over the last decade has exacerbated an already bad situation. Many people haven't really realised what the state of the government finances mean. The UK government has had a current account deficit for decades, unlike Germany. The Covid furloughs weren't for free. Neither was the ongoing Brexit lunacy. And funding energy bills through taxation and allowing companies to bank billions in profits on essential utilities is the nail in the coffin. Our childrens' standard of living will be so low that all the problems of right now will seem like halcyon days.

It is disgusting, my mum is currently barely able to speak because of a tooth problem but no dentist will take her. (No money to pay privately)

I have a dentist friend and they say that after paying all their insurance and other costs, the pay really isn't that good at all and they feel it wasn't worth all the training.

I know another two dentists who went back to med school to train as doctors.

even pensioners have to pay nhs costs for a dentist - if they are lucky enough to find an nhs dentist.
disgraceful

My friend left dentistry because of the stress, it's apparently one of the professional careers with the highest suicide rate. So I think theres a lot more to the job than what people think and I dont think they get paid what people think either. She used to say how for many NHS appointments the nhs didnt actually reimburse the cost of the products nevermind for the staff, xrays- and that money actually came out of her monthly salary so she effectively lost money doing nhs work. I think it's disgusting people are in pain but it's hardly dentists fault, I wouldnt want to work for free

We have to have a charity dentist come to our town as no NHS provision. People are pulling their own teeth out

Not just dentists but opticians, GPS, council funded social care, the free nursery hours, all are under funded by the government, councils though are probably the worst because government cuts way of raisins revenue and then reduces what it gives back (ie if a social home is sold under right to buy the money goes to the treasury and the council gets about 10%, but the council has to replace the stock from their budget)

councils also are shockingly bad at paying as well. People go on about big businesses exploiting suppliers councils are the worst I’ve seen many companies go bust because of tardy council payment that goes back year and years.

so back to the point of the OP the issue at hand is partly down to funding, partly down to greed and dentistry over the years isn’t one that you can say is only down to the Conservatives.

Overview.

however the current situation has been exacerbated by poor funding and lack of investment in new dentists

I don’t get this attitude. Mine went private under the Major government. No more NHS dentists appeared in my area under either Blair/Brown.

Oh well, ignore the people who work in dentistry and the official figures. You don't have direct experience of it so it can't be true.

OP the NHS currently only funds dental places for about half of the population, and declining. It's currently very hard for small dentists to get an NHS contract- a lot have been dropped by the NHS in my area. It's quite unlikely your dentist made this decision from greed alone.

I’m no dentist, but surely using these temporary filling kits beyond a couple of days is a bad idea? You could trap anything inside the tooth and what what a small hole turn to a raging infection pretty quickly?
AFAIK they aren’t designed for long term use though I Understand the desperation.

www.mydentist.co.uk/patient-information/myoptions-affordable-private-treatment

MyDentyst do very reasonably priced private dentistry. Husband paid £90 for a filling last month. You pay for your appointment up front but they take it off of the bill total on the day.

*MyDentist

Bingo. Seriously, the number of people who seem tho think others should dedicate half their time to a good cause without living their own lives that way astounds me.

The government sets the amount of NHS work available, and the government grants an NHS contract. A practice cannot just say I'm doing 50% NHS without a contract. The government grants them x amount of NHS work per year

It often works out as less than minimum wage for a dentist to provide treatment on the NHS , and sometimes will be at a loss if there's lab work involved. No one should be forced to work for free or for less than minimum wage, and like fuck am I working for free. The NHS does not pay enough to maintain practices or equipment.

All fees go to the government and then the government pays the practice for their work. It matters not one jot to a dentist whether you are exempt or not.

Yes of course NHS dentistry should be funded, but actually private prices are what it costs to provide decent NHS dentistry. Everyone wants NHS dentistry but isn't prepared to acknowledge how much this would cost the country

They do work for the NHS for years. Then they go private. It's not some sort of servitude and they themselves do pay thousands in fees to train. You can't claim a lifetime of service anymore than you could claim the same for every lawyer, accountant, vet, architect any other profession. Ridiculous

YABU - Dentists leave or retire early due to the stress. I expect the govt don’t give enough money to dentists - so they leave.

Where I'm from the "NHS" queues to see a dentist are ridiculous and they can't fulfill everyone's needs so they give vouchers for the basic check ups to use private. Patient pays the same as they would in NHS and then NHS has a deal with the dentist and pays the difference.

When I first moved to UK I didn't realise how lucky I was thay the first dentist I called took me in as nhs patient. I thought i was going private but she juat asked my nhs number. Dental care should really be available.

@Carrotzen I’m broadly in agreement but being honest, private treatment isn’t really what it would cost to provide an nhs service? Private treatment involves profit. Bupa etc are making a nice little amount out of all of us paying private fees. I’m pretty sure more dentists would do nhs work if it was more financially viable, the entire system needs a revamp

The exemption makes no difference at all to the dentist. The NHS pay the extra.

That’s not what that sort of filling should cost.

Stop voting tory.

If your tooth is killing you it is not a tiny hole, if you having pain it means the decay is close to the pulp or even into pulp. You haven't been charged £400 to fill a pin hole, that might be what you can see from the outside but it's not the extent of decay

If I could be paid more money for doing the exact same job then best believe I would do it. I don't actually believe that many people would be content with the really low funding they receive from the NHS in lieu of a fair and reasonable wage for their training and knowledge. The issue is that they are not funded sufficiently and if people want a free at point of use/lower price at point of use service then lobbying the government is the place to start rather than dentists.