To think that dental care is now only for the wealthy in the UK

[Tygertiger]

I would love to be considered U here and if I am, please explain it to me.

I have been in the privileged position until now of having an NHS dentist. Obviously I still pay a fee for every visit (not entitled to free healthcare) but it’s still cheaper than private dental fees. We’ve now been told that our practice is going private as of next year and will offer monthly payment plans, the cheapest of which is £19 a month. I’ve been on the NHS site and there are no other NHS dentists in the local area, at all.

So how do poor people afford to go to the dentist? If they can’t afford a monthly insurance plan?

People on benefits get free dental care

The top and the bottom get everything

The middle band don't qualify for loads of free stuff but also don't have loads of money to go private for everything. That band is getting wider and more and more squeezed.

If you can't be rich, you might as well do very little and qualify for all the free stuff. That is becoming the logical solution for more people.

Only if they can find an NHS dentist which are becoming quite rare now.

People on benefits don't get free treatment when there isn't NHS dentists to provide a NHS dental service.

I hear you OP. I've written to my MP about this in my area.

If you have a dentist to start with. Is impossible to get one now.

There are almost 0 NHS dentists so nobody can access it.

That £19 won’t cover much, either - any treatment you need will come to £100 minimum on top.

Like many, I was booted off my NHS dentist for not attending for 12 months when they were fucking shut for 18 months due to covid.

I was set to start treatment for periodontal disease prior to the first lockdown. It never happened. Private treatment is in the thousands.

Im 36, I work full time, I make decent money but I cannot afford it, so I guess I’m stuck watching my gums recede even further (can already see the roots of several) and by 40, I’ll likely have none left.

People on certain benefits only get free dental care if they have access to an NHS dentist. So they will have the same issue as the OP if their dentist goes private.

A private dentist won't provide free treatment even if the person would be entitled to free treatment on the NHS.

People do not go !...I still have an NHS dentist but you need to wait months for an appointment and often told that the funding for root canals etc has run out so need to pay...I just had my front teeth all done in turkey, only composite bonding, but cost here was £240 a tooth and I paid £45 in turkey and £60 for one root canal, which is actually cheaper than the uk nhs banding fee. Also a lot of uk payment plans dont include the expensive work so not worth having.

Basically there is going to be a generation of people with teeth that their grandparents generation had ! It is absolutely disgusting and not how people should have to live.
Poor dental health causes so many other health problems!
Poor people are not just people on benefits as above poster has suggested and free dental care is only available from NHS dentists ,who are disappearing fast .

But do they get it from private dentists? Or just from NHS? There are literally no NHS dentists within 20 miles of where I live, I’ve been researching this afternoon.

And what if you’re not on benefits but still struggling? An annual check-up on the NHS for people who pay fees is just under £25. That’s what I’ve been paying. But now I won’t be able to do that and if I want to continue to have check-ups I have to sign up to a monthly payment plan, prices from £19 a month. I will struggle to afford that and some people will definitely no longer be able to see a dentist, surely.

I pay private for my dc. Ds needed a lot of work and it crippled me. I go to the free dental school.

YANBU I've never had an NHS dentist my whole adult life. It's just getting worse but this has been about three decades in the making.

It is a fucking disgrace that people in one of the wealthiest countries in the world can’t access affordable dental care.

@Sazzling I agree. But how do you do that? I think you have to practically be on the poverty line before you get eg free dental care.

We have a dwindling tax base which are net contributers to public services and growing demographic who are net users of public services.

The tax burden is going to get higher and higher while the standard of living is going to go down.

IMO the best option is to emigrate.

I do worry about things like oral cancers going amiss, due to the lack of NHS dentists.
Dentistry is more than just checking for holes in your teeth. Bad oral heath can have an effect on the rest of your body

Private dentists are private for everyone. I also have a private dentist in uk, and she only sees children up to age 16 on nhs and then switches them to private. some will only take fee payers only....the tony blair govt changed the contracts so not worth doing nhs, contracts not been amended since.

Yanbu. My DC's dentist treats NHS patients for just four hours a week. It's a nightmare juggling appointments between school and work.

Where to? The whole of the west has the same issue - the population curve (more old and fewer working age) for a start. I know Mumsnet thinks the EU is a utopia where everything is dandy, but I don't buy it.

Any solution, I'd think, would be around going somewhere wihth lower wages, so we'd be richer in comparison (eg Portugal) rather than there being a place where everything is lovely and plentiful for everyone

What do you think?

It's almost like it's being slowly privatised right under our noses! I've recently accepted the way things are and signed my family all up to private dental care. Denplan is £30 a month for a family of 4. I know not everyone could spare that atm and it's tough. I'm just hoping we will always have access to free emergency care, cancer care, mental health, maternity services etc

I called my local dentist the other day to see if I could register as a private patient. They said myself, DH and the kids could all register as NHS patients. Don't know if it's because we're in London and lots of people have moved out to the burbs post covid but I nearly fell off my chair

What do you get for your £19? That's what I pay and I get 2 dental check ups a year and 4 hygienist appointments. I recently needed antibiotics and a root canal and it was all included. I did have to pay extra for x-rays.

I'm still got a NHS dentist but if she gave up I totally agree op....it's a huge worry

I had to pay privately for my DC as they had toothache and the NHS wouldn’t see them. Outrageous!
I have decayed teeth and can’t afford treatment for myself. It’s shocking.

@Sazzling yes Portugal would be a possibility but Brexit...

Our plan is to go to Asia, don't want to say where as outing. But it's a place with a lot of foreign investment, a growing economy, a young well educated population. We have connections there.

Cost of living is 80% cheaper than the UK. We could retire and have plenty to live on including private health care. DCs will emigrate too. The UK has had it's heyday and even with a change of government I can't see things improving. We're heavily in debt and brexit is like an anchor dragging on growth.

Sorry to be doom and gloom but it's the reality.

Mine did this recently and I went straight on the NHS site and found a new one. So in this area YABU but I recognise not all areas are so lucky