To think that free NHS dentistry should be available to all children and especially ones with disabilities.

[Gtsr443]

My disabled child is in receipt of DLA. He cannot get to see an NHS dentist because there are no NHS spaces in our county at all. None.
There is a surgery in the next county 2 hours away who might consider him but they will only take him on if I sign up to Denplan.
Surely this is extortion?

You've summed up the situation in your post - there are precious few NHS dentists now, so the rest can dictate terms. Remember this at the next election.

This is where I feel like a terrible parent. My children have never gone to a dentist. There are no NHS ones left around here that take patients and we can’t afford private.

I spoke to our Tory MP. He told me to cut down on takeaways and just pay for it.
We can't afford bloody takeaways.
Just when you think this govt can't sink any lower.

No OP, it's not extortion.

The state of NHS dentistry is appalling though, I agree with you there.

Can I ask how you know there are no spaces?

I went on the NHS dentist site and it said none available, but I called around and one dentist (luckily my very local one!) was taking NHS patients on a waiting list, but we only had to wait 3 days to get on. Have you tried posting on a local fb site to ask, or calling around?

There have never have been “NHS dentists”. They are all private businesses. Some choose to contract with the NHS but nobody can make them. Just like nobody can make you work for the NHS, OP.

I thought NHS dentistry had to be available to children. My dentist went private but they kept my children on as NHS patients.

My son has SEN and sees the community dentistry team referred by our private dentist, his treatment is free.
Do you have that service available?

When my children were little 20 years ago under the labour government I had to pay a private dentist for myself before they would take on my children as NHS patients. All the dentists around here were the same - they would all take child patients on the NHS only if a parent signed up as a paying patient.

I agree with you that this is a shit situation, but you are wrong to think it’s one that would be better under labour.

@ShirleyPhallus yes tried everything. Called pretty much all of them. Hoped that they would be compassionate about a disabled child but no. Nothing.

They aren't dictating terms. They are voting with their feet and limiting low paid NHS work.

No they dont have to. Many practices aren't bothering to contract their services to the NHS anymore as they're actually losing money on some appointments- there's no obligation for them to do so. Generally private practices will see children under 5 for free if a parent is registered as a private patient and has had an appointment within a reasonable time frame but you pay for any treatments they need. If you can secure a place as an NHS patient (rare as hens teeth) then yes children are free. The government have been purposefully making cuts to funding and whatever else for many years, changes to contracts just makes it unsustainable for many practices.

I think they need to bring back school dentists; we used to get a quick visual inspection - I don't know what happened if work needed doing - presumably parents contacted.
Nowadays, it would probably be possible to have a mobile surgery to park in the school grounds. That would be a very efficient way of doing check-ups, and would ensure everyone except the home-educated is seen. You'd then need a system to ensure that any work needing doing can be followed up - but perhaps if you take away the check-ups from the regular dentists, and perhaps increase the payments for follow-up work, they could take that on.

Agree op. My dc were under a NHS dentist, a terrible one, that we had to wait 3 years for. After a year they informed me that they no longer do 6 month check ups and will only see the dc if they are in pain. Took ds6 in when he was in pain and was told that he needs an extraction, and the waiting list for that is 18 months.

How the fuck is that acceptable? It's an absolute disgrace.

@TomatoSandwiches no thank you for that. I shall pursue it. It's never even been suggested to me even when discussing his needs with GP.

I second this. Have you asked for a referral to the special care dental service that covers your area? DS1 and DS3 are under the special care community dental team and they are brilliant.

IMHO your MP deserves a swift kick in the knackers for saying that. I know I shouldn't condone violence towards our elected representatives but for fuck's actual sake.

Sympathies, OP. We have an NHS dentist, but they won't book anyone for an appointment unless there's an emergency, because most of the dentists in the practice went back to Poland during Covid/Brexit. The kids haven't seen a dentist for 2 or 3 years. So I signed up for a private dentist at the same time (yeah, I know naughty naughty but what are you going to do? 🤷‍♀️). The deal was supposed to be if I was a private patient the kids got free NHS dental care- then they told me THEIR NHS dentist had left so there was no one to see the kids!! 😡

That reminds me- it's time for another round of phone calls to see if the situation has changed at either of these dentists....

Ahh OK I must just have been lucky then!

X post. It’s worth asking for a referral.

@lanthanum absolutely agree.
@PumpkinSpiceLattePlease 18 months? Jesus that's appalling.

I don’t think being disabled should make any difference in access to normal nhs dentists. Every child should be able to access one.

But for children who can’t access normal dentists the access to specialist dental services should be better. It’s the only way DS can manage but the wait is so long now for new patients

When I moved areas I had to ring a centralised number and put my children on the nhs dentist waiting list - we put ourselves on too. The kids got a dentist allocated to them after about 6 months. We didn’t so we ended up going private and the kids get free (nhs) treatment there until they are 18. So long as we go for check ups regularly, which we obviously have to pay for.

Yup. I had to beg ex to take DD as there was a space at a dentists half an hour from his, which is 3 hours away from us on public transport already. Couldn’t find any near us at all. We’ve been on a waiting list for 3 years but she was in pain so needed seeing.

It's a shame that it's lucky to be able to get children to see a dentist but it is the case sadly. It's not the fault of dentists though, not many people would work for a loss, its squarely with the government and sadly I reckon GPs will be similar in the not too distant future.

As long as dentists are self employed and have a business to run, they are not going to take on NHS patients as their time is more profitably used by treating patients privately. An alternative would be to set up dentistry practices within a hospital setting, equipped by NHS and dentists, dental nurses and hygienists being NHS employees. They could also visit schools to check up on all children. Remember school dentists?