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?

most of the dentists in the practice went back to Poland during Covid/Brexit.
**
Yes same here. No warning. In fact it was the day before a routine check up appointment that we got a call. All the dentists were Romanians and Poles and they went home.

Do you think I could get a referral from GP or does it need to be from a dentist?
This is really helpful by the way. Thank you both so much.

The problem with setting up NHS dentist clinics is it has been done before and the true cost of dentistry seen.
In NHS practice, including patient charges , around £36 per patient treated per year is spent.
In direct access clinics paid for by NHS that figure was £450 per course of treatment .
With a surgery costing at least £120 per hour per room to run we have got to the stage where surgeries are closing because NHS work doesn't pay the bills.
To treat even just the vulnerable needs a massive cash injection and reform of dental contracts. It also means reducing what little cover there is for those who pay to a core service to get out of pain.

Referral to community dentist needs to be by dentist. The waiting lists in my area are two to three years. Elsewhere may be a few months.

Who can refer varies area to area. In some areas it needs to be a dentist but in others it can be any HCP or even sometimes social care, education or self refer. If you have a google you should be able to find who can refer in your area.

2 to 3 year waiting list? Dear god.

Referral to community dentist needs to be by dentist.

Not in all areas. In some areas other professionals can refer and/or in a minority of areas patients can self-refer.

I had no problem finding a NHS dentist. Sorry if that doesn't play to the Labour Party social media campaign play book.

I agree. We've been waiting over a year to treat a tooth damaged by a dentist.

Bully for you. Educate yourself.

This is not to the OP but to anyone who is reading who cannot afford private dental care. My dentist recommended that adults take responsibility for brushing their children’s teeth until that child is at least 10. The only times o have let my children brush their own teeth is when they are away at cub/beavers camp. Honestly it’s one very simple cheap thing you can do that will help prevent decay.

The ‘school dentist’ in the U.K was basically there to survey teeth and count how many fillings/ cavities were present for statistical purposes.

It's a nightmare OP. We lost our NHS dentist after COVID as they closed the practice due to not having a dentist (apparently temporarily, but it's still closed 2 years later)
I put DD on a denplan. It's £15 per month and to be honest it's worth every penny.

It can be a wait, I managed to get an appointment 6 months after the initial referral by phoning once or twice a week to check if there had been any cancellations that I could take instead.

If you are under a peadiatrian it is worth asking them about a refferal.

I have heard that the best way is to sign yourself up to a private dentist. Yes you will have to pay for a check up but to see a hygienist has never been free anyway. Then in most cases the dentist will take on your child as a NHS patient.

FYI : Through the National Health Service Amendment Act of 1951 Gaitskell introduced a cap on NHS spending and charges for dental work and glasses. Then in 2006, Blair introduced a new dental contract, and the result - like the new contracts for GPs and hospital consultants - which proved a disaster.

A dentist can only see a child on the NHS is they have an NHS contract. Many areas will not give out a child only NHS contract and many practices are handing them back because the paperwork and pay can no longer be subsidised by private work.

Ah - I didn't realise that. I guess they were collecting evidence about the efficacy of fluoride in the water supply.

However, sending dentists into schools might still be a good move. I really felt they should have done that as things began to open up after covid - with many check-ups missed and appointments in short supply, it would have been a good way to check who needed prioritising for a proper appointment.

NHS dentistry is free for all kids.

It's the availability that the problem.

Dentists can dictate their own terms of work.

You need to lobby the government, thinks down to them. If they make NHS work more attractive then the number of places will increase.

AIBU to think that free NHS dentistry should be available to all children

Of course it should.

It used to be.

We have the highest tax burden in 70 years.

So why isn't it?

Tories.

The dentist comes to our son's school to see all the children don't know if it's because he's in a special school.
I'm glad they do couldn't get him into our local dentist and the ones.

They can do all that but they need to pay them properly- which they currently dont want to do.

They dont actually need to go to all that effort if they just fix the contracts for dentists.

Is it just elite categories? Or all? I hope it's all or no women will ever make it to elite

Good for you.

We couldn't so had to go private