To think this could be part of the reason NHS dentists have no vacancies

[Mammajay]

Apparently you can have more than one NHS dentist. Whilst at mine recently, I heard the receptionist tell someone on the phone to register online as they have a waiting list. I know that two of my friends have moved to different NHS dentists as they weren't happy with my particular dentist and a third moved away. None have told my dentist so they are presumably still on their list. I think NHS dentists are required to have a certain number or proportion of their list as NHS. Due to circumstances, I hadn't seen my dentist for 2 years, so could have moved in that time. So, could this be making waiting lists longer than they should be??

Nah the diaries are just FULL. The NHS commissions enough dentistry to sort of serve 40% of the population. It’s no more complicated than that

No it doesn’t work like that at all.
There is no such thing as registration. Capacity is determined by how many UDAs a practice is allocated and how many they want to do or can do.
Many practices have a manpower shortage due to Brexit etc.
Many practices are sensibly reducing how many UDAs they are doing and turning private in order to make a living. I know practices who have money ready to hand back to the NHS because they didn’t fulfil their contracts. Instead of being asked for clawback they get phone calls offering them more UDAs!

Unless you are in Scotland or Nortern Ireland there is no such thing as registration with a dentist or a list.
A dentist is only obliged to see you during a course of treatment. Once that has finished they are not obliged to see you again.
All NHS practices are inundated with patients under treatment often having to wait months in between appointments. With dental funding not even approaching covering rapidly increasing costs of providing treatment many practices are handing back their NHS contracts as its do that or go broke. Hence BUPA closing so many dental practices.
Dentists themselves are training up and going private , no longer willing to destroy their mental and physical health by working on the NHS treadmill for less and less money each year.

My appointment was cancelled a year ago due to dentist leaving and having no capacity with their other NHS dentist. I’ve since managed to get registered with another dentist. The first dentist still haven’t made contact with me despite being on the books. If they contact I’ll de register

No need to. The only places where there is registration is Scotland and Northern Ireland and as soon as you see another dentist you are automatically taken off the list.
In England and Wales there is no registration. The dentist only gets paid , literally, when you are in the chair. They have no obligation to see you once a course of treatment is finished.
Many surgeries try to maintain a relationship with existing patients but unfortunately many have a contract that stipulates how many "new " patients they have to see , so routine check ups are pushed to the back of the queue in order to fulfil contractual obligations to people who have not been seen eg in the last four years. In addition many people lapsed in their dietary and cleaning habits so those people who do come in need more work than they might have needed in the past.

That's confusing since on another thread a mum is saying her son has been taken off his dentist's list due to not seeing him for 2 years whilst having orthodontic treatment elsewhere. So, if I go back to my dentist who recently told me I have to put up with toothache in what could be a cracked tooth ( and it still hurts like hell if any food gets near it or I rub sensodine on it)and ask her to take out a very old large filling she might refuse and possibly refuse to see me again as I am not on her list?

In Scotland you are definitely taken off the dentist list if you don't attend in a certain time period, mine used to be 14 months but I don't know if that has changed.

If the dentist has no capacity to see you ,ie they are too busy , they have no obligation to give you an appointment if you are in England or Wales.

They can see you as an urgent patient which is a one off emergency appointment , again they have no obligation to see you again.

They can do a check up and start a course of treatment , in which case they are obliged to see you until that course of treatment is finished.

Because NHS dentistry is overwhelmed surgeries will try and prioritise regular patients . This may not be possible.

In the case of the orthodontic patient , they should have been having check ups whilst undergoing orthodontic treatment as the orthodontist only checks the brace not the health of the teeth. If a patient has not been in for a long time the practice will no longer try to prioritise them . But there is no list.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland there is registration. In Scotland it is now for "life" I believe ,but if you visit another practice your registration will automatically change.
In Northern Ireland it is two years (but has been extended for pandemic reasons )

Lollygaggle..should you still be reading...you gave me good advice previously, so I hope you don't mind me asking about this.. I have been rubbing Sensodyne on one very tender tooth, which has a large old filling, for a while..is there a time scale when I should go back to my dentist or try to find a different dentist? At the moment I have to eat on one side which make me tense. If there is a hairline crack or exposed root I need to ask her to take the filling out? When I saw her a month ago she said as she couldn't see anything, there was nothing she could do, so I don't know what her response would be. She had previously put some coating on which made no difference.

They definitely have a list. My sister has been with ours 40 years. She hadn't been since Covid and when she phoned to book this week they said they had to remove her. Her DH was due for a check up and mentioned it and now she's back on and been seen.

I put my DH on the waiting list two years ago. He's due to retire from the military after 22 years and it looks like he won't have a dentist when he leaves.

Many years ago our dentist was a bit shit. DD had a toothache and our practice couldn’t see her with any urgency, so I called in to one we passed on the walk to school. They saw her the same day and did a filling.

Three months later we were back to the regular dentist. I was really worried I’d be told off for taking her elsewhere but nothing at all was said, and what was worse, I realised after, was that he never actually noted or mentioned a brand new filling in her mouth, especially as she had no others.

I registered with the other dentist and never returned.

If it's exposed root that's causing the problem and the tooth is sensitive to hot and cold nothing but sensitive toothpaste or varnish applied to roots will make a difference other than taking the tooth out or taking the nerve out and root treatment if the tooth is in good enough condition.

If it is possibly a crack and the tooth is either painful to bite on or sensitive to hot and cold then it's worth taking the filling out and looking for the crack. If there is one then your dentist will explain options depending on how big/deep the crack is.

After a month if it was going to get better it would have. Go back to your dentist.

Well my "life" has just been terminated

The practice can't get dentists so they are letting a lot of patients go

Although I can see the dentists if I subscribe to their private dental plan

I want to cry

My daughter is in exact same position. So technically is an nhs patient at both.

Ours kicks you out if you don’t go every 6 months. I’d be happy with once a year but there you go

I am only registered with a fully private dental practice in Scotland.

To be clear I am only talking about "registration" with NHS dentists.
obviously , privately, you are registered as long as you pay Denplan/practice plan etc.
If you pay as you go then most practices will consider you a patient if you go regularly.

However on the NHS registration only formally exists in Scotland and Northern Ireland . In England and Wales you are only entitled to see a dentist if you are in the middle of a course of treatment. Once that has finished they are not obliged to see you again.

Thanks Lollygaggle. I have been using a new Sensodyne with sodium sulphate for a week after duraphat so will keep that up for three more weeks and hope it works. If you are a dentist, I would like to thank you for all that you do. I have always considered dentists as important as doctors in the way they help people, so in addition to thanks for the advice you have given me, thanks for being a dentist.

I just read your advice again lollygaggle..my dentist painted some beige looking substance on the lower edges of my three back teeth..I can only see the front but assume there might be some on the back..would that be the varnish you mentioned. In which case I am wasting my time applying Sensodyne which hurts like hell when I rub it in to the one back tooth?