To think it isn't selfish to be on an NHS dentist list if you can afford private treatment?

[Dentist89]

This came up in a conversation with my mum recently as she's been unable to find an NHS dentist after moving.

I am with the same NHS dentist I've been with for years, as are DC.

She thinks it's selfish to be on an NHS list if you can afford private treatment when others who can't afford it, can't get on the list.

I think, while the situation is dire I agree, it isn't my problem to fix for someone else who can't get on just because I could technically afford private treatment if I had to.

AIBU?

I don't see it as selfish OP.
If you are entitled to treatment on the NHS then why shouldn't you?
I have had to switch to Denplan treatment at various points over the years because dentists i was registered with ceased treating NHS patients. And I'm currently on Denplan. So technically I fall into the category of being able to afford private dental treatment. But I would be an NHS patient if I could.
I hate the creeping privatisation of the Health Service.

Erm I pay taxes so I can use public services. I can afford to put my children in private education but choose not to. Likewise, I have private medical at work but would always see a Dr on the NHS in the first instance (I might get a referral for a specialist but any minor flu jabs or whatever is on the NHS).

Your Mum is talking utter pants.

Of course you’re not selfish, what a strange thing for your own mum to say!

No I don’t think it’s selfish. We are NHS customers at our dentist too and could afford private prices if we had to, but I’m not going to pay it if we don’t have to.

You could say that sbout schooling and healthcare. Crazy

I can understand she's frustrated but your mum is being a bit irrational.

You pay for your NHS care via your taxes. You therefore should be able to access it. It’s not your fault that the government is wasting resources and can’t keep the NHS going. Where does her argument end? By her logic you could argue that anyone who doesn’t work 6 days a week to contribute to the economy and prop up our ailing services is being selfish.

The NHS isn't a means-tested benefit. (Yet!)

Your mum is unreasonable.

This is what I said. I pay taxes so why should I not access the services those taxes pay towards?

It absolutely is a problem at the moment, the lack of affordable dentist services, but that isn't my problem. I'm not the one causing it by sticking with my place!

Public services are better quality when well-off people use them, because they tend to expect and demand good treatment. A service just for the poor will be a poor service.

Much like schools

It’s not even like NHS dentistry is free! She’s being very unreasonable. I appreciate our NHS dentist hugely but not for a second do I feel bad for using one.

If you left it doesn’t mean the dentist would take on a new patient- the funding doesn’t work that way

I only recently started Denplan after my dentist went fully private. I can well afford it.

The thing is, if I’d relinquished my NHS place before, how could I be sure that it would be someone poor, and not another comfortably off person who was on the waiting list who took my place?

Between my husband and I we paid over £100k of tax. We deserve to get at least something back for that.

The problem for me is that if everyone who could afford to opt out of NHS dentistry did so, the state of NHS dentistry would get worse and worse because those in lower socioeconomic groups have less influence. It would be an issue if the high and middle socioeconomic groups opted out of NHS completely, therefore.

Of course not. We all pay for the nhs through our taxes, and if you can use an nhs dentist, then you have every right to do so.

An interesting angle and desired outcome.
Would you support VAT on private dental work to a) encourage the better off to use NHS dental and b) to raise some tax revenue for free NHS dental.

We go privately for some aspects of dentistry , eg scale and polish , with a private practice as it no longer comes under our NHS dentist, and quite frankly the service is better . I also went private for a root canal , as my NHS dentist told me that they had better equipment and a higher level of expertise and it was more likely to be a long term success. I paid over £1800 that year for dental treatment.

However the costs of private can ramp up massively depending on the treatment needed and I’m certainly not going to give up my NHS place .

What a strange view. The point of public services is they are for everyone, that's why we pay taxes.

Benefits (which should be means tested) are not the same as services, which aren't and shouldn't be.

If huge swathes of the population turned to private dentistry increasing demand for a dentist to only offer private work, how many NHS dentists would be left?

We use a private dentist. Teeth are important and I want the best care I can get. My crowns cost £1000 each. My brother had NHS ones. No comparison. You get what you pay for and I'm happy to pay.