DIY dentistry and ‘no teeth left to chew with’ as people go almost a decade without check-up
https://news.sky.com/story/nhs-dentistry-is-surviving-by-the-skin-of-its-teeth-fundamental-reform-is-in-order-13507196
Posted by topotaul
DIY dentistry and ‘no teeth left to chew with’ as people go almost a decade without check-up
https://news.sky.com/story/nhs-dentistry-is-surviving-by-the-skin-of-its-teeth-fundamental-reform-is-in-order-13507196
Posted by topotaul
32 Comments
It’s pretty grim, but a big factor of this is either price is simple access/wait lists.
Dental care is genuinely becoming out of reach for many in the UK.
I suspect this will be unpopular, but if you can save up £120 a year, i think it is much better getting a private checkup and hygienist appointment once a year then going 10 years without a checkup. Obviously, we would all love NHS dentistry to be in a much better state, but it’s not happening, and at some point you have to be pragmatic about it
NHS Dentistry should be the highest priority focus for the Government. Getting a GP appointment is doable.
Getting an NHS dentist however is nigh on impossible. The nearest NHS dentist to me is a 2 hour drive.
I’m fortunate enough to be able to pay for a checkup and hygienist every 6 months. But not everyone is.
It’s not the checkup costs… more the hundreds or thousands of pounds for basic treatments. So many people have to pay private that I think stops people affording it or getting the check up?
It’s a complete disgrace how dentistry has become something no longer accessible to many people. Labour don’t seem to be doing much to fix it.
I haven’t been since I was 20 and moved away from my parents.
I’m now 42 and basically praying I never have any dental problems
Need to open more dental schools and allow foreign graduates to, they let the gates open for Drs but not dentists
This is why the british teeth thing continues to be a laughing stock to americans
We lucked out managing to get onto an NHS dentist last year, but hadn’t been seen since pre-COVID before that. Luckily, my teeth were in good condition so only needed one filling after my first check-up
I can totally see this happening with people with poorer teeth than me.
I need work doing, including a root canal.
However there are no NHS dentists in my area and I cannot afford to go private.
I did have an NHS dentist. They however changed over to be fully private a few years back.
I had an NHS dentist and I tried to book an appointment but I was told that because I hadn’t been in 3 years (I didn’t have a need to go) they had removed me from their books.
Now I cannot get an appointment.
When still living in the UK I always booked flights to Poland whenever I needed a dentist, even when factored in the flights it still worked out cheaper and usually i could get appointments the same day. I only had one filling done in the UK and it is the only one that had to be replaced due to being botched.
There is sadly no focus on prevention in this country. Tooth decay is 99% preventable, periodontitis is largely preventable too. But I show/tell/educate patients on what changes they need to make to improve their oral health and a good proportion of them simply refuse to prioritise it.
One of the dentists local to me has started an emergency NHS clinic for people in agony. It probably helps that its a seriously deprived area here, they probably get some sort of funding for it.
About 3 years ago I had a dental emergency and was told by 111 i needed to be seen within a week, heres the numbers to call for an emergency appointment.
It took until the end of last year, when it got so bad that I was not even capable of calling for help, for me to be seen. Thank fuck that happened while my partner was visiting, I don’t think my kid would have known what to do.
Doing all this again is the only plan i have for resolving the other 3 holes in my teeth.
Gee I wonder why, it’s near impossible to get a NHS dentist. I had to pay 19.99 a month for 6 months before I could get an appointment, 470 for a root canal
I’ve not been for 23 years, my teeth look fine but then again I’m no expert.
I have been unable to get an NHS denist since my NHS denist got rid of their NHS patients (apart from under 18s) during covid.
The cost of private is just too damn high and I dont think my health benefits from work include dental.
I have noticed a few dental practices seem to update that they are taking on NHS patients only to call them to be told that they currently are not, but they could sell me a monthly dental plan.
When I was younger working in a entry level job I had bill come through for about 1/3 of my monthly wage.
The result was me not going to the dentist for a number of years as I couldn’t afford another expense like that.
Thankfully no lasting damage, but I can see why people are doing it.
I used to go regularly, but after a long period of mental health issues, I haven’t been for a decade. I was quite disillusioned by the dentist when I used to go. They’d always ask me if I had any pain or problems, to which I’d say no. They’d then say “that tooth looks like it needs a little filling”, drill and fill a small filling there and then, and charge me £50. I moved dentists, but they tried it the first time I went! I feel like half the time they create work to make easy money?!
Oh well, none of us are smiling living here anyway.
Haven’t been since 2019. I’m just praying I’ll be ok for a while.
Yeah I’ve not been in three years. Can’t get on NHS round here and last time I had a checkup they said I needed a root canal, and then for what they quoted me I could’ve had seven nights in the Maldives! Sat on the beach with an electric lemonade, instead of being sat in their chair getting drilled and jabbed and scraped, all while they make me hold my own bloody mouth open until my jaw aches! Dentists! Bloody greedy scalpers. I eat ice cream with those teeth! Nothing wrong with them.
My dentist has not had a dentist for 5 years!? It’s just ridiculous.
Im on the list to have mine pulled at the hospital .ive been on it for over a year and im just pulling um myself ive got 3 left on the bottom jaw to go. Wonder who will pull the final tooth me or the hospital?
Never went to the dentist as a kid (thanks parents) went when i was 19 and had a filling. Went back to the same dental practice and was told it was done incorrectly by a different dentist. This happened 3 times. Haven’t been to a dentist since. not 31, still have all my teeth.
Im not paying silly amounts to have the same thing done 3 times.
It doesn’t help that the government sees employers providing dental coverage as a Benefit in Kind..
[https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-medical-treatment/what-to-report-and-pay](https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-medical-treatment/what-to-report-and-pay)
Not one mention of Fuji 9? So disappointed. I mean, it’s all done for you.
I had to bite the bullet and get a check up because my teeth didn’t feel great.
£50 for a routine checkup then two sessions of £70 each to have a hygienist clean my teeth.
Well labour were the ones who fucked it in the first place weren’t they?
I’m speaking as a supporter of Labour
£60 every 6 months for a checkup, if no work needs doing, there is no excuse not to get checked. I go private, didn’t even know there were NHS dentists anymore
Not had an NHS dentist in 13 years. Once I moved to London I couldn’t find one taking patients and I moved every 2 years due to high rent pushing me further afield. I’ve been paying private for 6 years now and thankfully not many issues other than a few fillings but I’m definitely not having 6 month check ups.