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NHS Dentists

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/21/health

Any comments? I now when I needed root canal work done in January finding a dentist willing to do it on the NHS was impossible.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hey sweetie, try this link. Bung in your post code and press - Bingo!

    http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx

    :)

    Best,
    Poppi
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shows quite how much the government fucked up when they wrote the new contract really!
  • JsTJsT Posts: 18,268 Skive's The Limit
    I dont think there is a single NHS dentist taking on patients currently in Yorkshire, only emergency service.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    JsT wrote: »
    I dont think there is a single NHS dentist taking on patients currently in Yorkshire, only emergency service.

    I went to the dental hospital to have a check up in Sheffield. It was by medical students, but they weren't allowed to touch my mouth without a supervisor present. And their supervisors go over everything and are experts in their fields.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i absolutely cannot find a dentist that is willing to take on NHS patients. its ridiculous, iv had to have 2 emergency appointments over the last 3 months because of extremely bad toothache. im just not sure what im meant to do?! its so frustrating. i cant afford to go private.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why do we have to pay for dental work on the NHS? I'm pretty sure the whole point of the NHS is to be 'free at the point of access' - you know, being as we pay for with our taxes and all.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I guess the answer to why do you have to pay is that there is only so much money, and what you pay for NHS dental treatment bears no relation to the actual cost, it's a lot like prescription charges, you're making a contribution.

    To those who can't find an NHS Dentist, if you ring up your PCT or NHS direct who can put you in touch with them, then I believe they are obliged to find you one. If you're getting NHS normal hours treatment for toothache then they *should* complete the course of treatment and stop seeing you when your mouth is in a reasonable state.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why do we have to pay for dental work on the NHS? I'm pretty sure the whole point of the NHS is to be 'free at the point of access' - you know, being as we pay for with our taxes and all.

    Yeah that pisses me off too. Even paying for a fucking check up. The whole point of the NHS is that no-one should have to struggle to pay for dental treatment, but £40 for a filling isn't cheap and it costs more for other treatments! £40 is my week's non-essential spending budget. I pay my taxes so why the hell should I have to pay for NHS treatment as well?

    I don't like the way the system works either - if you need a filling done and then you need another one a month later then you pay twice. Byt if you need them done at the same time then you only pay once. It doesn't make any sense. Mind it worked well for my boyfriend, he didn't go to the dentist for 6 years and ended up needing 8 fillings. He's now having them done and only paying the once - saved himself a small fortune!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I guess the answer to why do you have to pay is that there is only so much money, and what you pay for NHS dental treatment bears no relation to the actual cost, it's a lot like prescription charges, you're making a contribution.

    To those who can't find an NHS Dentist, if you ring up your PCT or NHS direct who can put you in touch with them, then I believe they are obliged to find you one. If you're getting NHS normal hours treatment for toothache then they *should* complete the course of treatment and stop seeing you when your mouth is in a reasonable state.

    The whole point of the NHS is that decent health care isn't the preserve of those who can afford it. The NHS should be free at the point of access. If there isn't enough money then tax more. The argument "you pay less than it costs" doesn't hold water, because a) i've already paid the taxes and b) i shouldn't have to pay at all. I would pay nothing for a triple heart bypass, which is considerably less than it costs.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The whole point of the NHS is that decent health care isn't the preserve of those who can afford it. The NHS should be free at the point of access.

    Exactly. If you look here http://www.nhs.uk/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages/DentistsSummary.aspx

    The maximum amount you can pay for NHS dental treatment is £198. A lot of people would find that difficult to pay, and some would find it impossible. Therefore dental heathcare is not accessible to all, therefore the NHS has failed
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's a fair point.

    I suppose their arguement would like somewhere between those on low income/certain benefits don't pay much like prescriptions and that it's non essential dental work.

    In the short-medium term I'd far rather see far better avaliablity of fixed price dental treatment courses on the NHS than the current rubbish avaliablity (or even worse) free for everyone in theory but in reality hardly accessible by anyone.

    Interesting side note, in most areas it's easier to find an NHS dentist if you fall into one of the exempt from charges categories.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I haven't been to the dentist since before I went to university because there aren't any taking on NHS patients here and I can't afford in the slightest to go private. I'll p[robably be gummy in 5 years.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    For those who are struggling to find NHS Dentists in their area NHS Choices will give you a list of the local ones, and depending on your area will detail those who are taking on new patients.

    Most areas it also gives a phone number under the details for those who are having problems finding an NHS Dentist in their area, as the PCT are obliged to help.

    You won't find one to 'take you onto their books' because that's not the way NHS Dentistry works since the new contract, you are only their patient for as long as your course of treatment lasts, but they should find you an appointment.

    An option, which I realise defeats the point of the NHS but on an individual level is worth looking at for some people, is to get in touch with some of the practises listed and find out what a standard routine check up costs. Some practises do ones that don't cost much more than an NHS one (~£16), and depending on your budget if you happen to find a reasonably priced one it's probably worth it vs needing lots of work further down the line.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I guess the answer to why do you have to pay is that there is only so much money, and what you pay for NHS dental treatment bears no relation to the actual cost, it's a lot like prescription charges, you're making a contribution..


    Some of what you just said is kinda inaccurate and misleading...

    prescription charges for example - I've bought the same exact medicines in Asia as you get charge £7.10p on the NHS for as little as 1/60th the cost of the NHS price.

    I've bought the very same medicines made in the UK far cheaper abroad then I have in the UK

    If you have actual facts and figures to back up you claim then all good - but you shouldn't speak as if what you say is the actual be all and end all.

    The NHS doesn't cost a lot to run because it's expensive it wastes a lot of money - it's the 3rd largest employer on the planet

    They cancel over 100,000 operations a year because they're so badly managed

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2591238/NHS-cancels-more-than-100000-operations-in-a-year.html

    They spend over £500 with Microsoft

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/03/nhs_picks_ms/

    http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/2006/02/update-on-nhs-waste.html

    For most drugs on prescription the £7.10 ISN'T a contribution as you put it - it's paying way over the odds of what it costs to make and far more then you have to pay in a lot of other countries for the same medicine.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Actually only 12% of prescriptions are paid for

    in Wales all prescriptions are free and from 2011 all in Scotland will also be free

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7488503.stm

    The money charged for prescriptions has nothing to do with the cost of the drug - it's there to raise money - which is does .. raises over £400 million a year - but you are wrong in saying it's good value for the cost of the drug.

    Good value would be instead of charging 12% of the population that need a prescription £7.10 - charging 100% of them 86p - I think if a parent has a sick child they're able to afford 86p for medicine - I don't see why people that work and pay taxes and are sick should fork out £7.10 for drugs you can by abroad for 15p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I need a few fillings doing... Thing is, even if I had an NHS dentist I couldn't really afford treatment.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    man, I chipped my tooth, it hurt like hell for, hmm....two months, so in the end i went to the 'emergecy' dentist at Guy's in London, waited 5 hours to be seen, to then be told they wouldn't do anythng about it then, just give me antibiotics. So they gave me an appointment for september 15th for the work to be done...i went to see them on the 26th of June.

    Though rather than go into a rant about it, I should probably be grateful that I got an appointment...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's ridiculous, isn't it? The situation is so bad that nowadays, you see jokes about British teeth in shows like The Simpsons. Recently, I saw an episode of Family Guy where there was a character called Nigel. Aside from the predictable British accent and love of all things to do with tea, he was given these horrendously wonky teeth. Here's a picture of him, for no particular reason:

    FGOneIfByClam.jpg

    To think that Americans, of all people, are now able to take the piss out of our healthcare in this country. It defies belief.

    I haven't had an NHS dentist now since about 2006. The one we had decided to go private and we were left with nowhere to turn. The Government forever boasts that it's churning out more and more new dentists, claiming that it was the "last Conservative government" that is to blame for all this. After 11 years, that excuse is looking decidely hollow. Myself, I've had no choice but to go private as well. I pay a certain amount each year - I can't be arsed, at 2am, digging out the letter which states the price - to go and listen to some wanker in a white coat telling me that I need this and that done to my teeth, at the cost of a few hundred pounds, asking if I'd like to pay him in cash right then. All I wanna do in that situation is knock out a few of the dentist's own teeth.

    Dentists on the NHS? Don't make me laugh.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »
    It's ridiculous, isn't it? The situation is so bad that nowadays, you see jokes about British teeth in shows like The Simpsons. Recently, I saw an episode of Family Guy where there was a character called Nigel. Aside from the predictable British accent and love of all things to do with tea, he was given these horrendously wonky teeth. To think that Americans, of all people, are now able to take the piss out of our healthcare in this country. It defies belief.
    .


    British and their teeth have been a steryotype for as long as dentists have existed. It is hardly a new phenomenon.

    And healthcare and dental care are completly different things. Taking the "piss" out of your healthcare, no... dental, not taking the "piss" out of, but to believe that it is on such an opposite scale of your healtcare is really astonishing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    British and their teeth have been a steryotype for as long as dentists have existed. It is hardly a new phenomenon.
    This, of course, all comes from the nation which has given us President Bush - I know which is worse. :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    How relative.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »
    Recently, I saw an episode of Family Guy where there was a character called Nigel. Aside from the predictable British accent and love of all things to do with tea, he was given these horrendously wonky teeth. Here's a picture of him, for no particular reason:

    FGOneIfByClam.jpg

    Hugh Laurie did the voice. :thumb:

    I agree with Simba. The British teeth stereotype has been around for decades, and it's really anything to do with the current state of British dentistry. Probably more down to the fact that most Brits don't bother with the sort of cosmetic work that all American kids seem to have.

    I have private dental care too. It's about £20 a month, and you get a 6-monthly checkup, scale and polish, an annual X-ray, and any treatment included in that cost. I don't know why you need an x-ray, but there you go.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have private dental care too. It's about £20 a month, and you get a 6-monthly checkup, scale and polish, an annual X-ray, and any treatment included in that cost. I don't know why you need an x-ray, but there you go.
    It's to check for any abnormalities in your teeth. When I was around 10 or 11, my then-NHS dentist took an X-ray of my teeth and he noticed one of them was completely hollow. The outside of the tooth had grown just fine, but there was nothing inside it at all. I had to go to hospital to have this tooth removed - he reckoned it would have been agonisingly painful if it had shattered of its own accord.

    It meant that, for a couple of years as a teenager, I had one space in the back of my mouth where I had no tooth. The only plus side is my wisdom tooth has since filled that space.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Is there a cheaper way to go private? Like £5 a month and then after a certain time you can get a filling for free?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hugh Laurie did the voice. :thumb:

    I agree with Simba. The British teeth stereotype has been around for decades, and it's really anything to do with the current state of British dentistry. Probably more down to the fact that most Brits don't bother with the sort of cosmetic work that all American kids seem to have.

    I have private dental care too. It's about £20 a month, and you get a 6-monthly checkup, scale and polish, an annual X-ray, and any treatment included in that cost. I don't know why you need an x-ray, but there you go.

    How do you get such an insurance?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dear Wendy wrote: »
    How do you get such an insurance?

    I think it's this one. I think you can upgrade it to cover certain more expensive treatments. I don't know exactly what I've got though, because it's a family thing, so my mum sorts it all out. Cheaper that way.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sorry I didn't make myself clear enough, I meant a contribution to the NHS rather than a cost as in directly related to the cost of the drug/treatment.

    Namaste, if they are properly conforming to the new contract then the cost to you should be the same whether it's one filling or five.
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