Should Dentists Be Forced to Take on NHS Patients?

It's been a disaster for years under this conservative government, what needs to happen is new NHS dentist clinics should be built or opened, my mate who had really bad toothache was told he'd have to wait 2 years for an appointment, But if he went private they'd see him straight away, I borrowed him the money to get it sorted, a dentist told me years ago that the problem is late payments for NHS patients, it can take up to 9 months for them to get the NHS payment

Yes definitely they should it's a joke trying to find one that is taking nhs

I had to go private last year as I just couldn't find an NHS dentist.

The Dentist that we, as a family, had been using for over 40 years, used the Covid lockdown as an excuse to purge all of their NHS patients.

Even when I explained how long we were with them and how much pain I was in they didn't want to know.

Some people find a dentist when they need one if they’re lucky, an NHS one hopefully, but what you should do is always get your check up if not using the dentist you can be taken off there list.

Also even if you don’t have dental issues you should always keep looking you never know when you are going to need one. Get on their list good luck I have been with same NHS dentist for 16 yrs never missed a check up and have never lost my place. Also perhaps you have a family out of the area they could get you an emergency appointment and you could register there. It is so expensive now even for basic treatment Good luck

Had to cancel my Dentist Appointment on Jan 4th as I had a Cold Sore after having Cold just after Christmas. I let them know in good time & booked another Appointment which is this afternoon !

If I have to cancel any Appointments,Hospital, Doctor,Dentist I always let them know in good time ,too many Appointments are wasted by "No Shows"!

I remember having to take our daughter to the Dentist with my partner just to show she had a Cold Sore after we tried to cancel her appointment for the second time,the Receptionist told us we needed to.

The Dentist completely understood why daughter couldn't attend her appointment & told us if she got Cold Sores to just cancel.

Our daughter suffered from 18 month old up to16 years old with really bad outbreaks of Cold Sores,she attended Hospital to see a Specialist every 6 month for check ups & was on a bottle of Aciclover Medicine a month. I used to have to puree her food when she had a bad outbreak as it was just too painful to eat..

As she got older our daughter got better but suffers when it's cold or if she's stressed & not sleeping.

There doesn't seem to be the will to address this issue either by Conservative or Labour. Seems like a broken system no one wants to touch. I don't see why we can't have dentists and dental hygienists at general surgeries really employed like other NHS staff with no private option. Training is expensive so if the state paid for training but that meant they had to work for 15 years in the NHS or simply pay off training costs with interest if they wanted to leave before that. Try to streamline the training process so its as cheap as possible for tax payers etc. We don't seem to have the same problem for other NHS staff including doctors so why dentists and dental hygienists should be special case I don't know. Just feels like some common sense could address this issue within 5 years really and with modern computers, virtual reality headsets etc there must be ways of improving training and shortening the time. I think a dental hygienist can be a minimum of 2 years training but perhaps with the training re-designed this can be shortened maybe 18 months without any sacrifices.

I really don't see why a dentist or hygienist needs to set up their own business, some in high cost locations like the high street or near to it which adds huge costs and complexity it could be brought under the umbrella of normal NHS services and general surgeries so they are employed directly. I guess there might be resistance from any unions involved with dentists but this is getting to be an emergency. Also of course with a better NHS dentist service, private dentists will be forced to be more competitive on price to get customers. More would switch to doing NHS work if there was a rising number of general surgeries that did dentistry.

Yes they should and if they leave the NHS within a set time they should be made to repay their training costs

No, obviously, the government might consider setting up their own dentists I suppose? Why would you want to force people to do things all the time?

Yes without doubt, it is time they stood up for the people rather than profit.

Unfortunately with the way things are with this and previous governments, you've got more chance of seeing a dentist straight away if you came over on boat. What a disgrace.

Yes private dentists are putting profits before patients

If a practice is at full capacity how can it possible take on more patients? It would need to recruit/expand. Recruitment currently in NHS dentistry is impossible. No one wants to work in the NHS. The government would rather pay for a genocide than pump money in fixing the crisis in NHS Dentistry. Our practice is accepting new patients but we are absolutely swamped and physically cannot see everyone as well as maintaining our current patients.

The question is: How do you make dentists want to work for NHS. Formulating this question this way is the root of the problem.

I definitely think dentist should have to see nhs patients. When they qualify and have to do a year in nhs practice's, it should be minimal 3yrs on nhs and then a mixture of nhs and some basic. private work ie composit fillings up to 5yrs. Then after they have gained practical experience they can do what they like. I've seen first hand what capabilities they have coming out of dental school.and a lot cannot even do basic extractions. Basic standard amalgam fillings which is the only material allowed on the nhs on molars.

I could say more but I definitely think they should have to have far more experience and practical skills before charging big money for private work.

Then we would have more nhs dentist's. I've also seen nhs pay and its definitely not a poor monthly wage, just greediness.

Yes! NHS should come before private patients.

I have been on the waiting list nearly a decade now.

~And when I did used to have a dentist the amount of time my appointments were cancelled so the same dentist could then see private patients was bad.

Then the one time I had to cancel due to a heart attack I got thrown off the books!!!

Yes, they definitely should. This problem has been going on too long and now look at the situation we’re in. The government just seemed to have ignored it.

Yes

I can’t even get a Private Dentist appointment as soon as I Ring up for an appointment They say which Dentist are you registered to and they will check if any appointments are available and as soon as I say I’m not registered they say Sorry we are not taking any more patients I have been trying to find a dentist since Before COVID, I have started losing my teeth especially after I had a bad Fall Down the Stairs and Face Planted the Concrete Floor By The time I was well enough to leave Hospital Covid Gripped the world and Dentists were not seeing anyone and Rightly so But now it’s getting Ridiculous, I have tried Ringing the NHS website apparently they can put you in touch with a Dentist but they just say Sorry we can’t put anyone in touch with a Dentist and then point out that you Do Not have to be Registered with any Dentist you can go to any yet Ring any Dentist to be told if you are not Registered they can not help because they are Full

Yes.

Absolutely, they have a duty of care..

I've fought against the inevitability of the privatisation of NHS dentistry for years. It seems dentists are hell bent on putting profit before patients

Easy answer. Set up dental clinics in NHS hospitals and in primary care.

Absolutely

The system is broken but until such time it is sorted out an arrangement needs to be put in place where dentists have to accept new patients who don't already have an NHS dentist

Maybe dentists should sign a contract before they start their training that when in practice they must have 50% NHS patients.

I think it's time to go back to dentists employed by the local health board in local NHS clinics.