What is actually being done to fix the dental situation in this nation?
Posted by bossanovaallnight@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 114 comments
[removed]
Posted by bossanovaallnight@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 114 comments
[removed]
lavayuki@reddit
I think the only option if to travel to somewhere in Europe for cheaper dental care. Even with a cheap Ryanair flight and an Air BnB, it would probably still be cheaper than getting it done in the UK.
But that is a really expensive filling, my dentist who is also private charges £180, still expensive but 415 seems like a lot for just one, although it does depend on the type
sly-as-a-fox482@reddit
as someone who just had to pay to have a tooth extracted today i feel this in my soul. i couldn’t afford a root canal so extraction was the only way forward for me and my broken tooth!
ridhostarr@reddit
same. i took out two because root canal cost 1.5k per tooth. crazy!
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
It’s just gutting. I’ve taken a loan but if it’s more than £360 I might be fucked
hushlittlebabby@reddit
Most private dentists will have a payment plan option. That could be the way to go for you.
piximiqote@reddit
Nothing. I’ve got a broken tooth, a painful decaying tooth, probably need some more fillings… but I can’t get a dentist because all the dentists in my area are private and I can’t afford those prices. It’s been 2 years since I saw my NHS dentist (before they went private). I honestly don’t know what to do about my teeth!
Bitter_Tradition_938@reddit
Jump on a WizzAir flight to an East European country. This is the advice I received from my British dentist (not that I did not know that already).
I had a deep clean and 5 fillings done for 200 quid. The plane ticket was 40 quid return.
critterwol@reddit
How did you choose which dentist to use?
BrightEyeCameDown@reddit
Where?
Bitter_Tradition_938@reddit
Romania. My British dentist also said they use the newest/high end materials (I knew that too, but it was good to have it confirmed).
Sea_Director_4439@reddit
Fuck all because it's being used as a test run for the rest of the nhs
dom_eden@reddit
Bit of a slow test run then
AffectionateJump7896@reddit
The private model of dentistry which has an NHS logo on it but is absolutely just private care, has been the way since the mid-90's. It's only current economic pressure that is the straw that has broken the camel's back. Nothing has really changed in the way the system works.
Everyone in the health service knows that you can't make private fake-NHS system more widespread. Dentists get by by only doing the treatment they can do at a profit, and refering patients who need unprofitable treatments to hospitals. Dentists therefore scrape by whilst hospitals are holding the bag. If they were both private you'd just have a game of pass the parcel where no one wants to treat some patients.
SemtaCert@reddit
Dental has been an extra cost since 1951 due to the demand vs resources, so it's nothing new...
OkConsequence1498@reddit
No, due to paying for the Korean War.
tyger2020@reddit
A war we weren't involved in? Right...
OkConsequence1498@reddit
What? Britain sent 51,000 troops, had 5,000 casualties, and dental charges were introduced to support it. E.g https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmhealth/815/81505.htm
Sea_Director_4439@reddit
The lack of NHS appointments is nothing new? Lol.LMAO
vipros42@reddit
I haven't been able to get an NHS dentist since the late 90s
audigex@reddit
It was an "extra cost" meaning it carried a cost when you went to see an NHS dentist
That's really not the same as having to see a private dentist because it's almost impossible to find an NHS one
knotatwist@reddit
Not the extra cost but the lack of access to NHS dentists and procedures forcing people to go private which has been increasing in recent years.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
It scares me shitless
Bellatrixforqueen@reddit
Even my NHS dentist has gone down to one day a week nhs and other four private patients , following the practise being bought out by one of the big dental companies
viktory70@reddit
I have a fear of dentists so haven't been for ages. Got tooth pain, called 111, got to see an emergency dentist immediately, she sorted the immediate problem for £30. I then called round and found an NHS dentist the next day.
I think this is still pretty good service
Front_Scholar9757@reddit
Depends where you are. I couldn't even get an NHS dentist when pregnant - its meant to be free then.
I also cant get an NHS dentist for my 2 year
viktory70@reddit
I live in Enfield, my daughter lives in Lowestoft and my son lives in Croydon. We all got NHS dentists
Front_Scholar9757@reddit
Im in Wiltshire. None within a 25 mile radius of my house.
Parents live in hants. None near them either.
Sister lives in Devon. She has an NHS dentist but cant get one for her son.
awwwwJeezypeepsman@reddit
Im doing pretty decent and im sitting there hearing people say its costing nearly £100 for a hygienist appointment 🤣. What the fuck man
Front_Scholar9757@reddit
My check up is £95. Ive never even had a filling & its that much.
Hygienist this week. £85.
Fattydog@reddit
Mine costs £80 privately
You’re in the hygienist’s chair for about 30 mins. There’s an assistant and a receptionist to pay, so not just one salary. There’s rent, energy, water, very specialised, expensive tools and equipment, not to mention IT and a booking system, as well as cleaners and building maintenance.
And these are professional people who’ve studied for 2-3 years - they have student loans.
That seems incredibly reasonable to me.
Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit
It’s cheaper to fly to Poland and get it done there at this point
Vixrotre@reddit
As a migrant from Poland - yup. My man ended up getting 9 teeth pulled out cause in the 5 years we've been together, he hasn't been able to find a dentist. Only after his teeth started hurting he was able to get referred to an emergency dentist, and then a dental hospital cause his wisdom tooth was one of the teeth that needed to go.
I so regret not pushing him harder to see a dentist in Poland, we go there 1-2 a year to visit my family anyway. We got him dentures in Poland at least.
hook-happy@reddit
What sort of difference is there in the price? My husband needs some work done but it’s extortionate here, he’ll probably also need dentures
Vixrotre@reddit
My partner's dentures cost about £1200 pounds. Steel, top and bottom, free repairs/adjustments. They were done in about 2 days, probably would've been cheaper if we waited, but we were in Poland for a week and my mom insisted on getting them done ASAP before we leave. My parents covered the cost.
He also got a "mini denture" that's just his top 1 tooth, but I don't remember if that was included in the price of the full set.
Krasnystaw_@reddit
Filling around gbp50, implant 1200-1500, canal work up to 300. New gen of dentists working with microscope plenty of shit ones too.
sofia_kausi@reddit
Not Poland, but I got a crown for about £150 in Ukraine, while in the UK I was told fixing this tooth would cost £2000+. UK dentists also all insisted on pulling it and replacing it with an implant. My dentist back home said there's no need for that and fixed it with a crown. I feel like UK dentist tend to pull teeth that could easily be saved.
Jebble@reddit
Crowns in private dentistry in Central London cost £650, not £2000. I am truly baffled by the shit dentists people seem to have in the UK, as mine have never been anything short of amazing.
niteninja1@reddit
that 2000 is almost certainly the price including root canal.
the average price of a private crown is 800. A root canal is anywhere from 400-1200
Jebble@reddit
I pay 650 for my crowns, but yeh you can't compare total prices in the UK Vs crown only price in Poland.
niteninja1@reddit
Yeah looking in my area the larger chains and most places are charging 780-890. Theres one charging from 450 but i have to presume thats for a metal crown.
Jebble@reddit
I've truly never been quotes anything over 650 for zirconia crowns in Lo don lol and I have 8 by the end of this year.
niteninja1@reddit
London is just different because of scale:
I just looked at the area my parents live and chose the top few
https://wbdental.co.uk/dental-prices/?brx_oomoxs=25 £950
https://torlodgedentalpractice.co.uk/prices.php from £656
https://www.mydentist.co.uk/dental-health/crowns?practiceId=20533&category=Crowns from £826
https://avenuedental.co.uk/treatment-fees/ from £825
I’m not saying cheaper options don’t exist but 800 seems average at a lot of places
sofia_kausi@reddit
niteninja1 is correct, £2000 was the price for all the work that needed to be done on that tooth. But £150 I paid back home was also for the whole thing, including root canals, so I'm not comparing the crown only price vs total prices in UK. It's total there vs total here.
Jebble@reddit
That's not what you said though, so pardon the confusion. But yeh, if you're from there, speak the language and want to travel to a warzone and are on a UK salary, definitely a great deal.
Boggyprostate@reddit
Everyone is entitled to NHS dental care in the UK.
I shit it because I am in my 50s never had so much as a filling or a tooth out and at 54y old I started to get toothache when anything touched this one molar.
Not been to the dentist since I was 19years old and I had heard it was almost impossible to get into a NHS dentist,in a panic I rang every dentist in my area, 10 dentists, I left my details and asked to be put on waiting list. 2 months later I get a phone call asking if I still want the NHS place at that surgery, I obviously said yes and thought that was quick. What was weird, 8 other dentists rang me over the next few weeks, I turned them down because I now had one.
I did some digging into why all these Dentists rang me within weeks of going on their waiting lists, when there was supposed to be a shortage and folk were pulling their own teeth out!
It turns out, every NHS dentist has to have seen a certain number of NHS patients before a certain date in April, otherwise they don’t get paid. This obviously is why I got so many offers, it was March when they all phoned me up. So if you need a dentist, get on the waiting list and phone again in Feb/March time.
niteninja1@reddit
its basically that:
they get say 100 units of care to give out a year.
a checkup is 1 a filling 2 and a crown 3.
if they find they need to do a crown after a checkup they need to have some units left or they dont get paid for it.
so practices leave some units as a buffer till the end of the year
PomegranateEither768@reddit
Nothing at all. Can't even register kids where I live. We got kicked off during covid in favour of private paying patients, and haven't been able to register anywhere since. One of my kids smashed his front teeth out in an accident, we were offered an "emergency" appointment 3 months from when I called on the basis that it could only go ahead if the dentist who did the NHS appointments was still doing them. Luckily he got seen, but thats all we've been able to get for 6 years.
purple-vixen@reddit
If you can't find a local NHS dentist and need to see one, call your local dental school. They'll be based out of a local hospital, and treatment was free for me (in Wales).
I am just a service user, but saw a few dental students whilst waiting on a waiting list for an NHS dentist. (I had deep cleanings and root canals, lost\loose fillings replaced and an extraction).
Your local NHS trust's website should have a phone number to call for help if you aren't registered with an NHS dentist, and that gets you signed up with the dental school for an appointment (if available) or on their waiting list.
If you think that you would qualify for an emergency appointment (there's a list on the NHS website, but it's essentially visible infection/lots of bleeding/broken tooth), call 111, and they'll get you approved for an emergency appointment with the dental students.
Hope that my rambles help someone to get care. I wish that I had realised sooner that this was an option.
Rich-Peak-3902@reddit
People always say "local dental school" as if it's a common facility, even though there are only 18 in the entire country and they're all in major cities
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Hmm that could’ve been an option… I might do it for a filling I need
External-Praline-451@reddit
I used dental schools a lot when I was student over 20 years ago now! They're very handy, I got my wisdom teeth taken out at one.
Once you find an NHS dentist, go to your checkups every 6 months so you keep registered, or they kick you off the list. Hope you get sorted mate, it's miserable being in pain with your teeth.
Civil_Tomorrow558@reddit
I called for a checkup with my NHS dentist, they told me they don't do them every 6 months anymore. Since April this year the NHS guidelines have for checkups have been changed to once every 2 years unless you have a real problem or an emergency! Without even bothering to notify anyone of course:-)
External-Praline-451@reddit
Oh wow, I didn't know that, thanks.
catmadwoman@reddit
Evertime my 6 month appointment was due, a week before it was cancelled with letter in post tling me to rebook. The rebook was in 9 months (I kid you not). Guess what, the same thing happened in 9 months. I re-booked and they said I was no longer on their books. I gave up. Conspiracy or not?
External-Praline-451@reddit
Argh, that's terrible.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Sadly my local dental school isn’t taking new patients 😩
KingkLou@reddit
Even if you keep going, a lot of them turn private and you can no longer use them anyway! Such a scary state of affairs.
WhyToHide@reddit
Personally I wouldn’t go to dental student to fix my teeth due to quality concerns.
ecasun@reddit
£1200 for a re-root canal including consultation with the specialist endo…NHS said we’ll take the tooth out or go private. This was my FRONT tooth. Insane
Individual-Sign-714@reddit
£1200 is very reasonable.
ecasun@reddit
To some yes, but shouldn’t have to be reasonable for someone on a lower income.
ValenciaHadley@reddit
£415 is piss take for one filling. I go private and paid £550 for two fillings under sedation. I can only afford that because my dentist lets me pay a little bit off every month. I wish I had some advice for you, the dental situation is shit and I just got lucky.
Individual-Sign-714@reddit
There's no way it's for a filling, it's most likely a crown.
lordsosij@reddit
This sounds suss. I’m private dental patient and just looked at their fees and a white filling is £90… and £400 for a crown. You either just need to shop around dentists; or you’ve gotten a filling mixed up with something eles
niteninja1@reddit
400 for a crown is incredibly cheap. the uk average is 800
niteninja1@reddit
basically nothing.
there are fundamentally 2 problems.
1) the contract
dentists literally aren't paid enough by the nhs. The average nhs dentists loses £42 on a pair of nhs dentures And 50-100 on a root canal.
the current contract sets a cap at how much treatment a nhs dentists can deliver each year. if they go over this cap they get paid 0 for that work.
2) treatment quality And how it affects dentists.
modern dentistry uses expensive digital tooling.
this tooling not only makes treatment better but it makes it easier for the dentist as well.
just for a few examples:
(Note: for aome of these a mixed practice that does private and nhs these tools will be avaliable to the nhs dentist as well as the investment and profit have already been made).
essentially this leads to some dentists going im not doing x treatment on the nhs because its too hard.
What the government could be doing ti fix this:
1) double existing nhs payments tomorrow.
this would cost around £2billion a year.
this would mean all treatments should be profitable again.
This should stop nhs dentists leaving In the short term.
this should stop/reduce dentists handing back large amounts of money each year (effectively for work they havent done up to their cap). Resulting in some increase in provision.
2) long term reform.
The nhs needs to formally decide:
1) What treatments the nhs is actually willing to provide.
The nhs needs to clearly pic the treatments it will and wont provide and provide the relevant payments to actually cover the cost of this work to a modern standard using modern tooling.
2) how the nhs wants to obtain dentists
option 1: nhs own and run dental clinics with nhs dentists on staff (will be capital expensive but in theory removing the profit element will make it cheaper long term).
Option 2: continue contracting for dental services. (The nhs loses money to profit but doesnt have to fund capital expenditure and benefits from use of equipment purchased for private patients being available for nhs patients subsidising its costs.)
Playful_Beyond_2218@reddit
Nothing is being done to fix it, and we will likely continue losing all the adult nhs dental care sadly. If possible start a savings pot, ( I know this is hard with the cost of living crisis :( ) and make sure you brush and floss twice a day, use an electric toothbrush such as oral b io 3 ( about £45), and fluoride toothpaste . Adding in a water flosser helps keep the gums healthy too. Avoid sugary drinks and snacks. Xylitol mint or gum after snacks helps kill the bad bacteria .
notactuallyizzy@reddit
I got insanely lucky when I had one of my wisdom teeth growing the wrong way into my cheek
I had an emergency NHS appointment booked, and they cancelled on me an hour before. I called 111 and they booked me in with the local dental school, who did the extraction procedure for free because they're students
It was a little risk but I felt very safe and the students had plenty of fully qualified staff watching their every move
Awkward-Afternoon220@reddit
I’m with you on this. I cracked a molar without realising and I’m half way through a root canal treatment and a crown that’s going to cost me just over £1000 all in.
Ignore the idiots trying to rationalise the dental crisis, the dentist I go to has a 6 year waiting list to get on the NHS. I hope your treatment goes well and doesn’t impact your finances too much.
Jebble@reddit
Root canal plus the crown for £1000? That's actually cheap and probably what it'd have cost in Poland as well.
Awkward-Afternoon220@reddit
Yeah, my local private dentist is really reasonably priced all things considered. Thankfully I have some savings that I can use, but a lot of people won’t have that available to spend.
niteninja1@reddit
there’s no may well be eligible for nhs dental care thats dependent on when youe seen a private dentist.
Everyone is.
Sthurg@reddit
Can’t comment on corrective action for UK dental. The cost of that filling is atrocious, I’d recommend shopping around. I recently switched from a dentist looking to try charge similar for a composite to another also offering composite but only £170 a filling.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
The one I’ve found now is £180 for a filling.
Still had to take out a loan and better pray it’s not much more than that as I had to pay £135 upfront for the appointment!
PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit
Are you based in London? If so I have a much cheaper and excellent dentist I can recommend
Commercial-Joke-5597@reddit
I would very much appreciate the recommendation!
PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit
https://newriverdental.co.uk/
It's like £35 for a check up and £150 for a white filling
I'm sure there's cheaper but I'm a dentist phobic person and they're friendly, patient and sedate
Orchid500@reddit
So would I!
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Nope, south west. It was this or wait a week to get an appointment
vario_@reddit
It's very frustrating. I'm with a private dentist but I'm on universal credit LCWRA due to disability, so the fact that I should get check ups etc for free, but can't, is upsetting. Last time I needed a filling replaced, it cost half of my monthly income.
I signed up to a service that emails you if any NHS dentists open up in your area and, one day, I got an email saying that my dentist was taking NHS patients. Rang up immediately to ask if I could be swapped over and they said no because 'you have to have not seen a dentist for the past five years to be eligible'.
Lovecraftian666@reddit
Wasn’t able to afford dentists for 15 years. Also my fault as I was lazy.
Just spent thousands to end up with 4 teeth removed and umpteen fillings now I’m in a better job. God sakes people, don’t be like me, look after your teeth - dentistry is a money pit
MattyLePew@reddit
I’ve had the same issue. Around 4 years ago, I was told I need a filling based on an xray I paid for due to pain.
I moved and haven’t been able to get registered as an NHS patient since and so I’ve still got this tooth that causes me issue every now and again.
My teeth hygiene has never been better. Clean it more regularly than ever just to try and extend its life but I REALLY need the dentist but can’t afford it. 🤦♂️
snowdrop0901@reddit
Most unions have some form of dental plan.
Mine is like £10 a month and it covers almost everything.
Scale, polish, xray. Fillings. Root canal. Extractions. Crowns. Even oral cancer you get some help with.
Butttt i dont know how useful it is as the maximum annual claim limit is £500...and you need to already be with a dentist and have nothing pre existing anddd bave seen a dentist in the last 12 months.
Wrong_Duty7043@reddit
I’ve been there. 6 years without an NHS dentist in which a lot of damage was done to a few teeth that could have been salvaged with timely root canals and fillings. It is so disheartening because I look after them as best I can but I have done so much damage with night grinding.
Get on the waiting list for every single place taking NHS patients in your local areas, call them regularly. I was on the list for like 25 places who were accepting taking people onto their waiting lists and got one eventually. Do not stop trying for an NHS dentist.
Worried_Ice7553@reddit
Sounds like you are looking at private at those prices. I've had a lot of work done privately and last time I went to one for a filling it was from £275. Max was around £400 when they had to reconstruct a broken tooth/needed multiple sides done. So £415 is likely reasonable at today's prices depending on how badly damaged.
Have you used the NHS site to find a local nhs dentist? On the site it says if any local dentists are taking on new people. I ended up messaging all my local ones even though they had no spaces and a few did respond. In the end one messaged me again a week later saying they can sign me up if I still wanted to. They are based in the next city about 30 miles away but it's quick/easy to get there.
I found out I needed multiple fillings and it was all done within 3 months. The broken tooth had degraded a lot by then as bit of time between checkup and getting the work done. As a NHS dentist they couldn't do a temp filling to stop it getting worse while I waited. The cost was around £90 total for initial checkup, broken tooth (badly filled/not really fixed) and couple small fillings.
The work quality compared to private is really bad and they didn't even attempt to fully reconstruct the tooth but the cost was nothing in comparison.
If you want a decent job doing and the best chance to keep your tooth then loan for private. Once loan paid off, use the monthly payment amount to get on a scheme which will pay for private work in the future.
If you can't afford and needs must, check out the NHS dentist site and email the top 10. It's bad quality work but it's really cheap and will do.
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist/
hazy0817@reddit
Central europe is the way to go
Sternschnuppepuppe@reddit
I just had 2 fillings done privately for £360.
(I understand that’s still a lot on minimum wage, but just wanted to mention it, because whoever you talked to is ripping you off)
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Yeah she drives round town in a brand new Tesla.
I’m definitely sticking with this new one
adsm_inamorta@reddit
Dentists tend to have payment plans. Yes private dentists charge crazy figures for standard dental care but they do try and make the bill palatable with 0% finance plans.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
I’ve taken a £500 loan with Monzo to get this tooth sorted, and then from there I’ll look into these. It’s just so infuriating.
adsm_inamorta@reddit
Yeah it's crazy, but the fact that the costs are what they are is out of our control. All we can do is find the best way to tackle it. There's hopefully sufficient help/options out there for everyone without having to resort to loans.
nooneknowsmehereeee@reddit
£570 for a consultation, clean, and root canal for me yesterday - I (literally) feel your pain!
Could have shopped around but was in that much pain I needed it sorted same day and the place I found could do that.
CoffeeeGoblin@reddit
Most if not all dentists will offer a payment plan, they wont just shake you down for £300 there and then lol
TheLittleSquire@reddit
Take out dental insurance, save money for emergencies which major dental repairs are emergencys to spend your emgerancy fund on.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Easy to do when you have disposable income
TheNelliephant@reddit
Is this London/south? In my local village it cost me £55 which is also too much
No-Garbage9500@reddit
Nothing is being done, this is exactly what an awful lot of people in positions of influence want to be happening.
If you have considered voting Reform, this is exactly what they want your healthcare to be like. If you vote for Reform, you vote for your healthcare being like this.
The current government aren't doing anything about it because they're a moderate, centre right bunch of short sighted idiots and more worryingly, the health secretary seems to love US style health policies.
Short version? Nothing is going to change immediately. People in this county love to vote in people who tell them outright they'll take away the things we pay our taxes for.
ImThatBitchNoodles@reddit
I'm not sure how we'll get to the bottom of this issue, but I'm in dire need of a dentist and I've been on waiting lists for over 3 years now.
Every so often NHS dentists complain about patients not getting checked regularly and going to them with 100 issues, but how many people can realistically afford seeing private dentists every 6 months to keep on top of whatever issues may arise?
I don't think there is anyone who'd willingly neglect their oral health if NHS dentistry services weren't so scarce.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Look after your teeth.
miIk-skin@reddit
How does this help people who have poor dental health due to abuse and neglect in childhood?
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Adults tend to adult.
miIk-skin@reddit
Again, how does that help child victims of abuse and neglect?
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Wtf are you on about? Why are you bringing abuse and neglect up? You can be abused and understand brushing teeth is good. At what point do you actually make an adult decision instead of blaming trauma? If you don't brush your teeth you're minging. Your childhood is irrelevant.
miIk-skin@reddit
How the fuck does a child brush their teeth in a household where their parental figure has never bought them a toothbrush, has never supplied them with toothpaste, and has deliberately never taken them to a dentist?
You must live an exceptionally sheltered, privileged life if this is a scenario you can't even concieve of.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Oh behave. I'm not privileged having a normal upbringing. Don't blame your trauma on not knowing how a toothbrush works. Jesus Christ.
miIk-skin@reddit
You absolutely reek of somebody that has never experienced hardship in their life. Back in your box, Tarquin.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
I brush my teeth and floss twice a day.
This current predicament is the result of a filling cracking from when I was depressed and suicidal and didn’t really have the motivation to move from bed, let alone brush my teeth.
d3ad-and-buri3d@reddit
Even those with the most impeccable dental hygiene should still see a dentist for prevention
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Yeah I wish I could afford to, buddy. I was quoted £400 for a filling.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Brushing your teeth twice a day is pretty much free.
Sea_Director_4439@reddit
Doing that is not a guarantee against cavities. Hopefully you'll find this out soon.
bossanovaallnight@reddit (OP)
Does fuck all when you need treatment you can’t afford.
Isgortio@reddit
They've opened 2 new dental schools in the last year but that's for dental therapy. That doesn't increase the number of dental therapists for another 3 years though, and the intake numbers are still small (10-18 per uni) as there's not enough NHS funding towards the courses.
Dental therapists are supposed to be utilised more but there are still practices that won't use them for anything other than dental hygiene.
The NHS also isn't giving out contracts to many more practices, some will lose their contracts for various reasons but they're not given to other practices.
Practices are supposed to be taking on emergency NHS appointments now but I'm not sure what the criteria is for this.
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