A high price to pay for the collapse in NHS dentistry

Les Bright and another reader on the difficulty of getting an NHS dentist as more practitioners go private

Re your report (MPs demand dentistry overhaul as patients resort to DIY treatment, 14 July), I recently received a text from my dental surgery, cancelling my appointment at the end of this month and asking me to call them.

I did so and learned that my dentist and her colleague were “going private from 1 September” and could not see me as their priorities were children and those undergoing a course of treatment. However, when I said that I would like to continue seeing my dentist once she had gone private, I was offered a new appointment on the same day as my cancelled visit.

At the conclusion of the call I was told that a “secure payment link” would be sent to my phone so that I could pay 50% upfront within 48 hours, otherwise the appointment would be cancelled.

In the course of a text message, a phone call and a hyperlink, my lifelong relationship with NHS dentistry was summarily ended with no consultation and no explanation. I shall not have to resort to using pliers, but I suspect that some patients will.
Les Bright
Exeter

I welcome your timely article on the state of NHS dentistry. It has become impossible to even get on an NHS dental waiting list in our town, with most dentists considering going private. Our excellent dentist of many years has decided to go private, which will be a great burden for us financially. For people who do not own houses or have capital, saving for a dental plan is mission impossible.

This is a timebomb: if the government does not support those in lower-income households, who cannot afford private dental and medical care, an increase in the number of incidents of illness caused by inaccessibility of care will hit the NHS. We have always had a two-tier society, but since the pandemic the divide between rich and poor has increased, largely due to the cost of living crisis. Is it justifiable that all our disposable, hard-earned income is spent on private dental and medical costs?
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