A little survey from my local paper popped up on Facebook today. It wanted to know how long people had been waiting to see a dentist or when they last visited one. Of course the replies were predictable. Years on waiting lists for nothing to ever come of it. People going abroad to get treated, paying a fortune or pulling their own teeth out. I think covid was the final nail in the coffin. The backlog was too great to ever catch up again. Yes dentist’s earn far too much money. But so do vets and lawyers and possibly even plumbers. We all had a choice when we left school.
I can’t quite remember now but it’s probably at least 20 years since my dentist went private and signed us all up for Denplan if we wished. I think it was about £15 a month back then for my early signs of gum disease mouth and they’ve looked after me ever since.
In and out of working, having a child, not working I have continued to pay and of course over the years it has increased. During covid I paid £30 monthly without getting near the dentist. I couldn’t ‘hold’ the Denplan until the dentist’s reopened, oh no of course not but it was the price of a few bottles of wine and coming out the other end of no treatment for 2 years I knew I’d need a dentist real quick.
So nowadays as before I have regular lengthy hygienist treatments to keep my existing teeth safe. I’ve paid less than £200 for small dentures. I’ve even turned up on the wrong day and been fitted in with the hygienist and had a very sore tooth pulled buy one of the other dentists. I could ring them in the morning and I don’t doubt they would fit me in.
The thing is it’s not a massive amount of money. I understand it’s impossible for some but for the majority? Nah
My next door neighbour got incredibly angry when she found out I was paying. I could have free dental care right now she said and I was an idiot for paying, especially when the dentists were shut. My other neighbour had been trying to get an appointment with her dentist for 18 months even before covid but that wasn’t the point. The point was don’t pay for what you can have for free.
And that’s it in a nutshell. The entitlement. We should have free dental care therefore if I can’t get a dentist I’m not going. Both neighbours pull in so many benefits £40 a month on a dental plan would only put a small dent in the weekly weed and bacci spend quota. It’s laughable really.
