Have a great nhs dentist accepting patients

[beansprout]

Not sure if this is allowed, if not then please delete.

My dentist practice in west wickham is accepting nhs patients.

Knowing how difficult it is to find one, thought I would share.

PM for further info…

[Sue]

4 minutes ago, beansprout said:

Not sure if this is allowed, if not then please delete.

My dentist practice in west wickham is accepting nhs patients.

Knowing how difficult it is to find one, thought I would share.

PM for further info…

The dentist in North Cross Road is also  (or was very recently) accepting NHS patients, and both dentists I have seen there since registering with them are very good.

The restorative dentistry consultant  I have been seeing  at King's commented on what a good job one of them had done on a temporary filling when a large part of my tooth fell off (it has to be crowned).

[malumbu]

From my understanding you should be able to get NHS dentistry in London.  There is no such thing as a NHS dentist as they are self employed and can choose to do NHS, private or a mixture of both.  Historically many dentists have settled down near their dentistry school, therefore the big cities tend to be fine, unlike some areas of the countryside, smaller towns and the like.

A BBC study in 2022 showed that a quarter of dental practices in London are taking on new NHS patients - best in the country https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62253893

The shortage is a hangover from the good old days (for dentists) where they were creaming it, which encouraged more intervention (drill and fill); clamping down on this sadly led to a much greater provision of private dentistry as excessive payments under the NHS were curbed therefore many started to provide more private work.  

 

 

[beansprout]

Recently on radio 4, there was talk/program discussing dentist and how difficult it is to access a dentist period in all parts  of UK.

Tonight, on tv there was a brief topic about young children under the age of 6 going, I think to A & E to get their teeth extracted - think it was on bbc1.

On radio 4 along the same lines of difficulty accessing dentists be it private or non private - I believe that hygienists or the likes are now going into schools to encourage/teach  children to brush their teeth. I believe they even provide toothpaste and brushes.

My question is why can’t or won’t parents deal with it themselves? Surely it must be a parental responsibility? Or are teachers now going to be expected to assist with this as well as educate them.

 

 

[Sue]

I was in Forest Hill Road today, just past the Rye, and noticed there is a dentist next to the Herne (pub) that has NHS signs outside.

I've never had any problems getting NHS dental treatment in East Dulwich, and I get regular check ups.

I've been to three  different dental practices here over the years, all with NHS treatment.

I think the difficulties are in other parts of the country. Malumbu has a good explanation above.

I didn't hear the Radio 4 programme, but I'm guessing that a  radio programme is not going to have time to say where you CAN easily get NHS treatment, and is bound to focus on the negatives and the horror stories, otherwise it would be very boring!

ETA: Re children's teeth, I think the major issue is not lack of dentists, it is children being given sugary food, drinks and confectionery which rots their teeth.

The education of parents needs to be about this, not just about tooth brushing.

And in some cases the poor diet may also be due to lack of money for healthy food.

Though of course the lack of dentists doesn't help, if  the tooth rotting can't be rectified by fillings or extraction.

Edited March 12, 2025 by Sue