For more than 80 years, the National Health Service has provided dentistry for the population of the United Kingdom.
When I qualified as a dentist in 1994, it was almost the only type of dentistry you could get in the west of Scotland with a very limited private market and private provision. Since I qualified some 30 years ago, though, NHS dental revision has been reduced and reduced, contracts have been changed, and workforces have been altered and affected. Most people understand that it's very difficult to get access to NHS dental care now, and therefore, they feel that it's essential that they stay on an NHS list to be seen by practitioners providing NHS care because if they leave, they will never get back.
Understanding the Limitations of NHS Dentistry
This is perhaps true, but it's important to understand that the ability to provide the full aspects of dentistry and the full range of treatments available is not possible on the NHS, and many practitioners leave the NHS simply to be able to treat their patients the way they want, with the skills to which they were trained, and to a level that they feel is acceptable and appropriate.
It is very difficult to provide significant quality dentistry under National Health Service arrangements.
And so, if you stay on our national health service list, you are absolutely accepting all of the limitations that we would have working within that system, including very short appointment times, limited ability to pay staff and invest in staff, limited ability to invest in new technologies or new facilities for patients overall. I was an NHS general dentist for many years and was involved in the NHS from 1994 to 2015 and I know that the provision of care that we provide at the Campbell Clinic is way beyond that which is possible within an NHS environment.
When you are considering whether to stay on an NHS list or move to a more modern, progressive, technological and preventive solution, then take into consideration the fact that the best system and service for you may not be being registered within NHS practice.
