(By Dr. Joseph D. Lim and Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI)
“DENTAL deserts” are emerging across England.
Over 2,000 dentists quit the National Health Service or NHS in 2021, leaving millions of people struggling to get dental checkups or treatments.
(The NHS is similar to our Department of Health hereabouts.)
In England, the number of dentists providing care under the NHS fell from 23,733 at the end of 2020 to 21,544 at the end of January this year, according to the latest numbers from the NHS.
The loss of 2,000 NHS dentists last year follows a decline the previous year of 951, reports theguardian.com.
It’s the smallest number of dentists for the NHS in a decade’s time, according to the Association of Dental Groups (ADG) which obtained the statistics under freedom of information laws.
The figures show that if each dentist has a caseload of about 2,000 patients, the decrease in the number of dentists means that about 4 million people are without access to NHS care.
This dental desert, as the ADG calls it, denies access to so many people that in some places patients wait three years for a dental appointment.
This is why only one in three people are satisfied with dental services, reports Denis Campbell, the Health Policy Editor of theguardian.com.
Many are forced to go to private dentist after failing to find an NHS dentist.
Mr. Campbell cites an ADG warning that COVID and government underfunding of NHS dental services have combined to create a “critical” situation which is likely to get worse before it gets better.
“We are now seeing ‘dental deserts’ emerge across the country where there is almost no chance of ever seeing an NHS dentist for routine care,” the ADG said. “Dental deserts present a serious risk to the dental health of millions of NHS patients in England.”
The situation is “unacceptable” for many needing dental care, Mr. Campbell writes.
“People are struggling to get the dental treatment they need when they need it,” he quotes Louise Ansari, the National Director of NHS watchdog Healthwatch England.
NHS dentistry has become “a rotten system” which lets down patients and deters practitioners of dental care, the British Dental Association (BDA) said in a statement.
The BDA, the umbrella organization for 42,000 dentists in the United Kingdom, blames ministers for the inability of patients to get NHS care in England. It says ministers only provide enough money in the dental contract to cover the cost of treating just over half the population.
NHS England spends about £3bn a year on dental care, a figure which has plateaued since.
Dentists do not like what they call a “broken” contract that targets for the amount of care given. The system pays the same amount for one filling as well as for 10 fillings. This discourages dentists from treating complex cases because they do not get paid for the time involved, Mr. Campbell reports.
“Dentists are simply not seeing a future in the NHS, with a broken contract pushing out talent every day it remains in force,” said Shawn Charlwood, the Chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee.
“We need to halt an exodus that’s already in motion. Millions are going without the care they need, and quick fixes are no substitute for real reform and fair funding,” he told theguardian.com.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim, Ed. D., is the former Associate Dean of the College of Dentistry, University of the East; former Dean, College of Dentistry, National University; Past President and Honorary Fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy; Honorary Fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists; Honorary Life Member of the Thai Association of Dental Implantology; and Founding Chairman of the Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515.
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Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI, graduated Doctor of Dental Medicine, University of the Philippines, College of Dentistry, Manila, 2011; Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management, De la Salle University, Manila, 2002; and Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, 2019. He is an Associate Professor; Fellow, International Congress of Oral Implantologists; Member, American Academy of Implant Dentistry and Fellow, Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail limdentalcenter@gmail.com./PN
