DT News - UK - Dental care system in crisis an international disgrace, dentists say

Dental Tribune UK

Fri. 5 January 2018

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LONDON, UK: Dentistry in the UK is “an international disgrace”, dentists from across the country have said. In a letter sent to the Daily Telegraph this week, the author claims that the dental care system is facing a “national crisis” with patients being left untreated in many areas of Britain.

Instead of being supported by the dental care system, these patients are increasingly forced to rely on charity organisations for treatment, they said in the letter, of which excerpts were published by the newspaper on Tuesday.

“Not only does rotten teeth remain the number one medical reason for any young child being admitted to hospital, but third world-based dental charities are expanding here from previous years and large American charities are looking to come to the UK,” the letter states.

Recently, American charity, Remote Area Medical announced their plans to open temporary clinics, similar to their US models, in the UK. The charity would follow domestic organisations like Dentaid, which is already running schemes providing free services to people with low income in counties such as West Yorkshire, Hampshire and Cornwall.

“It is a terrible situation when you have got charities looking at Britain and seeing there is a desperate need to provide basic care,” Dr Tony Kilcoyne, who collected the signatures in the letter, said. “It is a wake-up call; we are urging Government to act now to improve the state of dentistry and tackle the inadequacies in our system.”

The calls from the dentists come at the same time that doctors and patients nationwide reported about devastating conditions within trusts and hospitals. The government has denied any problems saying that the NHS is “better prepared for winter than ever before”.

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