DT News - UK - More dentists see no future for their profession

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 15 October 2015

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BIRMINGHAM, UK: Recent changes to the dental care system seem to have taken their toll on dentists’ expectations for the future of their profession. According to a recent poll conducted by Birmingham financial service provider Wesleyan, half of the dentists surveyed stated that they would advise against entering the field when asked whether they would recommend dentistry as a career to friends or family members.

Most of those surveyed named increasing costs, including those for education and training, along with changes to pay and working conditions, as the main reasons for the grim future of the field.

The overall majority admitted that pressure on the profession owing to these changes has increased.

Other issues, such as the introduction of the new NHS dental contract and the changes to the NHS Pension Scheme, were also identified as having an impact on the field in the years to come.

“There are huge stresses in the dental profession and great unhappiness, even fear, regarding our regulator, not to mention an uncertain NHS future,” Judith Husband, a dentist and member of the Wesleyan Members Advisory Board, said. “More than half of dentists in England and Wales are associates and, because of the massive rise in the value of practices, it is becoming increasingly difficult for those with an ambition to own their own practice to actually achieve this.”

In an earlier Wesleyan poll conducted among dentists last year, only every third dentist said that he or she would recommend the profession to others. In sharp contrast, more dentists then ever would choose to enter the profession again if given the opportunity to start over. According to the latest poll, almost two-thirds of dentists would choose the same career path again, compared with 60 per cent in 2014.

“Practising dentistry and looking after patients remains a rewarding career with lots of varied opportunities,” remarked Husband on the results.

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