Dental Health Practice, private, NHS dentist

Sour taste schedule - payment dates A new survey of public attitudes to NHS dentistry shows that half of the adults in England find dental charges unfair amid escalating living costs. We have warned decision-makers that NHS dentistry is in desperate need of reform. With living costs on the rise, our new findings show that health inequalities are widening as people in every part of the country struggle to pay for dental care. When people find it hard to access NHS dental care, they feel pressured to go private, which is not an option for many. And even NHS charges can be hard for some to afford. A representative poll of 2, 026 adults based in England found nearly half (49%) of respondents, who had an opinion about NHS charges, felt NHS dental charges were unfair. What are people saying? The poll, which looked at people’s experiences of NHS dentistry, including costs associated with dental care, found the following: • 54% of people who had an NHS dentist appointment, had a problem. Of these, more than three in five (63%) respondents found it difficult to book an appointment. More than three in ten (31%) couldn’t access all the treatments they needed. • 46% of people who had an NHS dentist appointment, had issues with the costs associated with their NHS dental care. Of these: More than a third (34%) of respondents said they had to pay privately to get all the required treatment; nearly a quarter (24%) reported they felt pressured to pay privately when they booked their dental appointment. Similar numbers (24%) said their NHS dentist didn’t explain the costs before starting treatment; nearly one in five (17%) reported that their NHS dentist charged more for the treatments than the advertised NHS charges Widening health inequalities The shortage of NHS appointments has hit people on low incomes hardest, meaning they are less likely to have dental treatment than those on higher incomes