There is just no incentive for NHS dentists to do complex and time consuming work such as root fillings. In fact doing root canal work can actually penalise an NHS dentist. A NHS [...]]]> There are lots of stories in the press this week reporting that tooth extractions have soared by 30% in four years. What a surprise!

There is just no incentive for NHS dentists to do complex and time consuming work such as root fillings. In fact doing root canal work can actually penalise an NHS dentist. A NHS dentist has to achieve his UDA target (he is contracted by his Primary Care Trust to do a set number of UDAs, units of dental activity) and because he is allocated the same UDA for doing an extraction (which might take a few minutes) or root canal work (which might take 1-2 hours) the NHS dentist is of course going to suggest an extraction to the patient.

So what is happening? Patients are having their teeth removed unnecessarily when more complex treatment could have saved the teeth. What a scandal.

The report mentions that the “inexperience and pay structure of NHS dentists” are the cause of a “steep rise in hospital admissions” for “tooth extractions” and that more people are travelling to Europe for cheaper dental treatment. [...]]]> See this article in the Independent on the increase in hospital admissions for tooth extractions.

The report mentions that the “inexperience and pay structure of NHS dentists” are the cause of a “steep rise in hospital admissions” for “tooth extractions” and that more people are travelling to Europe for cheaper dental treatment.

In the UK it seems that [...]]]> The Sunday Express article “Why Labour is at fault for Dental Farce” by Alison Little, discusses the failure of UK NHS dentistry and reports that 40,000 patients a year are now travelling to Hungary for dental treatment they can’t afford at home. Here is the link to this dental article www.express.co.uk/posts/view/75502/Why-Labour-is-at-fault-for-dental-farce

In the UK it seems that more patients are having extractions rather than more complex procedures such as root canal treatment. Why is this? The new dental contract? The new dental contract means that the UDA (unit of dental activity) banding for an extraction is in the same category as root canal treatment. An extraction might take a dentist a few minutes,  root canal treatment might take a few hours. What incentive is there for a dentist to do complicated work if they get paid the same amount for both? And the Government are surprised?

So why should you go to Hungary for dental treatment? You get treatment according to what you need, not in units of UDA.