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NHS dentistry is rotting away under the SNP

Four years after the National Health Service began in 1948, its founding Minister of Health Nye Bevan MP wrote, ‘No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.’ It was a succinct expression of the NHS mission statement – to provide medical care, free at the point of use – a principle has been a cornerstone of our society for more than seven decades.


Bevan argued that if the NHS was to be truly a universal health service, it must include dentistry. The launch of the NHS saw a deluge of demand to remove rotten teeth, with a million sets of dentures distributed in the first nine months of the service.


In 1951, when Atlee’s government proposed to introduce charges on dentures, Bevan took the principled decision to resign from the government in protest. Despite those early tensions, the nation’s dental health improved significantly. The proportion of twelve-year olds with no significant dental decay was only 19% in 1948 but had risen to 82% by 2023.


But this great achievement of the NHS risks unravelling. The SNP is allowing the privatisation of dentistry to thrive, and no Minister in the Scottish Government has the courage to stand up and call out what is going on.


Glaswegians know just how difficult it is to get access to an NHS dentist these days - the outrageous waiting times for appointments in Glasgow mean that people are being forced out of the NHS. This is a trend across the country but the Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board saw the largest number of patients leaving NHS practices with 16,366 people forced out of NHS care since 2021 and 9,723 in 2022 alone.  


It is simply not good enough that the state of NHS dentistry across the country is so poor people are having to fork out huge sums to be seen by a private dental practice.  

This is what privatisation looks like – those who can, pay for a private dentist; those who can’t, suffer without access to an NHS dentist when they need it.


The Scottish Government’s failure to get a grip of the decline in NHS dentistry is compounding health inequalities; those in the wealthiest areas are far more likely to be seen by an NHS dentist while poorer areas are likely to be forced to wait longer for the care they need.


Public Health Scotland data shows that in the first three months of 2024, 44,812 children and 133,705 adults from poorer areas in Scotland went to the dentist for treatment while 55,780 children and 168,161 adults from Scotland’s wealthiest neighbourhoods went to see a dentist.


Dental disease inequalities remain, last year only 72% of children from the most deprived areas experienced no tooth decay, compared to 88% of children in the least deprived areas.

We need a new vision for dental care which focuses on prevention to replace the tired ‘drill-and-fill' model of dentistry. 


In 2006, the last Labour-led Scottish Government introduced the world-leading Childsmile pilot which is now an invaluable national programme which centres prevention through providing all children with a toothbrush and toothpaste, supervised tooth brushing in nurseries and some school settings and the targeted application of flouride varnish.  


Scottish Labour want to build on this legacy, by expanding the scheme and introducing more targeted interventions in areas of high deprivation. 


All Glaswegians deserve access to NHS dental care regardless of their postcode and they should not be forced to sacrifice their lifesavings to pay to relieve themselves of their dental pain, or worse suffer in pain due to a lack of means. 


The SNP has undermined Bevan’s founding principle by allowing NHS dentistry provision to decline to the extent that it has – for many it is simply no longer there when they need it. If you are one of the many people affected by this situation, I am keen to hear from you.







1 Comment


john.munro
Aug 05, 2024

Hi Paul

I totally agree with your article and funnily enough as a health care professional myself and a GP we’re talking about this the other day and the impact it has on people’s wider health. I am in a Job that is reasonably well paid but I had an episode years ago where a newly qualified dentists carried out lots of dental treatments that I later found out were not necessary . I now have a few issues not majorly expensive but my dentists are pushing for me to go private which I can’t afford as a replacement white filling in the nhs would be £50-£60 but privately nearer £180 for the same tooth and work . I can’…

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