[grabcocque]

Despite the article's pretence this is some universal historical wart, I take it this is an American foible, another artefact of the arcane clusterfuck that is US healthcare?

In the U.K., dental care is available on treated on the NHS just like other forms of care.

[peteretep]

This is deeply misleading.

All non-emergency health in the UK is mediated via your GP. Except dentistry. All expert medical procedures in the UK will be carried out by an MD, no matter what part of your body they're on. Except for your teeth. For any serious medical treatment in the UK that requires anaesthesia, or surgery, you are likely to be treated at a general hospital which happens to have an appropriate unit. Except ... dentistry, where they have specialist dental hospitals.

Finally, treatment on the NHS for all medical conditions is free at point of use, except for prescriptions. Except dentistry, which is merely subsidised, and generally provided by dentists who work privately, and offer to provide slightly different treatments on the NHS than they do privately.

[dghf]

> All expert medical procedures in the UK will be carried out by an MD, no matter what part of your body they're on

Point of pedantry, which doesn't really affect your argument: the professional medical degree in the UK is the MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery -- abbreviation can vary by institution). The MD is either a research degree (similar to a PhD) or, at certain older universities, a higher doctorate similar to a DSc. In either case, most British doctors don't have one.

[rollthehard6]

There is still a divide in the UK - unlike general medical care, dental care is not 100% free at the point of use (Similar for optical care).

Dentists can take a mix of private and (public) NHS patients or specialise purely in private or NHS. If you move to a new area it can sometimes be hard to get into a practice as an NHS patient.

NHS dental care is heavily subsidised but not entirely free (See here for prices where I am in Scotland - https://www.scottishdental.org/public/treatment-charges/)

Typically, if I get a check up and need nothing done other than scale and polish the cost is around 15 USD (The exam part being free)

As a consequence, having some dental insurance plan is not uncommon here - my partner needs more dental work than I do so has such a plan called Denplan.

[_nalply]

In Switzerland mandatory health care doesn't cover dentistry except for tooth accidents and serious illnesses.

As one can imagine some grey areas can make it difficult to determine whether a dentist treatment is covered or not.

[dazc]

It is technically available but it isn't universally free and most people who have a choice elect for private treatment anyway. NHS dentistry in the UK has a very bad reputation, mostly deserved.

[rollthehard6]

I'm not sure how true that is? Would like to see some statistics on how many people elect for private vs NHS. Myself I've never had private dental healthcare and have no complaints, especially since I am paying probably an average of around 150 USD a year for my dental care and can pay as little as 30 USD a year typically.

[pricechild]

Only a few years ago most "NHS Dentists" were full.

Just like that. No new patients. Tough.

It's only relatively recently that you'll find yourself driving past one with "Now accepting NHS patients" on big banners outside.

[toyg]

It's still a big challenge to find one in many areas (like mine). You call, get on the list, and if it's not urgent it will take weeks or months, you might have to drive quite a bit to get where they send you, and don't expect to find people happy to see you when you get there.

[cma]

When you say most do you mean 51% were full, or something more drastic than that? Wouldn't most having vacancies be inefficient?

[TheOtherHobbes]

Full as in "Yes, we're accepting patients, but the waiting list is two years, and we won't see you for an emergency until then."

I had a lot of NHS work done last year. I didn't pay much because I was used as a guinea pig by a couple of freshly qualified dentists who wanted to improve their skills before being promoted to private practice.

One dentist was good, one was kind of okay, I guess.

The deal wasn't explained. It was "And this is the NHS dentist you'll be seeing." Which is maybe not as ethical as it could be.

I've paid for private care in the past and it's never been significantly better. You get more choice of filling/crown material, but the actual work seems to be as good - or bad - as NHS work.

By far the best work was done for free by supervised students at an NHS teaching hospital in the 80s. Most of it has lasted for decades.

The issue with dentistry is possibly that there's no distinction between primary health care - the "have this tooth out or die of sepsis" kind - and purely cosmetic surgery, which is strictly optional.

There's also some overlap with products like implants, which improve looks but can also work better than fillings/crowns.

I can't think of any other branch of medicine which has the same tension between health and appearance.

[toyg]

I think the key is "most people who have a choice". That translates as "most people who can afford to spend a few grand per year on dentistry without really noticing".

I guess parent is a bit more upper-middle class than you.

[dazc]

I spend £27 GBP a month and that is considered to be expensive by some people who pay as little as £7.

For this I get 4 cleans/checkups a year and a zealous hygiene regime. I also get some insurance for accidental trauma too.

Sure, if you do need major work it's going to be expensive but the emphasis is very much aimed at preventing this. In the past 15 years or so I have had minimal work done.

Relying on an NHS practice is, as indicated in other replies, a bit of a lottery and you'll be hard pressed to get decent treatment for something serious. Partly because some dentists are not qualified to do stuff like root canal and partly because of funding restrictions - they just don't want that kind of work.

Having said that, things have improved since my childhood when NHS dentists were payed per filling. You can imagine how that worked out in many case.

[arethuza]

Private dental insurance in the UK is most definitely not "a few grand per year".

[dogma1138]

Private dental insurance in the U.K. doesn't cover as much as you think.

[arethuza]

Well, I get regular checkups and when I need work they do it - I haven't encountered any areas where stuff wasn't covered.

Edit: Pretty sure I pay £30 odd a month and I've had root canal treatment, new crowns, etc.

[rollthehard6]

Must be as I'd certainly notice a few grand per year being spent on dentistry ; )

[pif]

In France and in Italy they are formally treated as a whole, but in practice they are two separate worlds. In particular, financial coverage in France and availability in public structures in Italy are very different between "dentists" and "doctors".

[vacri]

Let me add an Australian voice to the "Yup, there's a dental divide" cacophony.

[kalleboo]

In Sweden, dental is treated separately. There are public dentists, but they're only free of charge up to age 19, and after that there are only a couple rebates available (IIRC the government will pay 30% of procedures over a certain cost, and every other year you get a check that covers one checkup)

In Japan, basic dentistry is covered the same under national health insurance, but for instance if you want a ceramic crown instead of metal, you have to pay for that yourself. Dentists and general medicine are completely separate institutions though.

[halflings]

Well... most people I know go to a private dentist, even if they go to their NHS-covered GP. Isn't coverage different for dentists?

[gpvos]

I don't see the article claiming universality outside the US. But in many European countries, dentistry is indeed largely or completely separate from the rest of medicine.

[JetSpiegel]

Not in Portugal. There's almost no dentists working on the public sector, as opposed to pretty much all other medical specialities.

[Aaargh20318]

In the Netherlands it's completely separate too, including in insurance.

[tirant]

Except for children. And I've seen that in other European countries as well. Children dental care is always included in public health care, and even the dentists share clinic with other doctors.