First, the dentists are complaining about a pay cut.

The national leaders of the UK’s general dental practitioners described as ‘derisory’ the 0.21 per cent increase in earnings awarded by the government following today’s recommendation of the
Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Pay. The Retail Prices Index is currently at 3.2 per cent-anything less than this is effectively a pay cut.

Chairman of the DPA Jim Donaldson BDS said “The DDRB seems to assume no responsibility for diffic
lties in NHS access. Year after year we have tried to explain to them that dentists are motivated to either join or leave the NHS based on comparison with similarly skilled groups and also the disparity in terms and conditions between the public and priv
te sectors. Pay is a vital element of the NHS package, yet year after year it is cut in real terms.

“The new contract is sufficiently unattractive and uncertain without this further clear signal that financial penalties are to be imposed year
fter year by below-inflation awards”.

President of the DPA Brian Levy BDS said “With the RPI at 3.2 per cent, this recommendation can only be viewed by NHS dentists as another pay cut. This will further reduce our members’ ability to accept an
treat NHS patients”.

Yet, UK patients are having probelms with access to patient care and affording it even should they find
a NHS dentist who will treat them.

Despite Government promises to improve access, research reveals that 35 per cent of adults are struggling to get the dental care they need – up from 23 per cent the year before.

In some
parts of the country, half the adults said they cannot see an NHS dentist – forcing them to go without treatment or to pay privately.

The credit crunch is also having an impact on the nation’s dental health.

The poll revealed that a
most 50 per cent of the population say they are put off going to the dentist over fears of the cost. Last year the figure was one in five.

Abby Bowman from Simplyhealth, the private dental provider which carried out the survey, said: ‘The NHS
ental contracts introduced three years ago were supposed to give more people access to dentists, but as our research shows this is only getting worse.’

So, the UK nationalized system has the worst of both worlds – cost and availability.
But, isn’t this the lesson of a price fixed system taught in basic economics?

And, the UK politicians, where do they stand while their own people are resorting to extracting their own teeth while continuing to pay high taxes for services they
annot obtain?

Well, Prime Minister Gordon Brown who opposes private medicine says – Let Them Eat Cake.

CHANCELLOR Gordon Bro
n came under fire last night after it was revealed he has been using a £100-an-hour private dentist. Mr Brown, a fierce opponent of private medicine, has been a regular patient at the exclusive London Centre for Cosmetic Dentistry.

It boasts a string of celebrity clients, including Oasis singer Liam Gallagher.

Just last week, as an estimated two million Britons continued to struggle without access to an NHS dentist, the Chancellor attended the clinic to undergo root canal treatment. Treated by the practice owner, Mervyn Drurian, he had two half-hour sessions t
clean out a dead nerve and cap one of his teeth.

The bill is expected to run into hundreds of pounds, once laboratory fees are added.

Astonishingly a spokesman for the Chancellor defended his decision to go private by blaming the current lack of NHS dentists available.

A spokesman said: “Using a private dentist is not the same as using a private doctor.

“Gordon is no different to the large number of people who have found themselves without an NHS dentist because he did not visit one regularly.

“If you have a toothache, you have to find a dentist quickly and to do that you have to go private. It is not like arranging an appointment with your GP. ”

Astonishingly?

No, not really.

The POLS know where to go for the best treatment and the peasants in their elite, socialized system can just “PISS OFF.”