Are TV soundbites damaging dentistry?

Are TV soundbites damaging dentistry?

Seb Evans responds to the unfair portrayal of private dentistry on TV chat shows to explain why dental practice profits aren’t an opportunity to plug the holes in NHS dentistry.

Another morning, another TV chat panel, and another wave of misinformation directed at the dental profession.

This time, the stage was Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine on 5, where Matt Allwright and an ex-dental practice manager took aim at the cost of private dental treatment.

The claim – a dental implant costs just £200 to produce, yet ‘greedy’ dentists charge £2,000. Cue the collective gasps from the studio audience.

As someone who spends a lot of time speaking to the teams running these practices, this level of discussion is not just frustrating: it’s fundamentally dangerous. It reveals a deep-seated misunderstanding of how clinical care, business and our society actually function.

The myth of the £200 implant

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