Neel Kothari explains why administrative burnout and a lack of clinical support, not funding, are the real reasons dentists are fleeing the NHS.
Undoubtedly years of under inflationary pay rises have made NHS funding a problem. But what is often overlooked is how difficult the day-to-day experience of being an NHS dentist has become and why those cumulative pressures may be the biggest reason dentists are leaving.
Let me explain. Consider what it is like if professional ethics matter deeply to you and you have been taught to follow the rules throughout your entire journey of becoming a dentist.
This seems reasonable – until you work in a system where, even after 20 years, no one can clearly define those rules, yet getting them wrong could put your registration and career at risk.
Sure, there is much we can agree on, but most of us will know colleagues who take the view that they will not carry out molar endodontics, bridges or chrome dentures on the NHS because rightly or wrongly they cannot afford to do so.
I am not criticising them, but rather pointing out how absurd it is that conscientious dentists are left so unsupported when difficult decisions arise.
Demoralising administrative burdens
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