So? They do five years of University training and they're doing a job which they know is worthwhile but which the people they do it for mostly hate the sight of them. It's a hugely stressful profession because of that, quite a lot of dentists are burned out by like their mid 40's. They get all of the hassle of GPs & lawyers but none of the social status. Might as well at least earn the same as the others do.

I bet there are more than 700 people in the city who earned 10 times that last year despite flushing the entire western world's economy down the crapper.

Jon

I'm going to say "So?" for a different reason. Most Dentists get their money in the private sector, it's not like they're raping the NHS.

And?

At least they provide a service.

Supply + demand, they supply a highly skilled service, are generally feared by their customers and deal with grotty mouths all day in most cases. Not to mention the training and education required to perform it

Thanks for the words of support peeps.

There are about 25,000 dentists inthe country, most earn a lot less. In London and the big cities it was not too difficult for a number of private practice owners to earn serious money. Not a lot relative to bonuses and suchlike earned by some though. As said, compare with politicians/top civil servants/bankers/barristers/news editors?

I don't earn anywhere nearthis much, and work fairly hard. Ordinary house/car/life. Pay taxes, spend money in the community and try to do my best.

I heard a lot of dentists go nutty* and have to retire early. People screaming at you every day can do that. I'm sure I'm like a lot of people; I don't go as often as I should because they terrify me. Really bad experience as a kid...

I'm sure I read somewhere that thanks to the PFI, a hospital cleaner cost the NHS more than a trained nurse. Of course, they only take home minimum wage and the rest goes into well connected people's back pockets...

It is pretty damned expensive going to the dentist, especially (I should expect) privately in a big-name London practice. However, I think a good emergency plumber costs more



*proper medical term I think

I did my work experience at the local dentists, and was seriously considering it as a career.
Hmm.

I think what did it for me was the fact I got incredibly bored by the day-to-day bread and butter stuff they were doing.
That and my maths took a serious nose dive thanks to a [LIFTED] teacher. Kinda ruled out a science career.

TBH, I would be surprised if NHS dentists get to charge you £15 for waiting half an hour after your appointment and then being spoken at in Polish by the dentist for literally two minutes before the Polish assistant just about manages to say "You can go now".

It used to be Australian dentists, later Irish, to build up their workrate under the NHS and then go home to private practice. then it was spanish/italian when we joined the EU. Now it's eastern Europe and the Indian sub continant arrivals. All doing the same thing, just now English is not the first language.

Random.

Rip off artists

I'd not been to a dentist in years. I went finally for a checkup and was told everything was spot on but come back for a scale and polish and xray. I went back again for the xray which the dentists admitted showed nothing going on. I was supposed to have the scale and polish. He said he couldnt do it that day but would arrange another appointment and spent the next 10 minutes trying to sell me the 'private' scale and polish. To top it off after finding nothing on the first appointment and nothing on the xray as well as me having no problems with my teeth he decided he might have seen a "shadow". For this he wanted to drill the tooth in another appointment and "explore" before filling it in.

[LIFTED] off

Just meant that it was or seemed to be less of an issue when the people coming over were seen as "colonials" coming over to help out (back in the 60's/70s). Actually they were coming to earn some cash and build up speed under the NHS system with more or less guaranteed work, then mainly go back home, sometimes leaving a tax bill owed.

Now it's other nationalities, and there are often big communication issues. The vast majority of complaints are a result of miscommunication/different expectations

My last Dentist was Polish - so was her assitant.

The dentist didn't speak a word of English, and the assistant couldn't communicate very well but could get by. It was quite disconcerting to have the assistant translating everything into broken English. As soon as I asked a question they both just looked at each other blankly before repeating the last sentance.

That was 6 or 7 years ago. I haven't been to a dentist since.

TBH you can't really say much when someone's digging around in your mouth. So long as they're qualified and do a good job I don't care who it is.