British teeth are about to get a whole lot worse, my dentist says
Ever been furious that you can no longer find a berth with an NHS dentist? It’s heartening to learn that the mass exodus towards the private sector is nothing to do with greed. Vocations still exist but they are becoming just too difficult to fulfil. When my NHS dentist, Philippa Riseley-Prichard, graduated from dental school in 1983, the expectation was that most people would lose all their teeth by the time they were 60. Imagine! In olden times, even the glamorous were happy to have a full set of snappers at 60. Or even before – Clark Gable (1901-60) had most of his removed by the age of 33. So what happened? Fluoride in toothpaste, more NHS dentists and an image-conscious public – suddenly prepared to put in the necessary time at the sink with tedious hygiene rituals. By 1993, the government realised that all patients – not just the...
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