TEETH

According to some medical professor I was listening to on the radio this morning;</p>

In 1968 - 80% of over 65s did not have one natural tooth left.</p>

Today, the same percentage of over 65s do not have a single false tooth.</p>

This is attributed to the gradual transition from the begginnings of the health service after the war, where better dental health was encouraged and given, the advent of fluoride in toothpaste etc and better oral self care.</p>

However, the problem now is that the older end of the population is beginning to present a dilemma. The older teeth get, the more maintenance they need. Fillings wear out and have to be replaced, gums are more susceptible to infection, old teeth more likely to need attention and repair.</p>

Result, depleting and already overworked dentists with a growing impossible case load of patients to deal with.</p>

Bloody Hell! The NHS teeth programme finally becomes a victim of it's own success.</p>

Pair of pliers for everybody's 50th birthday and back to square one then eh?</p>

Sorted. </p>

 

Tommorows papers - Shane McGowan the idol of the NHS

The Sun</p>

</p>

Today Shane McGowan the ugly front man of ex chart toppers the pogues has been hailed as a hero by medical staff at Sheffield Hallam University. They went on to say that because kidney's were now 'ten - a - penny' in most hospitals teeth were the new problem arising in inner city Britain. This has led to many illegal gun point tooth muggings over the last few months and Police are finding it difficult to find the muggers due to new 'super pliers' leaving no trace of DNA.</p>

A spokesperson for the leading gold tooth society have said that because of the lack of tooth decay the have had to lay off a number of 'gold tooth sculpters' since June. </p>

A spokesperson for Willy Wonka has failed to make a statement in the frenzy as they were starting the famous Golden ticket charade all over again.</p>



Reuters 2005</p>

 

"better oral self care"

I've been trying for years but I'm just not bendy enough.

 

RE: "better oral self care"

You need to get a few ribs removed.

 

I could have put money..

... on you coming up with that within 30 minutes of posting.

 

It's the vertebrae that are the problem.

One too many.

 

RE: It's the vertebrae that are the problem.

I heard a few months of yoga may be able to sort out the problem, it won't get rid of the vertebrae, but it'll make your body more "elasticated"

 

RE: It's the vertebrae that are the problem.

Forget the vertebrae.</p>

Practice.</p>

 

Good Old Jay getting the brunt of it again!!!

 

No one appreciates it at this time of night

All the filth merchants are away home. Furiously masturbating.

 

That's a new one!

NHS dentistry a victim of it's own success.
More a victim of neglect from successive governments, soon to be followed by a lethal intervention by Tony's Cronies on 1st April 2006.  Although we are still awaiting publication of the reforms, the rumours in the dental press are as follows.

The old &quot;treadmill&quot; system where the more operative work a dentist does the more he/she earns is being replaced by a much fairer system.  Fairer for whom I'm not quite sure but there you go.  As of April 1st, dentists will negotiate a &quot;guaranteed practice budget&quot; with the local Primary Care Trust.  This will be &quot;based on&quot; (read &quot;less than&quot gross income earned from NHS dentistry in the year Nov04 to Oct05.  In return for this budget the dentist must agree to a workload measured in Units of Dental Activity (the UDA - an arbitrary and ludicrously complex unit, vaguely, somehow linked to workload) which will be 95% of whatever work you did in the basis year, converted into UDA's.

If you do not meet your UDA quota, your (guaranteed?) budget is cut proportionately.  Whereas if you exceed it there is a generous bonus scheme of erm...**** all. 

So in short, the new system is just like the old, except that previous income becomes a maximum and previous workload becomes a minimum.  Great.

Then come the proper bonkers bits:

The PCT can intervene in your opening hours, how many patients you have, who they are and so on.  The only grounds for deregistering a patient will be assault.  So if a patient comes for some fillings but doesn't pay their bill, you can't tell them they're not welcome to return unless they hit you.  They can just keep coming back to steal your service.

If you die the onus of finding a new dentist for your entire patient list falls upon your spouse.  He/she will have 7 days to arrange this.  And the funeral, will and everything else.

If you own a practice and were looking forward to selling it as your retirement nestegg, think again.  Your contract is not transferrable.  So if you sell up, the buyer cannot buy it as a going concern as there is no guarantee the PCT will offer them a contract, let alone one of the same value as that of the seller.  Since fixtures and fittings of a dental practice are worth pretty much bugger all, if you stay in the NHS, so is your business.

So, by the end of 2006, nearly all existing practices will be private.  NHS dentistry will most probably consist of walk-in access centres staffed by dentists from the poorest of the EU countries where if it hurts they'll pull it out and that'll be that.



Just who is it fair on, exactly?  Certainly not the patients who will be by far the biggest losers in all this.  Whilst the dental profession are crossing fingers this is an elaborate april fools joke, the reality is on the 1st April you'll probably find yourself without an NHS dentist.  Meantime the government will wax lyrical about the glorious reforms they introduced and how they have been shunned by the greedy dentists.  Whereas Joe Public will find themselves more likely out of pocket and less likely out of pain.

If you care about it, raise your concerns with your MP NOW. There is no time to waste.

 

While I fully accept and respect your knowledge on this.....

.... how can the spouse of any dentist be legally bound to find his/her customers a new practitioner if he/she dies.</p>

Secondly - I have nothing but the highest praise for my NHS dentist.</p>

Had an emergency with a tooth, developed late on Monday night.</p>

Rang him at 9am Tuesday and explained situation.</p>

Receptionist told me to come straight over, but be prepared to wait.</p>

Left home at 9.25 on what should have been a 20 minute journey.</p>

We all know what happened yesterday - arrived at 10.55.</p>

He saw me at 11.05</p>

Treatment given and out of the chair by 11.20.</p>

Can't praise him enough.</p>

 

It would take a very brave and very foolish man

To take the dentists chair if he had previously refused payment to that dentist.

 

RE: That's a new one!

Bleedinghell!! What happens if the spouse can't achieve that?

 

RE: That's a new one!

I've yet to meet a poor dentist, NHS or otherwise!

We should ban private practice - sort out the problem immediately!

 

I've met some terrible ones!

We need a complete overall of the Health system in this country - too many people wanting out of it and not enough people paying in. It's simple economics. We should be looking at something like the Canadian system which is, I believe, a bit of a cross between ours and the US systems.
Get major companies involved in medical insurance schemes to take the main burden off the NHS, but rather than this medical insurance being routed to private medical companies it all comes under the NHS and helps to fund it.

 

Coming soon

To an Opticians near you as well.

The budget for GOS (General Ophthalmic Services) is being devolved from Central Govt to PCT's. It will then be the responsibility of the PCT to 'negotiate' with local 'suppliers' the best return for their GOS budget. So if they decide one particular optical practice is their chosen provider, that's where you'll have to go. Irrespective of how satisfied you are with your current Optician. 'Patient Choice' they call it.

Thankfully the various Optical Bodies are lobbying to amend this. But patricia Hewitt is above talking to the plebs.

 

p.s.

The problem in this country is that people want/expect top quality public services but don't want to pay for them (i.e. they want low taxes as well).

You either have to have low taxes and then have private medical insurance etc and allow people to pay into that themselves.
or
You have an excellent state funded health but you have high taxes to pay for it.

 

Kinell fire.

Reyt start to a Friday that is.
Maybe you should now go off on one about pensions?
Or possibly the taxation of small businesses?
Pre budget report - possibly the halving of Gord's predicted 3.5%?

Please, go on.
I, for one, am enthralled.

 

RE: Kinell fire.

Tawny Roberts getting pissed on by Peter North.