High and Dry: A Bad Dream?

In the last Comment,¹ I contended that, not only were Prototype dentists being left ‘high and dry’ on 31^st March 2022, but also, potentially, their patients. I then went on to add that perhaps NHS dentists in general might be treated in a similar way at some other time. Just after writing that Comment, in which I expressed worries about the numbers of dentists who are considering getting off the treadmill, about the stress levels reported by NHS dentists and about the excessive time taken to NOT get a new Contract organized, there was a well-timed media offensive by the BDA bringing to the public's attention the lack of progress on a new contract, the poor morale of many NHS dentists, and the fact that many were retiring (early, in some cases) or simply leaving the profession. The Government's response to comments made in the House of Commons was that there were adequate urgent dental centres. The subject was, by coincidence, covered at around the same time, by Stephen Hancocks, in a superb BDJ Editorial entitled ‘I worry’, in which he eruditely mentioned young dentists and the prospect of life shackled with UDAs and the pressures of the need for onerous personal protection.² Both of us painted a picture of a profession at the crossroads, and neither of us had practical answers.