Dentist shortage hits ‘millions’

Lack of access has prevented one in six people from seeing an NHS dentist for almost two years, a poll suggests.

Citizens Advice surveyed 1,800 people in England and Wales and found 300 had been frustrated – suggesting as many as 7.4m adults could be affected.

It questioned people about treatment since April 2006 when a new NHS contract was brought in.

Health minister Ann Keen said the government was “working hard” to improve access to NHS dentistry.

Private treatment

Extrapolating from their poll result, the authors estimate that of the 7.4m who tried and failed to see an NHS dentist, 4.7m eventually opted for private treatment, and 2.7m went without treatment altogether.

Offical figures suggest the number of people who have failed to access NHS dentistry is 2m.

Citizens Advice chief executive David Harker said “People on low incomes are particularly affected as private treatment is just not an option.”

The survey showed huge regional variations throughout the country, with the south west and north west of England the worst hit.

Lester Ellman, of the British Dental Association, said: “It is clear dentistry is not getting any better.

“The bottom line is that there are not enough dentists working in the NHS and that is because the government have failed to make it attractive enough.”

He denied it was a matter of money and said instead dentists wanted to spend more time with their patients.

Health minister Ann Keen said: “We are working hard to improve access to NHS dentists and the government remains fully committed to expanding services.

“It is now a national priority for the health service.”

She added the dentistry budget was being increased by 11% from this year to help achieve this.

Long-running problem

NHS dentistry has been a long-running problem for the government.

A new contract aimed at giving dentists more time with patients to get away from the so-called “drill and fill” culture was introduced as part of a reform of NHS dentistry in 2006.

It was hoped the move would stem the loss of NHS dentists to the private sector.

But despite getting paid the same for seeing less patients, 1,000 of the 21,000 NHS dentists in England refused to sign it, believing it was not as radical as they were led to believe it would be.

New dentists have been gradually recruited to the health service, but figures are no higher than they were before the new contract.

Barry Cockcroft, Chief Dental Officer for England, said access to NHS dentistry had been a long-standing problem, which could not be ironed out straight away.

He said: “You won’t turn it around absolutely completely in one year – but these reforms are a sound basis.”

The Welsh Assembly Government said the new contract had been successful in developing dental services in Wales, with six new practices in recent months and others expanding the numbers of NHS patients.

A spokesperson said £30m additional funding had made a “noticeable difference” and problems of an access were now “confined to a very few areas”.

Idyllic Bangladesh

AS a destination for eco-tourism, Bangladesh is truly hard to beat. For a small country in South Asia, that is only 144,470 square kilometers, there is definitely a lot to see, enjoy and do here. Bangladesh means “country of Bonga (ancient name of Bangladesh)” in English, whose language and independence had been gained after enormous bloodshed in 1952 and 1971. Located between India to the north and the west and Myanmar to a small part of the southeast, Bangladesh is one of the most beautiful countries in South Asia, with tremendous economic potentials. Its tropical beach resorts on the Bay of Bengal should be paradise for the sun vacationers. But the main attraction of Bangladesh should be its opportunities for eco-tourism, with its variety of animals, birds, forests, hills and hillocks and aquatic life.

The splendour of its six seasons presents a diverse eco-system. The world’s longest natural beach at Cox’s Bazaar, the nearby jungles and forests with their rich variety of flora and fauna, the Chittagong Hill Tracts’ cloud forests, so named because the moisture of the mist lingers on the tree leaves, fascinating tourists. A cable car network to be set up at Bandarban would enable tourists to observe the plant and animal life from treetop level. For the more adventurous, there are places built for the tourists to get the experience of moving from tree to tree using a network of rope attachments. Dry forests in some parts of Chittagong, seasons’ variation every two months, and an abundance of canals and rivers can be attractions for tourists.

In addition to the many different birds that can be sighted, there is a wide number of other exotic wildlife, including Royal Bengal tigers, monkeys, jaguars, bats, deer and reptiles, that can be seen during one of the many available nature tours in Sundarbans, the world largest mangrove forest and a World Heritage Site. Every year, there are sea turtles and oysters that come to certain beaches to nest, and this event attracts many nature lovers. The wildlife in Bangladesh is not only rich on the land or in the air but also in the Bay of Bengal and in the mighty rivers. For scuba divers, Saint Martin may offer excellent diving opportunities, and they would be quite different from the waters in the Caribbean.

Tea and mangoes are two of the main exports for Bangladesh. For tea lovers, this is the place to sample some of the best in the world. The foreign visitors are invited to taste tea that is a bit strong. Tours in the valleys of Sylhet will often go into numerous tea plantations. Rajshahi is a paradise for mango orchards. Tourists would definitely hesitate to leave a place with millions of the sweetest mangoes.

The historic capital city of Dhaka is known for its nice ancient architecture. It is also known as a city of mosques. A tourist can go for trips to the various hill stations, historic places and beaches using Dhaka as the base. Chittagong, the port city, is known for its low hills is full of greenery. It is closer to the resorts like Cox’s Bazar. The roads of Bangladesh are more or less good.

There is so much to see and do in Bangladesh that many visitors return to see the green parts of the country that they missed before. The country is easily the most popular eco-destination to visit in South Asia.