Actually most dental practitioners throughout the UK are private dental practices, who take on NHS contracts to provide dental health care to NHS patients. There are NHS dental hospitals but these are few and far between being departments of University teaching hospitals. Many dental practices opt out from NHS work (doesn't pay enough compared to what they can charge privately) and will only accept private 'customers er patients'.

This has led to a two tier system and in many places where dentists accepting NHS patients has become a scarce resource. This situation will get progressively worse as Dentists setting up their own private practice in England will also now have the additional costs of repaying their University tuition fees. The situation in Scotland is somewhat different as University tuition fees are paid for by the Scottish Government so there is more acceptance to take on an NHS contract providing dental services for their local communities.

Austerity is really beginning to bite in the UK though as the availability of money becomes scarce with a visit to the private dentist becoming a luxury for those who aren't on a NHS patient list.


I do still have a small emergency dental kit in the BOB though.

http://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/first-aid-kits/dental-first-aid-kit.html

with some Dental Instruments

Even more worrying though is that even UK NHS emergency departments are reported to be verging on point of collapse. i.e. more people throwing themselves under trucks due to Austerity bedroom taxes etc as the suicide rates continue their upward swing.