Dentistry Becomes a Progressive Rallying Point
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- Published: Tuesday, 13 June 2023 07:40
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Meeting someone for the first time often leads to the “what do you do” question. And the response to, “I’m a dentist” has definitely changed over the years. Dentistry is now news-worthy.
Whether it is celebrity smiles, Turkey teeth or the access crisis, a dental story is never far away. And in politics, our corner of healthcare which for many years was rarely considered, seems to be the subject of frequent debates, questions, and even a select committee. With the two main political parties, at least in their public announcements, claiming to support the NHS and offering ultimately similar prescriptions, groups further from the centre have discovered dentistry. A population frustrated and let down by the access crisis is ready to listen.
Dentistry has not been a staple of the Morning Star in the past. The paper that describes its editorial stance as in line with Britain’s Road to Socialism, the programme of the Communist Party of Britain, now feels that dental care is of interest of its readers with regular articles about UK dentistry. Their criticism of is not of practice owners, or even fat cat corporates, but the lack of provision. This then leads to an explanation of how their preferred economic and political policies would make things better.
A recent arrival using a mixture of protests, lobbying and social media is Toothless in Britain which started in Suffolk, and then became a national organisation. The group began in response to the lack of access in Leiston. Founders Mark Jones and Steve Marsling remain very much involved. Both are Communist party members, Mark having written some of the Morning Star dental articles, and being the local branch secretary of the Party. Mark has said that, “we wanted a broad church, we don’t want to alienate people.” Many dental team members would struggle to disagree with most of Mark’s articles about dentistry, even those not usually sympathetic to the Morning Star’s world view. One recent story quoted the BDA in its headline. In an early interview Mark Jones had said: “We wanted a broad church, we don’t want to alienate people. The Toothless campaign was deliberately set up in a way that is scalable across counties. Our intention is for it to go national.”
Novarra Media is in many ways a 21st century alternative to the Morning Star, describing itself as an, “independent, left-wing alternative media organisation.” A glance at the online front page will reveal a variety of current affairs stories usually with a strong political slant. In contrast their recent piece, “How Did British Dental Care Get So Awful?” sets out a very clear explanation for the access crisis that would not look out of place in a BDA briefing. It puts to shame many of the efforts by journalists with a much larger reach, and carefully explains the UDA system and clawback. When it comes to the shrinking workforce, the Prime Minister would have been much better informed had he used it as his briefing document before some of his recent statements on the subject.Locally as well as nationally, dentistry is becoming a wedge issue. St Pauls in Bristol was the scene of a public protest over a practice closure. The local BUPA practice is one of those that will be closed in June 2023. A protest organised by race equality and community development activist Tara Miran, was described as hoping to save the “essential local resource” from closure. Milan, who also owns The Green Melon, a plastic-free fruit and veg shop in St Paul’s, said the lack of NHS dental care was hitting the St Paul’s community the hardest, as the residents “faced multiple inequalities daily”.
“Our Bupa dentist is closing and we’re a community who faces multiple deprivations on a daily basis and so dental care is a necessity for us we cannot afford to lose,” said Miran. The group have been in talks with local councillors, and written to their MP as well as the City Council and ICB. There is also a petition.
One of the protestors, Tim Wye, a Green party councillor, said dental closures had a disproportionate impact on areas like St Paul’s. “I absolutely support the protest and I was at the demo yesterday” he said. “I have written to the NHS manager responsible for Dentists to ask them to do as much as they can to try and find a replacement to take over the NHS contracts.”
While their predecessors made their names protesting to ban the bomb, or campaigning for net zero, tomorrow’s activists may cut their teeth fighting for dental appointments.
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