医保体系内的牙医短缺和不断上涨的成本正在驱使英国人自己动手用钳子拔牙和补牙_风闻

【来源龙腾网】

正文原创翻译：

NHS dentist shortage and rising costs are driving people to blu tack fillings and pulling teeth with pliers

Inews By Aasma Day

June 26, 2022

NHS（英国医疗服务体系） 牙医短缺和不断上涨的成本正在驱使人们自己动手用钳子拔牙和补牙

发表于iInews网站 作者：阿斯玛·达伊

2022 年 6 月 26 日

An nurse reveals she used pliers to attempt to extract her own tooth and is now repaying the debts incurred by private treatment. She is one of many driven to DIY dentistry due to the shortage of dentists and the rising cost of living

Desperate people affected by the double whammy of struggling to find an NHS dentist and being unable to afford treatment due to the cost of living crisis are resorting to yanking out their teeth with pliers and filling cavities with blue tack.

一名护士透露，她曾试图自己用钳子拔掉自己的牙齿（显然没有成功），现在正在偿还私人（牙医）治疗所欠的债务。由于牙医短缺和生活成本上涨，她是现在众多热衷于自己动手治牙的人之一

受苦于寻找医保体系能覆盖的牙医和因生活成本危机而无法负担治疗费用的双重打击影响下，绝望的人们正在诉诸用钳子拔牙和用蓝胶填充蛀牙。（译注：牙科蓝胶，学名牙髓失活剂，是一种酸性的溶液，可以减缓牙齿的失活）

One nurse described how she struggled to find an NHS dentist after breaking a tooth and then attempted to extract it herself using pliers.

The failed attempt led to her having to pay hundreds of pounds for private treatment and she is now working overtime to pay off the debt and is haunted by nightmares.

There are fears that rising living costs on top of the crisis already affecting NHS dentistry will mean more people will cut back on regular dental appointments or resort to drastic DIY measures, as they simply can’t afford treatment.

Nicola, a part-time nurse in Sussex, broke an upper premolar tooth and was unable to find an NHS dentist to repair it. “The break was severe and sharp and I had to resort to buying a pair of long-nose pliers to try and extract the tooth,” she said.

“My attempts failed and I only succeeded in breaking the tooth even more. Eventually, I had to go to a private dentist for repair which set me back £650, which as a part-time nurse, I can’t afford.

“Since then, I have been having nightmares. A recurring dream since the plier incident involves me spitting out crumbling fragments of teeth with mouthfuls of blood.

“I am working overtime every weekend now to repay the credit card that I had to use to pay the private dentist.”

She added: “The spiralling cost of living is creating a two-tier healthcare system in this country with the vulnerable and lower-income families suffering physically and mentally.”

There are fears the cost of living crisis on top of the shortge of NHS dentists will mean more people will cut back on regular dental appointments or resort to drastic DIY measures as they simply can’t afford treatment

New research shows one in five Britons are concerned they will no longer be able to afford regular dental appointments, due to the rising cost of living.

Almost half of young people aged 18 to 35 (48 per cent), questioned by the survey carried out by the Association of Dental Groups, admitted they had not been to a dentist for at least a year. This age group is the most concerned about future costs, with almost a third (30 per cent) saying they were worried about being able to afford appointments.

一位护士描述了她在牙齿折断后如何努力寻找医保体系能覆盖的牙医，然后试图自己用钳子拔牙。

失败的尝试导致她不得不支付了几百英镑的私人牙医治疗费用，她现在正在打额外工以还清债务，并且被噩梦所困扰。

有人担心，在已经影响到医保牙科体系的危机上，生活成本上升将意味着更多的人将减少定期牙科预约或采取激进的自己动手治疗（DIY）措施，因为他们根本承担不起（昂贵的）治疗费用。

妮可莱是苏塞克斯郡的一名兼职护士，她的一颗上颌前磨牙断了，但无法找到医保体系内的牙医来处理它。“断牙很严重，很尖锐，我不得不买了一把长嘴钳来尝试自己拔牙，”她说。

“我的尝试失败了，我只是成功地弄碎了牙齿。最终，我还是不得不去看私人牙医进行修复，这让我付出了650英镑，作为一名兼职护士，这是我无法承担的。

“从那以后，我一直在做噩梦。自从钳子事件以来，一个反复出现的梦想涉及我吐出破碎的牙齿碎片和满嘴的血。”

“我现在每个周末都在打工，以偿还我不得不用于支付私人牙医的信用卡账单。”

她补充说：“不断上升的生活成本正在这个国家构造出一个两级分化的医保系统，弱势和低收入家庭在身心上都遭受着痛苦。”

人们担心，除了医保体系内的牙医短缺之外，生活成本危机将意味着更多人将减少定期牙科预约或采取更加激烈的自己动手治疗措施，因为他们根本无法承担治疗费用

新的研究表明，超过五分之一的英国人担心，由于生活成本上升，他们将无法负担定期的牙科预约。

在牙科团体协会进行的调查中，几乎一半的 18 至 35 岁的年轻人（48%）承认他们至少有一年没去看过牙医了。这个年龄组最担心未来的费用，近三分之一（30%）的人表示他们担心能否承担得起治疗费用。

Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups says DIY dentistry such as people pulling their own teeth out with pliers is terrible and shouldn’t be happening in modern Britain

牙科团体协会执行主席尼尔·卡迈克尔表示，像人们用钳子拔出自己的牙齿这样自己动手治牙是可怕的，不应该在现代英国发生

Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups and former Conservative MP for Stroud, told i they were regularly hearing horrific tales about people turning to DIY dentistry in desperation.

“It is terrible that people are feeling forced to do DIY dentistry and pulling out their teeth with pliers. It is not how we should be doing things in modern Britain,” he said.

“Many people who resort to DIY dentistry are going to make the problem worse and end up in hospital – and this will only exacerbate the pressures on the NHS.”

Mr Carmichael said access to dentists is being hit by a double whammy of a shortage of dentists compounded by the cost of living crisis and people being unable to afford private, or indeed NHS dental treatment.

“Not only is there a cost of living crisis, there is a real lack of NHS dentists and there are many places where there are no NHS dentists at all. We call these places ‘dental deserts’,” he said.

“The whole of dentistry is really struggling to recruit and that makes it difficult for someone who is not only looking for a dentist, but is also constrained by the cost of living crisis.

“We need to see more dentists recruited and then there’s also the important matter of retention.

“The Government needs to make sure we are training the right people to do the right things and that applies to dentistry.

“However, training dentists takes a long time, so immediate action would be getting dentists from abroad to join our workforce.”

牙科团体协会执行主席、来自斯特劳德的前保守党议员尼尔·卡迈克尔向iInews说，他们经常听到关于人们绝望地转向自己动手治牙的可怕故事。

“人们痛苦到被迫自己动手做牙科手术并用钳子拔牙，这太可怕了。这不是我们在现代的英国应该发生的事情，”他说。

“许多求助于自己动手治牙的人会使问题变得更糟并最终导致住院——这只会加剧医保体系的压力。”

卡迈克尔先生表示，牙医短缺、生活成本危机以及人们无力负担私人或医保系统的牙科治疗费用的双重危机正在打击人们获得牙医服务。

“不仅存在生活成本危机，而且真正缺乏医保体系内的牙医，而且许多地方根本没有医保体系内的牙医。我们称这些地方为“牙齿的沙漠”，”他说。

“整个牙科现在都真的很难招到人，这让那些不仅在寻找牙医服务，而且还受到生活成本危机限制的人来说很难。

“我们需要看到招聘到募更多牙医，然后还有其他重要的问题。”

“政府需要确保我们在培训合适的人做正确的事情，这同样适用于牙科。”

“然而，培训牙医需要很长时间，因此应该立即采取行动让国外牙医加入我们的队伍。”

Mr Carmichael told i the problem of retaining dentists to stay in the NHS needs to be tackled by reforming the NHS contract, so dentists can have more flexibility in treating their patients with the care they believe they need, as well as feeling working for the NHS is worthwhile and something they want to do.

“Right now, the pressures NHS dentists are facing are pushing them in the opposite direction,” he said. “People need to see dentists regularly as good oral healthcare is about prevention to stop bigger problems happening further down the line.”

卡迈克尔先生告诉iInews，能让牙医留在医保体系内的问题需要通过改革医保系统的合同来解决，这样牙医就可以更灵活地用他们认为需要的护理来治疗他们的病人，并且觉得为医保系统 工作是值得的他们想做。

“现在，医保系统内部牙医面临的压力正将他们推向相反的方向，”他说。“人们需要定期去看牙医，因为良好的口腔保健是关于预防，以阻止更大的问题进一步发生。”

Josh Keeling, who set up a petition on change.org after his own family’s experience with struggling to access NHS dental care, with partner Olivia and son Theo

乔什·基林在自己的家庭经历了难以获得医保系统牙科治疗的经历后，与合作伙伴奥利维亚和儿子西奥在 change.org 上发起了请愿

Josh Keeling, an aircraft engineer who lives in Dorset, set up a petition on Change.org called “Dental care is healthcare – we need more NHS dentists now” after his own family’s experience with struggling to access NHS dental care.

He created the petition, which has already been signed by more than 188,500 people, as he knew he wasn’t alone. He told i he has been shocked at some of the horror stories people have shared and and the impact it has had on their lives.

Mr Keeling says his mission began after his partner Olivia Morley experienced dental problems, but struggled to find an NHS dentist. “Olivia had horrendous toothache and tried to get into an NHS, but couldn’t find one. She ended up having to call 111, but the only thing that could be done for her was short-term pain relief,” he said.

“She suffered horrendous tooth pain for a few weeks, but luckily, with the help of family, she was able to pay for private dental treatment to solve the issue. However, not everyone is lucky enough to do this.

“The cost of living crisis means there will be thousands of people across the country who cannot afford to see a dentist and they will be letting their teeth rot into abscesses.

“Looking after their teeth will be low on their list of priorities as people will need to spend their money on food and rising gas and electric bills.

“Just spending money on preventative things that stop bigger problems in the long run, but they will feel they have no choice but to cut back on dental treatment as they just don’t have the money.”

居住在多塞特郡的飞机工程师乔什·基林在自己的家庭难以获得医保体系覆盖的牙科护理的经历后，在 Change.org网站上发起了一份名为“牙科护理就是医疗保健——我们现在需要更多医保体系内的牙医”的请愿书。

他创建了这份请愿书，已经有超过 188,500 人签名，因此他知道他并不孤单。他告诉iInews，他对人们分享的一些恐怖故事及其对他们生活的影响感到震惊。

基林先生说，他的任务是在他的伴侣奥利维亚·莫利遇到牙齿问题后开始的，但他很难找到一位医保体系内的牙医。“奥利维亚牙疼得厉害，想走医保体系，但找不到。她最终不得不拨打111急救电话，但唯一能为她做的就是短期内缓解疼痛，”他说。

“她遭受了好几周可怕的牙疼，但幸运的是，在家里人的帮助下，她能够支付私人牙科治疗的费用来解决这个问题。然而，并不是每个人都有幸做到这一点。”

“生活成本危机意味着全国将有成千上万的人负担不起看牙医的费用，他们将让害病的牙齿腐烂成脓肿。”

“照顾他们的牙齿在他们的优先事项列表中将处于低位，因为人们将需要花钱购买食品以及不断上涨的天然气和电费上。”

“把钱花在预防性的事情上，从长远来看可以阻止更大的问题，但他们会觉得自己别无选择，只能减少牙科治疗，因为他们没这个钱。”

Mr Keeling, who was in the Navy and left at the start of this year, had all his dental care provided by the Forces. But when he returned to civilian life, he struggled to find a dentist.

“I typed in our postcode in the NHS dentist finder and the closest NHS dentist was 64 miles away,” he said. “I rang them – only to be told they had an 18-month wait.”

Josh told i his wife was getting tooth pain and sensitivity so had no choice but to get private treatment and ended up paying £300 for treatment and a filling.

“I am lucky that I managed to find the money to get private dental treatment,” said Josh. “especially with the cost of living being so extreme at the moment.”

基林先生在海军服役并于今年年初离开，他以前所有的牙科护理都由军队提供。但是当他回归到平民生活时，却很难找到牙医。

“我在医保系统的牙科医生查找器中输入了我们的邮政编码，最近的医保系统覆盖的牙医在 64英里外，”他说。“我给他们打电话——却被告知预约后要等18个月。”

乔什告诉inews他妻子的牙齿疼痛和敏感，所以别无选择，只能接受私人治疗，最终支付了 300英镑的治疗和补牙费用。

“我很幸运，我法找到了做私人牙科医生治疗的钱，”乔希说。“尤其是在目前生活成本如此极端的情况下。”

Many people signing the petition created by Josh have shared their traumatic experiences of resorting to DIY dentistry, as well as their frustrations and struggles in trying to get NHS dental treatment.

One man wrote how he had personally had to rip his own teeth out because of the crisis, while another admitted he currently had blu tack in two cavities.

Lee Hughes wrote: “My teeth are desperate for some help. Year after year passes by and still I have to pull my painful teeth out. What a country.”

“I can’t even eat or go out and have suffered with severe depression and anxiety because of it.”

Andrew Perry told how after moving house, he telephoned his local dentist for an appointment and an automated message advised that their waiting list for new NHS patients was eight years.

Dentists and former dentists also signed the petition. One dentist who worked for the NHS for 15 years, said: “Please don’t blame the private dentists who are only trying to do good work, blame the Government for having a ridiculous system that has made many dentists like myself step out of dentistry.

“It’s pressure-filled and patients are quick to sue, materials are expensive and you have a short time to see too many patients.

“I developed anxiety and chronic pain in my right hand just from the pressure. I wished I had moved to private sooner, but believed in providing basic dental treatment.”

许多签署由乔什创建的请愿书的人分享了他们最终不得不诉诸于自己动手治牙的痛苦经历，以及他们在尝试获得医保系统的牙科治疗时的挫败感和挣扎。

一名男子写道，由于危机，他个人不得不拔掉自己的牙齿，而另一名男子则承认他目前有两个蛀牙。

李·休斯写道：“我的牙齿迫切需要一些帮助。一年又一年过去了，我仍然不得不拔掉我痛苦的牙齿。什么狗屎国家。”

“我甚至不能吃饭或外出，因此患有严重的抑郁和焦虑症。”

安德鲁·佩里则讲述了搬家后如何给当地牙医打电话预约，一条自动回复消息告知他们加入医保体系的新（牙病）患者名单的等待时间为八年。

甚至牙医和前牙医也签署了请愿书。一位在医保局工作了15年的牙医说：“请不要责怪那些只想做好工作的私人牙医，应该责怪政府有一个荒谬的制度，让许多像我这样的牙医退出牙科。 .

“它充满了压力，病人很快就会投诉，材料很贵，而且你只有很短的时间去看太多病人。”

“仅仅因为过大的压力，我出现了焦虑，右手还有慢性疼痛。我希望我早点去私人诊所，但我相信应该提供基本的牙科治疗。”

Dentists say the NHS contract is forcing dentists to turn private as it doesn’t pay adequately for the work they have to do

牙医说医保体系的合同迫使牙医转向私人，因为它没有为他们必须做的工作支付足够的费用

A former dental practice manager says the current banded system means that NHS dentists receive the same payment for doing six fillings on a patient as they would for doing one filling. “How can dentists afford to do five extra fillings for free?” she asked. “That was when our dentists were virtually forced out of the NHS system.”

“It’s the banding system that has made the dentists all go to the private sector. The Government needs to go back to the old system of a fee per item as it used to be. Then dentists would be happy to work for the NHS again and we wouldn’t have a shortage.”

A Government spokesperson told i: “We recognise the pressures people are facing with the rising cost of living and we are taking action to support households – including £1,200 for eight million vulnerable households and £400 for all families this year.

“The NHS commits around £3bn to dentistry each year, and last year we invested an additional £50m to fund up to 350,000 extra dental appointments and bust the Covid backlogs.

“We are working closely with the NHS to reform the dental system and are negotiating improvements to the contract to increase access for patients and ensure working in the NHS remains attractive to dentists.”

一位前牙科诊所经理表示，目前的捆绑式系统意味着医保体系内的牙科医生为患者进行六次补牙所获得的报酬与（私人牙医）为一名患者进行一次补牙所获得的报酬相同。“牙医怎么能负担得起免费做五次额外的补牙？” 她问。“那是我们这些牙医被迫退出医保系统的缘由。”

“正是这种捆绑系统让牙科医生们都转入了私营部门。政府需要回到过去按项目收费的旧制度。这样牙医就会很乐意再次为医保系统工作，我们就不会有短缺。”

政府发言人告诉inews：“我们认识到人们面临着生活成本上升的压力，我们正在采取行动支持家庭——包括今年为 800 万个弱势家庭提供的 1,200 英镑和为所有家庭提供的 400 英镑。

“医保系统承诺每年将有约 30 亿英镑用于牙科，去年我们又投资了 5000 万英镑，用于资助多达35万次额外的牙科治疗，并解决因为 Covid疫情导致的患者积压问题。

“我们正在与医保系统密切合作，改革牙科系统，并正在就改进合同进行谈判，以增加患者的机会，并确保为医保系统工作对牙医仍然具有吸引力。”