Dentists boost pay with private work

Private work is providing an increasing amount of dentists' income and now accounts for nearly half of their earnings, research reveals today.

In 1998 private patients accounted for 38 per cent of dentists' income but, according to the latest survey by health analysts Laing and Buisson, this has risen to 51 per cent. Philip Blackburn, the report's author, suggests this is because "higher private fees have driven up income levels while NHS fees have increased only marginally".

In his report UK Dental Care, he says private fees hadincreased to almost twice the level dentists received for NHS work. He also highlights the growing number of cosmetic and specialist dental treatments that are being offered privately, which could account for the rise. More than a quarter of dental patients now pay privately for their care, including a growing number enrolled in private dental plans, the report says.

About 75 per cent of those people who buy private dentistry pay on the spot from their own pockets, while the rest have a form of annual funding plan.

The report says the scale of private dentistry compared with the NHS is part of a general trend towards consumerism in health care. "Patients are no longer willing to be passive and are seeking to be informed about treatments on offer," it states.