Dental patients fear fees more than the drill
Many people worry about going to the dentist because they are scared of the dreaded dentist’s drill but recent research has revealed that the cost of treatment is keeping more patients away that a fear of the dentist’s chair.
The research, which was conducted by Tesco Dental Insurance, found that more than a third of people have not been to see a dentist in the last 18 months and 1 in 10 people have not been to the dentist in the last five years. The study found that 13 percent of people avoided going to the dentist because they were scared of the dentist’s drill, while a third of people claimed that the cost of dental treatment kept them away. A third of people did not go to the dentist because they were not registered with a local dentist.
The survey also revealed that people are willing to travel an average of nine miles to register with an NHS dentist; the vast majority of people would rather travel to an NHS dentist than go to a private dentist in their village or town, due to the cost of private treatment.
Jonathan Daniels, from Tesco Dental Insurance, said that dental phobia was not the biggest problem for patients in the UK, cost was. The survey showed that people are willing to travel further afield in order to receive NHS dental care, due to the fact that fees are much lower than private dental treatment.
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