How right Emma Beddington is (Why am I so furious about teeth? They are deeply socially divisive, 25 May). Teeth are an abomination, from before the first ones make our babies cry to my aged great-aunt Mary’s pickle-stabber, which turned a gentle soul into a picture of a witch.
My own have been in receipt of a lifetime of attention, to no particularly good effect. I don’t care that they don’t blind people when I smile. I want to be able to eat ice-cream without wincing, bite apples, and chew nuts without wondering whether my mouth is full of nut residue or broken tooth.
Dentistry is akin to assault by consent. It is painful and expensive. Now, I am told, my generation is not permitted to enjoy preventive medicine from NHS dentists. Only the removal of failed teeth is available for the avoidance of infection or agony. Dentistry was never free to all at the point of need, as the NHS slogan goes. Now it’s expensive, way past the point of safeguarding dental health.
Lesley Whittaker
Spreyton, Devon
• Emma Beddington’s article feels timely – I have just spent £750 having a tooth extracted after days of unrelenting pain. My lovely NHS dentist (yes, I’m lucky) was too busy struggling to clear huge patient backlogs to see me at short notice. The question we should, as a society, be addressing, is why universal healthcare stops at dentistry, and what should be done to address this. For anyone unable to afford private treatment, an emergency episode can be catastrophic. The present situation is an absolute disgrace. We need an enforceable right to dental care, free at the point of delivery.
Marion Wallace
London
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