It is only when bits start falling off your teeth that you realise how important those regular visits to the dentist are. I lost a quarter of a tooth today. I remember my mother talking about people getting all of their teeth removed when they were teenagers to make life easier. Of all the areas of the NHS this is the one that I think has made the biggest difference to the widest range of people. Some people can go decades without seeing a GP, but teeth require maintenance. And it is the one area of the NHS that has been dismantled most.
I fear for the future of NHS dentists after the pandemic. I don’t know if many people know, because so many have private insurance for dental care, that an inspection at an NHS dentist now costs more than £20. Okay, this is sill way below the price you would pay if you went private either in the UK or USA, but for many people it discourages going for treatment. There are some dentists like the one I have that do their best to support poorer patients, but not all.
My telephone is also high maintenance – I’ve had to upgrade because the back is starting to fall off my old one. And you suddenly realise how easier it would have been if I had kept upgrading on a regular basis.
The rest of today was spent buying repair products for work around the house. I had to buy a replacement unit for a dripping tap, which meant having to take the tap apart. Of course the tap is not dripping now I have put it together. But by all accounts it is another product that needs updating regularly.
There are so many things that have limited life-cycles there days, not just teeth. I’ve had two contracts terminated recently because they needed to upgrade me to new alternatives (at a lower price) – even though I was happy with the lower grade service.
In some cases I like the idea of keeping things going for as long as possible, but in other cases it seems we are forced to replace items regularly. I’m on the fence a bit on this one. It feels hard working out the best balance.