Tooth and Claw
What is the reasonable annual income of a dentist after costs, which amount to about fifty-two per cent. of gross receipts, have been deducted? On the basis of the Spens report £1,800 was arrived at as a decent income, and the scale of fees under the National Health Service was worked out accordingly. But within a couple of years it was generally supposed that den- tistry had become a profession equivalent in its rewards to successful gold-mining, and after a struggle the fees were re- duced by ten per cent. Now the dentists claim that they are unable to live at a proper professional standard. At Bolton last week-end the dentists of Lancashire and Cheshire agreed to fill in questionnaires on details of income and expenditure and send• the information thus gathered to.the British Dental Association, which has been trying unsuccessfully to persuade the Minister of Health to restore the ten per cent. cut. The Minister has twice said in the Commons recently that there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that dentists are not so well off as they should be. At Bolton it was said that the average 'monthly N.H.S. cheque had fallen since 1951 from £214 to,..£103, which, deducting half for costs, leaves the dentist with £50-odd—not a princely sum for a professional man. The British Dental Association, however, does not suggest that the national average is as low as all that. The unknown factor—which, for obvious reasons, may remain somewhat misty at least—is trustworthy information about private earn- ings. The Minister has announced his willingness to enquire fully into the matter if some sound evidence can be produced, and so it is now up to the British Dental Association to persuade its members to provide it.
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