正文翻譯

NHS dentist shortage and rising costs are driving people to blu tack fillings and pulling teeth with pliers
Inews By Aasma Day
June 26, 2022

NHS（英國醫(yī)療服務(wù)體系） 牙醫(yī)短缺和不斷上漲的成本正在驅(qū)使人們自己動手用鉗子拔牙和補牙
發(fā)表于iInews網(wǎng)站 作者：阿斯瑪·達伊
2022 年 6 月 26 日

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An nurse reveals she used pliers to attempt to extract her own tooth and is now repaying the debts incurred by private treatment. She is one of many driven to DIY dentistry due to the shortage of dentists and the rising cost of living
Desperate people affected by the double whammy of struggling to find an NHS dentist and being unable to afford treatment due to the cost of living crisis are resorting to yanking out their teeth with pliers and filling cavities with blue tack.

一名護士透露，她曾試圖自己用鉗子拔掉自己的牙齒（顯然沒有成功），現(xiàn)在正在償還私人（牙醫(yī)）治療所欠的債務(wù)。由于牙醫(yī)短缺和生活成本上漲，她是現(xiàn)在眾多熱衷于自己動手治牙的人之一
受苦于尋找醫(yī)保體系能覆蓋的牙醫(yī)和因生活成本危機而無法負(fù)擔(dān)治療費用的雙重打擊影響下，絕望的人們正在訴諸用鉗子拔牙和用藍膠填充蛀牙。（譯注：牙科藍膠，學(xué)名牙髓失活劑，是一種酸性的溶液，可以減緩牙齒的失活）

One nurse described how she struggled to find an NHS dentist after breaking a tooth and then attempted to extract it herself using pliers.
The failed attempt led to her having to pay hundreds of pounds for private treatment and she is now working overtime to pay off the debt and is haunted by nightmares.
There are fears that rising living costs on top of the crisis already affecting NHS dentistry will mean more people will cut back on regular dental appointments or resort to drastic DIY measures, as they simply can’t afford treatment.
Nicola, a part-time nurse in Sussex, broke an upper premolar tooth and was unable to find an NHS dentist to repair it. “The break was severe and sharp and I had to resort to buying a pair of long-nose pliers to try and extract the tooth,” she said.
“My attempts failed and I only succeeded in breaking the tooth even more. Eventually, I had to go to a private dentist for repair which set me back ￡650, which as a part-time nurse, I can’t afford.
“Since then, I have been having nightmares. A recurring dream since the plier incident involves me spitting out crumbling fragments of teeth with mouthfuls of blood.
“I am working overtime every weekend now to repay the credit card that I had to use to pay the private dentist.”
She added: “The spiralling cost of living is creating a two-tier healthcare system in this country with the vulnerable and lower-income families suffering physically and mentally.”
There are fears the cost of living crisis on top of the shortge of NHS dentists will mean more people will cut back on regular dental appointments or resort to drastic DIY measures as they simply can’t afford treatment
New research shows one in five Britons are concerned they will no longer be able to afford regular dental appointments, due to the rising cost of living.
Almost half of young people aged 18 to 35 (48 per cent), questioned by the survey carried out by the Association of Dental Groups, admitted they had not been to a dentist for at least a year. This age group is the most concerned about future costs, with almost a third (30 per cent) saying they were worried about being able to afford appointments.

一位護士描述了她在牙齒折斷后如何努力尋找醫(yī)保體系能覆蓋的牙醫(yī)，然后試圖自己用鉗子拔牙。
失敗的嘗試導(dǎo)致她不得不支付了幾百英鎊的私人牙醫(yī)治療費用，她現(xiàn)在正在打額外工以還清債務(wù)，并且被噩夢所困擾。
有人擔(dān)心，在已經(jīng)影響到醫(yī)保牙科體系的危機上，生活成本上升將意味著更多的人將減少定期牙科預(yù)約或采取激進的自己動手治療（DIY）措施，因為他們根本承擔(dān)不起（昂貴的）治療費用。
妮可萊是蘇塞克斯郡的一名兼職護士，她的一顆上頜前磨牙斷了，但無法找到醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙醫(yī)來處理它?！皵嘌篮車?yán)重，很尖銳，我不得不買了一把長嘴鉗來嘗試自己拔牙，”她說。
“我的嘗試失敗了，我只是成功地弄碎了牙齒。最終，我還是不得不去看私人牙醫(yī)進行修復(fù)，這讓我付出了650英鎊，作為一名兼職護士，這是我無法承擔(dān)的。
“從那以后，我一直在做噩夢。自從鉗子事件以來，一個反復(fù)出現(xiàn)的夢想涉及我吐出破碎的牙齒碎片和滿嘴的血。”
“我現(xiàn)在每個周末都在打工，以償還我不得不用于支付私人牙醫(yī)的信用卡賬單。”
她補充說：“不斷上升的生活成本正在這個國家構(gòu)造出一個兩級分化的醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)，弱勢和低收入家庭在身心上都遭受著痛苦?！?br>人們擔(dān)心，除了醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙醫(yī)短缺之外，生活成本危機將意味著更多人將減少定期牙科預(yù)約或采取更加激烈的自己動手治療措施，因為他們根本無法承擔(dān)治療費用
新的研究表明，超過五分之一的英國人擔(dān)心，由于生活成本上升，他們將無法負(fù)擔(dān)定期的牙科預(yù)約。
在牙科團體協(xié)會進行的調(diào)查中，幾乎一半的 18 至 35 歲的年輕人（48%）承認(rèn)他們至少有一年沒去看過牙醫(yī)了。這個年齡組最擔(dān)心未來的費用，近三分之一（30%）的人表示他們擔(dān)心能否承擔(dān)得起治療費用。

Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups says DIY dentistry such as people pulling their own teeth out with pliers is terrible and shouldn’t be happening in modern Britain

牙科團體協(xié)會執(zhí)行主席尼爾·卡邁克爾表示，像人們用鉗子拔出自己的牙齒這樣自己動手治牙是可怕的，不應(yīng)該在現(xiàn)代英國發(fā)生

Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups and former Conservative MP for Stroud, told i they were regularly hearing horrific tales about people turning to DIY dentistry in desperation.
“It is terrible that people are feeling forced to do DIY dentistry and pulling out their teeth with pliers. It is not how we should be doing things in modern Britain,” he said.
“Many people who resort to DIY dentistry are going to make the problem worse and end up in hospital – and this will only exacerbate the pressures on the NHS.”
Mr Carmichael said access to dentists is being hit by a double whammy of a shortage of dentists compounded by the cost of living crisis and people being unable to afford private, or indeed NHS dental treatment.
“Not only is there a cost of living crisis, there is a real lack of NHS dentists and there are many places where there are no NHS dentists at all. We call these places ‘dental deserts’,” he said.
“The whole of dentistry is really struggling to recruit and that makes it difficult for someone who is not only looking for a dentist, but is also constrained by the cost of living crisis.
“We need to see more dentists recruited and then there’s also the important matter of retention.
“The Government needs to make sure we are training the right people to do the right things and that applies to dentistry.
“However, training dentists takes a long time, so immediate action would be getting dentists from abroad to join our workforce.”

牙科團體協(xié)會執(zhí)行主席、來自斯特勞德的前保守黨議員尼爾·卡邁克爾向iInews說，他們經(jīng)常聽到關(guān)于人們絕望地轉(zhuǎn)向自己動手治牙的可怕故事。
“人們痛苦到被迫自己動手做牙科手術(shù)并用鉗子拔牙，這太可怕了。這不是我們在現(xiàn)代的英國應(yīng)該發(fā)生的事情，”他說。
“許多求助于自己動手治牙的人會使問題變得更糟并最終導(dǎo)致住院——這只會加劇醫(yī)保體系的壓力。”
卡邁克爾先生表示，牙醫(yī)短缺、生活成本危機以及人們無力負(fù)擔(dān)私人或醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)的牙科治療費用的雙重危機正在打擊人們獲得牙醫(yī)服務(wù)。
“不僅存在生活成本危機，而且真正缺乏醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙醫(yī)，而且許多地方根本沒有醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙醫(yī)。我們稱這些地方為“牙齒的沙漠”，”他說。
“整個牙科現(xiàn)在都真的很難招到人，這讓那些不僅在尋找牙醫(yī)服務(wù)，而且還受到生活成本危機限制的人來說很難。
“我們需要看到招聘到募更多牙醫(yī)，然后還有其他重要的問題?！?br>“政府需要確保我們在培訓(xùn)合適的人做正確的事情，這同樣適用于牙科?！?br>“然而，培訓(xùn)牙醫(yī)需要很長時間，因此應(yīng)該立即采取行動讓國外牙醫(yī)加入我們的隊伍?！?/p>

Mr Carmichael told i the problem of retaining dentists to stay in the NHS needs to be tackled by reforming the NHS contract, so dentists can have more flexibility in treating their patients with the care they believe they need, as well as feeling working for the NHS is worthwhile and something they want to do.
“Right now, the pressures NHS dentists are facing are pushing them in the opposite direction,” he said. “People need to see dentists regularly as good oral healthcare is about prevention to stop bigger problems happening further down the line.”

卡邁克爾先生告訴iInews，能讓牙醫(yī)留在醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的問題需要通過改革醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)的合同來解決，這樣牙醫(yī)就可以更靈活地用他們認(rèn)為需要的護理來治療他們的病人，并且覺得為醫(yī)保系統(tǒng) 工作是值得的他們想做。
“現(xiàn)在，醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)內(nèi)部牙醫(yī)面臨的壓力正將他們推向相反的方向，”他說。“人們需要定期去看牙醫(yī)，因為良好的口腔保健是關(guān)于預(yù)防，以阻止更大的問題進一步發(fā)生。”

Josh Keeling, who set up a petition on change.org after his own family’s experience with struggling to access NHS dental care, with partner Olivia and son Theo

喬什·基林在自己的家庭經(jīng)歷了難以獲得醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)牙科治療的經(jīng)歷后，與合作伙伴奧利維亞和兒子西奧在 change.org 上發(fā)起了請愿

Josh Keeling, an aircraft engineer who lives in Dorset, set up a petition on Change.org called “Dental care is healthcare – we need more NHS dentists now” after his own family’s experience with struggling to access NHS dental care.
He created the petition, which has already been signed by more than 188,500 people, as he knew he wasn’t alone. He told i he has been shocked at some of the horror stories people have shared and and the impact it has had on their lives.
Mr Keeling says his mission began after his partner Olivia Morley experienced dental problems, but struggled to find an NHS dentist. “Olivia had horrendous toothache and tried to get into an NHS, but couldn’t find one. She ended up having to call 111, but the only thing that could be done for her was short-term pain relief,” he said.
“She suffered horrendous tooth pain for a few weeks, but luckily, with the help of family, she was able to pay for private dental treatment to solve the issue. However, not everyone is lucky enough to do this.
“The cost of living crisis means there will be thousands of people across the country who cannot afford to see a dentist and they will be letting their teeth rot into abscesses.
“Looking after their teeth will be low on their list of priorities as people will need to spend their money on food and rising gas and electric bills.
“Just spending money on preventative things that stop bigger problems in the long run, but they will feel they have no choice but to cut back on dental treatment as they just don’t have the money.”

居住在多塞特郡的飛機工程師喬什·基林在自己的家庭難以獲得醫(yī)保體系覆蓋的牙科護理的經(jīng)歷后，在 Change.org網(wǎng)站上發(fā)起了一份名為“牙科護理就是醫(yī)療保健——我們現(xiàn)在需要更多醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙醫(yī)”的請愿書。
他創(chuàng)建了這份請愿書，已經(jīng)有超過 188,500 人簽名，因此他知道他并不孤單。他告訴iInews，他對人們分享的一些恐怖故事及其對他們生活的影響感到震驚。
基林先生說，他的任務(wù)是在他的伴侶奧利維亞·莫利遇到牙齒問題后開始的，但他很難找到一位醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙醫(yī)。“奧利維亞牙疼得厲害，想走醫(yī)保體系，但找不到。她最終不得不撥打111急救電話，但唯一能為她做的就是短期內(nèi)緩解疼痛，”他說。
“她遭受了好幾周可怕的牙疼，但幸運的是，在家里人的幫助下，她能夠支付私人牙科治療的費用來解決這個問題。然而，并不是每個人都有幸做到這一點。”
“生活成本危機意味著全國將有成千上萬的人負(fù)擔(dān)不起看牙醫(yī)的費用，他們將讓害病的牙齒腐爛成膿腫?！?br>“照顧他們的牙齒在他們的優(yōu)先事項列表中將處于低位，因為人們將需要花錢購買食品以及不斷上漲的天然氣和電費上?！?br>“把錢花在預(yù)防性的事情上，從長遠來看可以阻止更大的問題，但他們會覺得自己別無選擇，只能減少牙科治療，因為他們沒這個錢?！?/p>

Mr Keeling, who was in the Navy and left at the start of this year, had all his dental care provided by the Forces. But when he returned to civilian life, he struggled to find a dentist.
“I typed in our postcode in the NHS dentist finder and the closest NHS dentist was 64 miles away,” he said. “I rang them – only to be told they had an 18-month wait.”
Josh told i his wife was getting tooth pain and sensitivity so had no choice but to get private treatment and ended up paying ￡300 for treatment and a filling.
“I am lucky that I managed to find the money to get private dental treatment,” said Josh. “especially with the cost of living being so extreme at the moment.”

基林先生在海軍服役并于今年年初離開，他以前所有的牙科護理都由軍隊提供。但是當(dāng)他回歸到平民生活時，卻很難找到牙醫(yī)。
“我在醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)的牙科醫(yī)生查找器中輸入了我們的郵政編碼，最近的醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)覆蓋的牙醫(yī)在 64英里外，”他說?！拔医o他們打電話——卻被告知預(yù)約后要等18個月?！?br>喬什告訴inews他妻子的牙齒疼痛和敏感，所以別無選擇，只能接受私人治療，最終支付了 300英鎊的治療和補牙費用。
“我很幸運，我法找到了做私人牙科醫(yī)生治療的錢，”喬希說?！坝绕涫窃谀壳吧畛杀救绱藰O端的情況下?！?/p>

Many people signing the petition created by Josh have shared their traumatic experiences of resorting to DIY dentistry, as well as their frustrations and struggles in trying to get NHS dental treatment.
One man wrote how he had personally had to rip his own teeth out because of the crisis, while another admitted he currently had blu tack in two cavities.
Lee Hughes wrote: “My teeth are desperate for some help. Year after year passes by and still I have to pull my painful teeth out. What a country.”
“I can’t even eat or go out and have suffered with severe depression and anxiety because of it.”
Andrew Perry told how after moving house, he telephoned his local dentist for an appointment and an automated message advised that their waiting list for new NHS patients was eight years.
Dentists and former dentists also signed the petition. One dentist who worked for the NHS for 15 years, said: “Please don’t blame the private dentists who are only trying to do good work, blame the Government for having a ridiculous system that has made many dentists like myself step out of dentistry.
“It’s pressure-filled and patients are quick to sue, materials are expensive and you have a short time to see too many patients.
“I developed anxiety and chronic pain in my right hand just from the pressure. I wished I had moved to private sooner, but believed in providing basic dental treatment.”

許多簽署由喬什創(chuàng)建的請愿書的人分享了他們最終不得不訴諸于自己動手治牙的痛苦經(jīng)歷，以及他們在嘗試獲得醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)的牙科治療時的挫敗感和掙扎。
一名男子寫道，由于危機，他個人不得不拔掉自己的牙齒，而另一名男子則承認(rèn)他目前有兩個蛀牙。
李·休斯寫道：“我的牙齒迫切需要一些幫助。一年又一年過去了，我仍然不得不拔掉我痛苦的牙齒。什么狗屎國家?！?br>“我甚至不能吃飯或外出，因此患有嚴(yán)重的抑郁和焦慮癥。”
安德魯·佩里則講述了搬家后如何給當(dāng)?shù)匮泪t(yī)打電話預(yù)約，一條自動回復(fù)消息告知他們加入醫(yī)保體系的新（牙病）患者名單的等待時間為八年。
甚至牙醫(yī)和前牙醫(yī)也簽署了請愿書。一位在醫(yī)保局工作了15年的牙醫(yī)說：“請不要責(zé)怪那些只想做好工作的私人牙醫(yī)，應(yīng)該責(zé)怪政府有一個荒謬的制度，讓許多像我這樣的牙醫(yī)退出牙科。 .
“它充滿了壓力，病人很快就會投訴，材料很貴，而且你只有很短的時間去看太多病人?！?br>“僅僅因為過大的壓力，我出現(xiàn)了焦慮，右手還有慢性疼痛。我希望我早點去私人診所，但我相信應(yīng)該提供基本的牙科治療?！?/p>

Dentists say the NHS contract is forcing dentists to turn private as it doesn’t pay adequately for the work they have to do

牙醫(yī)說醫(yī)保體系的合同迫使牙醫(yī)轉(zhuǎn)向私人，因為它沒有為他們必須做的工作支付足夠的費用

A former dental practice manager says the current banded system means that NHS dentists receive the same payment for doing six fillings on a patient as they would for doing one filling. “How can dentists afford to do five extra fillings for free?” she asked. “That was when our dentists were virtually forced out of the NHS system.”
“It’s the banding system that has made the dentists all go to the private sector. The Government needs to go back to the old system of a fee per item as it used to be. Then dentists would be happy to work for the NHS again and we wouldn’t have a shortage.”
A Government spokesperson told i: “We recognise the pressures people are facing with the rising cost of living and we are taking action to support households – including ￡1,200 for eight million vulnerable households and ￡400 for all families this year.
“The NHS commits around ￡3bn to dentistry each year, and last year we invested an additional ￡50m to fund up to 350,000 extra dental appointments and bust the Covid backlogs.
“We are working closely with the NHS to reform the dental system and are negotiating improvements to the contract to increase access for patients and ensure working in the NHS remains attractive to dentists.”

一位前牙科診所經(jīng)理表示，目前的捆綁式系統(tǒng)意味著醫(yī)保體系內(nèi)的牙科醫(yī)生為患者進行六次補牙所獲得的報酬與（私人牙醫(yī)）為一名患者進行一次補牙所獲得的報酬相同。“牙醫(yī)怎么能負(fù)擔(dān)得起免費做五次額外的補牙？” 她問?！澳鞘俏覀冞@些牙醫(yī)被迫退出醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)的緣由?！?br>“正是這種捆綁系統(tǒng)讓牙科醫(yī)生們都轉(zhuǎn)入了私營部門。政府需要回到過去按項目收費的舊制度。這樣牙醫(yī)就會很樂意再次為醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)工作，我們就不會有短缺?！?br>政府發(fā)言人告訴inews：“我們認(rèn)識到人們面臨著生活成本上升的壓力，我們正在采取行動支持家庭——包括今年為 800 萬個弱勢家庭提供的 1,200 英鎊和為所有家庭提供的 400 英鎊。
“醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)承諾每年將有約 30 億英鎊用于牙科，去年我們又投資了 5000 萬英鎊，用于資助多達35萬次額外的牙科治療，并解決因為 Covid疫情導(dǎo)致的患者積壓問題。
“我們正在與醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)密切合作，改革牙科系統(tǒng)，并正在就改進合同進行談判，以增加患者的機會，并確保為醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)工作對牙醫(yī)仍然具有吸引力?！?/p>