What are the most expensive procedures in dentistry and how might their prices be affected post peak oil?
Dentist #1: Basically implants or anything involving the use of a dental laboratory (dentures, crowns and bridges). With the new contract the government brought out last year, dentists are moving away from the NHS into private practice, reducing the amount of complex NHS work they do in the transition period. This has resulted in many of the low cost / high volume dental laboratories either closing or facing financial difficulties. We have overseas laboratories trying to break into the cut price market, but they won’t last when peak oil causes shipping costs to rise significantly. UK dentistry is moving more towards a high cost / high quality ethos, resulting in FEWER complex items being made overall. Those without the necessary funds for a private dentist will be forced out of the market and will need to rely on what will eventually become an extraction service (staffed by overseas dentists and graduating or recently graduated dentists). Prices will invariably increase with the increa
