Almost half of all Britons say they are putting off dental visits because of the cost, the Daily Mail reported.
The price of a visit increased by an average of 7% after the National Health Service introduced a new fee structure in 2005, according to the Mail.
The reform set fees at 15.90 pounds ($25.89) for an exam, compared to just 6 pounds ($9.76) before. Following these fee hikes, the number of people seeing a dentist dropped by a million, according to the article.
A survey of 1,000 people by Tesco Dental Insurance confirms the connection between higher fees and fewer patients. Of those surveyed, 42% were deterred by the cost, according to the Mail.
Dentists, meanwhile, are making more money under the new system. Their pay has increased by 11% since 2006 to an average annual income of 96,000 pounds ($156,319).
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