As a child I had regular 6 month check ups with my local dentist, but did have 1 bad experience with a different dentist within the practice - where he gave me a filling without a local anaesthetic which put me off for a while, by which time they'd taken me off their list.

It was the time when problems first started appearing in locating an NHS dentist, but luckily for me my 1st wife's dental practice took me on. I have to admit that I developed a good patient-dentist relationship with the dentist which was situated towards the main hospital in Taunton. It took a while to walk/drive there (about 3 miles from where we lived) but it was friendly and extremely professional, and very rarely did the dentist rely on the hygienist to do the work.

My only problem was that I needed a general anaethetic to remove an impacted wisdom tooth, and that after it had been removed a pocket developed around one of my back teeth - which the dentist realised and did something about whenever I visited him. I never had an issue with them and I would use them again if I wasn't 80 miles away!

Well, that was then and one of the first things I did when I moved here 8 years ago was to find a dentist. My wife had one (Milehouse surgery) which was only 1/4 mile from our house, but with the removal and settling my kids into school I missed the appointment and they refused to take me on - it was early January, but still they should look at the facts before judging.

I rang the local freephone number and they gave me details of a couple of NHS surgeries in Plymouth and I have remained with them for 8 years. However, I do not consider they offer a service anything like the one I had in Taunton. The dentist takes one look in my mouth and its make an appointment with the hygienist, he did it himself once in the 14 or so occassions I've visited. When I complain of any pain he takes a quick xray or passes me over to a clinic at the local hospital for a head scan.

I have only recently started paying for visits, but at £16.50 a time for someone to confirm your address, drop the chair, and take a quick peak in your mouth it's pretty excessive. All this because the government were such late payers. It's just one of many things we are being ripped off for. And, what happens if you complain, well the chances of finding another surgery in Plymouth are almost non-existant, and for some people they have to travel 30-40 miles to visit a dentist. What is wrong with us, surely this isn't acceptable?