§ 25. Mrs. Leah Manningasked the Minister of Health how far his regulations enable dentists under the dental service to refuse to supply plastic teeth to patients who ask for them.
§ Mr. BevanIt is for the dentist to decide whether to use for dentures a plastic base material or vulcanite and whether to fit plastic or porcelain teeth, and he is expected to select whichever alternative is best suited to the needs of the particular case.
§ Mrs. ManningIs my right hon. Friend aware that dentists do not use very good judgment in these cases? Does not the Minister agree that, when a young girl who is perhaps serving in a shop or doing professional work asks for plastic teeth, she ought to be supplied with them?
§ Mr. BevanI cannot agree that, whenever patients ask that they should be supplied with whatever they want, it should be done, quite independently of the professional advice of the dentist or the doctor.
§ Mrs. ManningIs there any great difference in the cost of plastic teeth?
§ Mr. BevanNo. We pay the dentist a fixed fee and we allow him to decide what he thinks best in the interests of his patients. If the patient is not satisfied with the dentist the patient can change his dentist.