Dr. Stefan Abela shares an insider's perspective about the effects of Brexit on dentistry in the United Kingdom as the country begins the withdrawal process from the European Union.
In the world of economy, the effects of Brexit revolve around the British pound, bank base interest rates, exportation and importation, and the effects on the European and global economy. As a result, economists are taking the usual measures, such as quantitative easing, further depression of the banks’ interest rates, and injecting property markets with artificial steroids by relaxing the tight mortgage criteria. In a nutshell, this is a headache for the government and its consultants. Whether they win or lose the battle, it’s a whole different ballgame.
In dentistry the effects are very dissimilar to the federal ones. In the next couple of years, the United Kingdom will be exploring how to trigger Article 50, that is, withdrawal from the European Union. Needless to say, there will be long-term ramifications of such an outcome. The Brexit vote has been a battle of two minds between immigration and economy.
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The number one effect will be on the freedom of movement within the European block, currently consisting of 28 countries, with special emphasis on the word “currently.” What will be the future for the non-British European citizens living in the UK, and will Britain be accepting new European dentists if they have to adopt a point system Australia-style? Is there a need for more dentists?
Corporates in the UK that usually provide dentistry with an extremely high turnover rate of staff have been mushrooming like there’s no tomorrow, and they rely heavily on European migrants, especially from the eastern region. The availability of this kind of manpower might be reduced once Brexit is in full effect, leading to unpopular dental jobs possibly remaining unfilled.
A short-sighted practice in recent years has not only been maintaining the level of annual dental graduates, but increasing them even further, and even overlooking (no need to mention fail to forecast) the influx of dentists from abroad. Three main advantages of European influx worth mentioning are:
• Is the British public aware of how much taxpayer money is invested to train a dentist?
• Is the British public aware that the services provided by European dentists have effectively cost the British government (taxpayers) nil?
• The whole net European migration was a bit more than 3 million, which is not a lot considering that the Remain and Leave Campaign was based solely on this issue.
If I were an economist I would start a rant here about the supply outstripping the demand, and discuss plots, curves, graphs, and equilibria of all sorts, but I am not. As a market observer it is easy to notice the natural consequence—prices slashed and on goes the switch to survival mode. I’ll make no comment on the quality of dentistry that ensues.
The question remains whether the post-Brexit ripples will settle. The answer is, I’m not sure.
The question remains whether the post-Brexit ripples will settle. The answer is, I’m not sure. However, one has to give extraordinary importance to manpower analysis and this has to be done every five years. The reasons for frequent reviewing are politics, economics, currencies, wars, and mobility factor, as seeking better weather might be on someone’s mind.
We will hear dentists, like any other professionals, grumble about the number of dentists and dental professionals making up part of the current workforce. No surprises there. One city that will definitely be a victim of Brexit is London, as most European workers opt to work in such a beautiful city. No surprises there either. One could also ponder the effects of Brexit on the housing price bubble, as I can’t help but notice the number of dentists still working in their late 60s and possibly 70s, a reflection of the need to keep working to keep paying the long-term mortgage. Are any of the accrediting bodies looking at these economic uncertainties and delineating a clever manpower plan, or are they letting everything remain status quo and hoping for the best?
There are currently 12 schools in England, four in Scotland, one in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland. Approximately 41,000 registered dentists are serving almost 65 million people. That makes it one dentist for 1,585 citizens. What do you think of that? Note that we have not factored dental auxiliaries into the equation, nor any launches of new so called independent or private universities/colleges.
India is a typical example, a vast country with a population that exceeds one billion, but the private universities/colleges have ensured that saturation of dentists is a guarantee rather than a solid job prospect. Undergraduates fork out vast sums of money in education, and aside from a huge financial hole, they are now getting a slap in the face. India has finally woken up to this reality and is now rejecting fresh applications for new colleges after climaxing at over 30,000 graduates per year!(1) Newly-graduated dentists took extreme measures, such as working in very low-paying jobs. There will be an estimated 100,000 surplus of dentists by 2020, only three years away.(2)
Brexit or no Brexit, fundamental issues persist—an increasing saturation of dentists and dental professionals, no manpower analysis, lack of public awareness of dental specialists, opening of private universities without any state or dental board regulation, and poorly regulated one- or two-day courses in different specialties.
Brexit might have implications on the economy nationally (potential shrinkage of annual family income) and internationally (currency value and unemployment rates), however, only the domestic regulatory bodies will have the biggest impact on dentistry.
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References
1. Samuel SR. Dental education: Too many graduates in India. BDJ 2016; 220: 219
2. Jain H, Agarwal A. Current scenario and crisis facing dental college graduates in India. J Clin Diagn Res 2012; 6: 1–4.
