Public and private sector dentistry

I have been working in the health care services within the public sector, dentistry to be specific. I enjoy my work and I have a reliable employer and a pretty firm position in the organization. The only problem is that I don’t really have motivating things in my work. I don’t mean that I don’t like to work; it is just that there is no incentive to try more and to invent better ways to do things. Another thing that differentiates the public from the private sector is all the equipment. It is understandable that private practices have more resources to get better and newer equipment because their customers are ready to pay more for a visit. There is a huge gap between the medical armaments.

For example our digital dental imaging equipment is quite restricted and even though the machines work perfectly, they are old and not perfectly up to date with the rough competition. Also the digital imaging software could use an update, because our equipment is not perfectly compatible with computers we use.

I understand that public sector cannot offer as good service than the private sector because of the difference of the ability to pay between the two different customer groups. It is one way of inequality that you can’t always have the same treatment as others who are in a better financial situation.

The inequality is not only an issue within the patients but staff too. We get paid less and the working environment is more stressful and even more dangerous. Why dangerous? It is less safe to work in a place where you don’t get to choose your patients. It means that there are a lot of people with drug abuse or alcohol problems and less money to pay for their healthcare. Sometimes they might get aggressive because our policy is that there is no service for intoxicated people for safety reasons. The problem is way bigger in the public sector and almost nonexistent within the private sector. Those who can pay for their treatment, usually don’t reasons to be violent towards the personnel.

The whole industry has taken big steps forward and a good thing is that nowadays the fear of dentist is only a shadow of what it used to be. However we should get treated equally without looking at the status of the sector. That includes the compensation we get and also the working conditions. We deserve the same respect.