Sir, I would like to draw readers' attention to the serious issue of 'big' corporate takeover of dentistry. In my opinion, the denial of the profession and the BDA to confront this matter is astonishing. My personal experience when discussing the topic with the colleagues who had the pleasure of working for the major corporates is that it has been overwhelmingly negative.

Please let's not fool ourselves: a corporate's main function is to generate money for its shareholders. It is not the principal dentist safeguarding the patients' best interests or introducing the latest and the best for 'his or her' practice.

With regard to the free market, there is no free market regulating the market. Currently there are few estate agents dealing with dental practice sales. Incidentally these agents deal initially with the best rewarding clients.

Of course the NHS has a fair tendering procedure for its allocation of new contracts. However, corporate resources will employ full-time staff to deal with tendering. Can 'Dr Smith' who has dedicated his life to NHS dentistry publish a 100 page tendering proposal? Not to mention the bank and the new CQC with its 'register first before buying' ingenious policy.

We may all be comfortable burying our heads in the sand for now. But be aware of the future. Would the strategy of a large supermarket chain entering dentistry be unusual for a corporate? Not at all. It is part of a genuine and legal growth strategy: squeeze suppliers and wages. What income would be allocated to a self-employed dentist working in such circumstances? I suppose a hard working farmer will be able to answer this with some degree of passion. And imagine if that chain owned and supplied all other small practices with dental material and other services.