Correct - modern composites have improved considerably. I live in the USA so have great choice.There is another reason not to use mercury amalgam - it's not "sticky" so you have to drill out a much larger hole to keep it in, which weakens the tooth. Modern composites are glued in so you need to drill less and so there is more chance of the tooth surviving long term.
Interestingly, I live the UK and have a great choice as well, even with my NHS dentist.Correct - modern composites have improved considerably. I live in the USA so have great choice.
Thanks for your reply; yes, that seems to be the model.If it's this Nokia 6030:
Nokia 6030 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Then I suspect the problem is the lack of 3G support as I've seen some areas where they have turned off 2G/2.5G. Although there is support for running voice over data networks it's far from standard and unlikely all the smartphones would be able to use wifi for normal voice services.
Interestingly, I live the UK and have a great choice as well, even with my NHS dentist.
Scotland is different. Dentists can make the choice between amalgam or composite if they think that composite is the better option, and still get paid by the NHS. Of course, you can choose to pay private rates for amalgam for smaller fillings as well. The last time I went (or might have been the time before) the dentist was slightly apologetic that the cavity wasn't quite large enough to justify composite so I had to pay - had it been slightly larger she could have used composite instead on the NHS.Presumably at a private fee, though. Or is Scotland different from England in this regard?
That is very comforting to know as I will be retiring back to the UK. Thanks for the infoInterestingly, I live the UK and have a great choice as well, even with my NHS dentist.
Try your best to retire to Scotland. Our NHS is (to date) in a better state than England's.That is very comforting to know as I will be retiring back to the UK. Thanks for the info
Oh I know that - my aunt and uncle taught at George Herriott School in Edinburgh for many (40 ish) years. My uncle even wrote a school textbook.Try your best to retire to Scotland. Our NHS is (to date) in a better state than England's.
Had that as the wallpaper for the lock screen on my iPad.Think about "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and the book. Now think about that mini computer we call a smart phone.... I'm sure you can buy a bright cover with the words " Dont' Panic" on it.
... Far more important to me is a desktop PC or laptop, I find smartphones are fine for general browsing but for anything else a PC is far superior, online shopping especially is a PITA on a smartphone.
And yet, the Halifax emailed me two days ago saying that I need an "app" to access their internet banking. Can I download a typical "app" to my desktop running Win10? I assume not, but hopefully I'm wrong.
Did they say that you had to download an app, or did they suggest that you download it? I'd find it very surprising if they stopped maintaining their website-based online banking.And yet, the Halifax emailed me two days ago saying that I need an "app" to access their internet banking.
No highstreet bank requires you to have to have an app for online banking. You just navigate to the online banking section via their website. However you do need to be registered for online banking to use their app.
This varies considerably between retailers. Some have very well-designed responsive websites, others well as you say can be a right PITA.I find smartphones are fine for general browsing but for anything else a PC is far superior, online shopping especially is a PITA on a smartphone.
Did they say that you had to download an app, or did they suggest that you download it? I'd find it very surprising if they stopped maintaining their website-based online banking.
As @Domh245 says, that only says you have to use the app to use the Pay a Contact service. It doesn't say anything at all about other services. I suspect because people were asking why they couldn't use the Pay a Contact service on the website.Here's the text I received in an email yesterday: "The Pay a Contact service is only available when you use our Mobile Banking app. We're updating the terms and conditions to make this clearer." I think the commencement date is next June 8th. Seems pretty clear to me.
Yes, and no. PayM has been around for a few years now and you can use it to pay anyone who has signed up for the service using either an app or your regular Internet banking.It is relatively new but pretty much exclusive to mobile banking apps.
The world is changing and moving towards a digital society is inevitable. Traditional banking now has competition from online startups or companies like paypal who offer payment services etc. Those who refuse to move away from traditional banking are going to be pushed out and are just going to be left behind for some weird traditional idealism and Luddite thinking.
A friend of mine refuses to use online banking (I'm talking traditional web based version not mobile) because he's petrified of being scammed and because it's too new, unproven etc. It's been around now for more than 20 years now so this thinking really doesn't apply.
Similarly I have a friend who won't even set up direct debits, he'll go to the bank every month to pay his bills.
I don't have a smartphone, and normally get by using an old Nokia 6030. However, I had a short spell in two hospitals last December, and discovered that my phone simply didn't work inside either of the two hospitals, whereas Smartphones used by my visitors worked OK. I'm guessing that the Smartphones used the hospitals' WiFi systems to make contact with the external networks. So, perhaps Smartphones are essential... the nursing staff were very helpful when I did want to make a call.
The one area it's a *bit* lacking is dentistry, where I do pay for private treatment, for two reasons - one being that I don't like the idea of having mercury based products in my gob
The final straw that could make smartphones essential is if more and more apps start to be written only for smartphones, without equivalent PC/Mac/Web-browser versions. The NHS Covid app is an obvious example but that's slightly unusual because it's raison d'etre relies on it running on a device that you have with you all the time. But some other apps are starting to point in that direction - my bank for example provides a browser login but strongly advises using its smartphone app. Some dating apps seem to be phone-app only. And most obviously, the big messaging apps WhatsApp and WeChat are smartphone based (You can use both on a PC but only if the PC is connected to a smartphone that holds your actual data and credentials). For that reason alone, if I didn't have a smartphone, I'd come close to immediately losing contact with quite a few of my friends.