Mrs Palmer, a pensioner from Bishop's Castle, is like too many people. She has been held in a queue and waiting - for around four years.
Fortunately, Mrs Palmer's complaint has not been life-threatening, merely painful. She simply wanted a dental appointment. Eventually, she was offered one at a clinic in Craven Arms. The only trouble was it was over 10 miles from her home, not exactly ideal for an elderly lady who relies on public transport.
Like me, she wants to know why, if things are so good, why are they so bad?
Why is it so hard for local people to find an NHS dentist? Why, after an increase in the tax bill for the average family of - £9,000 a year since 1997, is it virtually impossible to get a dental appointment?
Sadly, Mrs Palmer is not alone. My survey of the 36 dentists in Ludlow this summer found that only one in five had signed, without dispute, the Government's controversial new contract for the profession. Three in five grimly predicted that services would get worse as more and more dentists opted to go private.
No one doubts Tony Blair's good intentions. But few people these days believe his claims to get the NHS dentistry mess, or any other mess for that matter, sorted out.
