Dental charges

[arjunanatha]

Have you ever missed a dental appointment ? ::)

Has your dentist ever sent you a £20 bill for doing so ? :-[

Ours gets the missed-appointment bills out faster than you can say "sorry, ouch".

My wife went for some gob-repair today and he said he couldn't see her for some reason. "Why didn't you phone to cancel the appointment ?", she asked. "If you charge me £20 for a missed appointment, then I must charge you". And she got it! £20!

:D

(although I don't want to give the misleading impression that wives generally save money)

[luci]

Well done Mrs Arjuna!!! ;D I used to be kept waiting over an hour every time I saw my dentist, and I had several long courses of treatment. Eventually I phoned them up 15 mins before appointment time and asked when I could expect to be seen. I worked less than a 5 mins walk from the surgery. I was told to come at my appointment time so I repeated the question and got the same answer. I told them that if I had to wait I would be charging them for my time, which met with a nervous giggle. I said I wasn't joking, I was deadly serious, my time was just as precious as theirs. I went at the original time, completely bypassed the waiting room, was given a seat outside the treatment room and was seen within 5 mins of arriving!

[tru]

My dentist is brilliant. We were late for our check-ups yesterday, the school let the kids out a bit late. Anyway, the dentist just sees the next person on the list until you arrive. And he never seems to be running behind with appointments. He's also cheap, check-ups are £10.

[mutley74]

"If you charge me £20 for a missed appointment, then I must charge you". And she got it! £20!


Handy tip of bitting back!

[heleen]

Another way to save money on the dentist is to (pretend to) get pregnant! ;D

I recently became pregnant and went to the GP who filled out all the NHS forms without even checking if I was indeed pregnant. I told her I missed a period and took 2 home tests which were positive. She just took my word for it!!

So you may as well give it a shot if you're having some major dental work done ;)

Of course this doesn't really work for men...

[trafalgar]

Another way to save money on the dentist is to (pretend to) get pregnant! !;D

I recently became pregnant and went to the GP who filled out all the NHS forms without even checking if I was indeed pregnant. I told her I missed a period and took 2 home tests which were positive. She just took my word for it!!

So you may as well give it a shot if you're having some major dental work done !;)

Of course this doesn't really work for men...

Careful, that's fraud ;D ;DI'd like to see a man try for a laugh ;D

[Savvy_Sue]

Another way to save money on the dentist is to (pretend to) get pregnant! !;D

I recently became pregnant and went to the GP who filled out all the NHS forms without even checking if I was indeed pregnant. I told her I missed a period and took 2 home tests which were positive. She just took my word for it!!
I've been pregnant four times and never used a pregnancy test, either at home or the surgery. First time I told the GP I thought I was pregnant, he looked at me, turned to my husband and said "Of course she is, you can see it in her eyes."

And yes, it would be fraud to obtain free dental treatment if you weren't pregnant, and the dentist would soon get wise to you! Also if you miscarry before - I think - 20 weeks you lose your entitlement to free treatment. You may find that if you have started an expensive course of treatment the dentist may complete it free of charge but I don't know if that's automatic.

[cathy]

friend of ours got sick of the whole dentist thing went to france got the works including 3 crowns and lots of fillings and cleaned for about £90!!!

on the subject of dentists last year I had the misfortune to have to go cos i had a sensitive front tooth

I get there wait about 20 mins (empty surgery) and sit in the chair for about 3 mins and he tells me to come back in 2 weeks,

so I did in the chair about 3 mins again
come back in 2 weeks so I did (like a dope)

this went on for 4 months with him telling me my front tooth wasnt sensitive each time.
so 4 months of this and I go into the empty surgery but for a little old man in the corner
and said to the receptionist about 20, is he actually going to do anythng this time as Ive been coming here for 4 months and nothing has actually happened

she gets up on her back legs and said " well, catherine, if you arent happy with the service here which is free, you can always go private"

so I said to her, do you have a pen and paper please, she hands me them
and I said

for a start, I dont rememeber telling you you could adress me by my first name, (knock em off guard )

and secondly, I have worked all my life until recently and so has my husband, most of that working life has been out of this country with the armed forces but we still paid tax and NHS so lets see now

when we both packed in work I was earning £30,000 and he was earning £29000 we both have always had pretty decent jobs so, at a rate of 33 p in the pound for the first 25 years then reduced to 25 p for the last 10 that comes to

(did some figure work) £300,000 tax

also nhs payments weve made come to about £50,000

so you see dear ITS A LONG LONG TIME BEFORE THIS TREATMENT IS FREE.

the old guy clapped ;D

I swept out like a galleon in full sail and went down the street and must say

exellent service by an exellent dentist

;D ;D ;D ;D

[tru]

Hurrah! Good for you ;D

[hoskins]

Hi Duthgirl
Thats a great idea
I need lots of treatment as I cannot afford to go to a dentist, the thing is though I am 58 so the pregnant ploy wouldn't work ;D ;D ;D

My wife and I live in North Wales, we moved here 3 years ago and still can NOT find a NHS dentist to put us on their books.
Well a while back my wife was going mad through toothache so we telephoned NHS direct and they gave us the number of an Emergency dentist for Gwynedd. We left a message on their answerphone and they got back to us a few days later. She started her treatment through them until all was sorted. This took several visits about 30 miles away each time. But I just happened to say to the nurse one day about my dentures being over 15 years old and she replied we are allowed to do them now. So I have a brand new KNASHERS.

So if you get toothache or related problems telephone NHS Direct 0845 46 47 and ask for the emergency dentist telephone number. >:( ;D >:( ;D

[hrafndot]

I'm just going out to get a copy of today's Guardian. There is an article about getting your teeth done in France being much cheaper.

Problems with finding an NHS dentist - I hadn't been to the dentist for a while, but a couple of years ago I realised it would be better if I did.

First one I rang took me on the NHS.

I have to laugh when people queue up to join one as all it took me was one phone call. :D