root canal treatment - NHS and private costs & pros and cons

mrs_angry wrote: »

this is not true my 8 year old boy has a problem with weak teeth that are snapping etc and our dentist just waits until they need extracting, ok they are baby teeth but thats not the point, she only sees him twice a year if I'm lucky enough to be able to get him an appointment twice a year, as our dentist does not let you book your next 6 month appointment in advance so by the time i get the reminder he may have to wait a further 3 months.

and please correct me if I'm wrong but are you stating that nhs dentists are paid on commission like a salesman

god help us then if doctors were ever paid by the patient

and please correct me again but Ive read many many articles that say dentist whether nhs or private earn a good wage,and are receiving more funding from the government, mine only does 9 to 5 Mon to Fri

the pricing structure had to change because too many dentists were performing unnecessary work(to earn their wage), and some were sued by patients because of this, now its going back the other way,and they are just not performing necessary work to earn their wage

my opinion is that nhs dentists are sort of holding the government and patients to ransom with the we will go to a private only practice, if nhs dentists are so poor what stops them turning to private practice then there must be an incentive to being a nhs dentist and from my experience its not for the love of the job or care of their patients .

You do realise that doctors ARE paid by the patient?

I think you've been reading all the tabloid headlines about dentists and now are - quite understandably - thouroughly confused!!

You can earn a S0d of a lot of money as an NHS dentist, if you are prepared to do what the Government want and do the simplest treatments to all the patients, see them as little as possible, and have plenty of room to see anybody and everybody with toothache.

If you are a good dentist, and are on the NHS - the whole system is working against you. Witness some of the headlines of a few days ago about dentists 'ripping people off' by insisting on seeing them every 6 months, when NICE say 2 years is fine (Actually NICE said no such thing).

If you are a decent dentist, and want to do your job properly - then you really have to get out of the NHS. And as you say - this is not difficult, as dentists own their buildings and equipment, unlike hospitals where the taxpayer owns it.

There are dentists out there providing good stuff on the NHS, but they really are getting fewer and fewer - and yes - they are getting poorer and poorer.

There are dentists out there earning big bucks on the NHS, by doing exactly what is wanted of them. Importing cheap foreign dentists as associates, and churning out bucketfuls of 1950s dentistry.

There are dentists who are private, and because of lack of choice are getting away with churning out poor dentistry for outrageous prices (By which I mean any price for poor dentistry is outrageous, not that someone with very expensive fees is poor)

There are private dentists doing a very good job for a fee which reflects the time and skill they put into their dentistry.

The difficult thing for Joe public, is knowing the difference. This is what me, and the other dental contributors on here, try to help with.

Toothsmith wrote: »

Or do fissure sealants take it up to band 2 and 3 UDA? I'm not sure as I haven't had anything to do with that system.

BTW - how does everybody feel about the new Government offensive via the tabloids at the moment? Telling everybody that their NHS dentist is 'ripping them and the system off' if they tell you you need anything more than a 2 yearly check-up?

im sure f/s are in band 2

also, i couldnt believe that when i read it in the paper today - how can anyone benefit from seeing your dentist just once every two years - your whole state of oral health could change drastically in that time! no wonder every one hates dentists if they believe all this.:rolleyes:

Toothsmith wrote: »

That could easily be because it's cheaper to fix it than to chop it off, plus I doubt there would be a significant percentage of the population who would accept having it chopped off as the treatment of choice.

The opposite is true for a tooth.

If it were cheaper to chop a leg off, then I bet soon enough there would be government spin about how wasteful it is for everyone to have two legs (all those extra needless shoes being manufactured), and how greedy doctors were playing the system and lining their pockets by unnecessarily treating broken ones.

Hands up everyone who thinks I'm wrong!!!

i totally agree with you on that,:rotfl: and wouldn't be surprised if that indeed did happen in the future, thats if you hadn't sold your body parts already to pay for your private dental treatment:D

on a more serious note though you sound like a dentist who does care and does do a good job, (i take it you work in the private sector of dentistry) but the fact remains that many people don't trust dentists and thats not because of what the tabloids say, thats because of the experiences they have had. i would love to make a documentary about this subject and wear a hidden camera just to prove this point.

we cant see whats under our gums or whats in our tooth so we place the care of our mouths to dentists, good honest people such as yourself don't have anything to gain by lying or rushing their work but those of us unlucky enough to be in the care of the nhs dentists witness this on a more regular basis now than ever before. this is 2008, dentistry has moved forward, yet seems to me that its going backwards.(nhs anyway)

i don't have to pay to see my doctor if I'm in pain, but the same is not true in dentistry,people are paying for the pleasure of being in pain and getting advice from an overworked and rushed nhs dentist, who may not be putting the patients needs before anything else, IE the need to keep to targets to earn the funding and a decent wage.

tabloids don't tell the whole truth either but there is no smoke without fire!

tirednewdad wrote: »

That is one of the reason why we only see patients who are exempt and children. (although we probably give them a private service, as it is too difficult to change my mindset between appointments.

sorry, i usually get thing like this since i work in dentistry but i find that disgusting!! if you provide nhs treatment it shouldnt matter if the person is exempt or not, does the pct know youre doing this?! i can understand seeing children (up to the age of 18) but to see adults as long as theyre exempt is appauling. im sorry, but all i can hope is that i misunderstood your post


edit: just found out that 'tirednewdad' works in wales and things are different there but my argument remains the same, even though it shouldnt be directed at him**

My tooth has been playing up a bit. Dead to temperatures but very very very sensitive to any pressure. Even chewing a banana hurts.

I'm hoping it only because the temporary filling is too high......