Asked for Dental NHS Scale and Polish.Told "Go to Hygienist at £25 extra"

Garetha

My wife booked an inspection and asked for a scale & polish to be included. The receptionist said she'd get "just the smile area done by the dentist"

Today when she went the dentist did a good job and included the back teeth.

Thanks again to the OP for saving us the regular charge of nearly £50 each time the hyienist would have been involved.

boozercruiser

Ah well, another annual check up and another try on for a runaround with the same Dentist Practice (which is inside our NHS Medical Center) but now with another Dentist. (Italian following 2 Polish Dentists).
No racism intended!

At my check up he identified that I needed 3 fillings. While he was at it I said "And I would like a Scale and Polish thank you" he said "Oh, you don't need that, your gums are healthy". I said "Well, I would still like it done".

My appointment to have the fillings was 2 weeks later, (Yesterday, 11th March 2010) and in the meantime I sent the Surgery an E. Mail saying that I was requesting a Scale and Polish, and I also told the receptionist that I wanted it done.

SO....I showed up for the fillings yesterday and when he had finished, he was clearing away and

I said "What about the Scale and Polish I requested"?
Dentist "No you do not need that".
Me "Look, a Scale and Polish is a preventative measure and this is supposed to be done under the annual NHS check up charge. Every year up until recently this has always been done, even without me asking. But now the practice seems to be that one should go to see the Hygenist at a charge of around £30. Well I am not having any of that"
Dentist "So you want it done then"?
Me "Yes please"!
So the Dentist gets on his little Laptop, pops some info in and says,
"O.K. book another appointment and I will do it then"
Me "No extra charge is involved is there"?
Dentist "No".

So now I have made an appointment to go back next Friday just for the Scale and Polish, and everything is for the proper charge of £39 (Wales).

The Moral of this story is of course that a Scale and Polish should be done under the NHS. Do not be shuttled on to a so called Hygenist at extra cost.

I do hope this helps someone, and thank you Garetha for your kind remarks.

Best Regards

Boozercruiser.

P.S. I am not meaning to 'Shout' by doing this in bold. I just want to make the post easier to read, and I think it looks better anyway!

Dental costs explainedNHS dentist costs in Wales

In Wales there are three bands of charges for NHS dental treatment:

• Band 1 (£12) - Covers examinations, advice, x-rays and scale and polishes
• Band 2 (£39) - Covers permanent fillings, teeth extractions and some oral surgery such as surgical removal of cyst, buried root, unerupted tooth, impacted tooth
• Band 3 (£177) - Covers treatment including crowns, dentures, bridges, and orthodontic treatment

Charges are for a course of treatment, so if three fillings are required, you only pay one treatment charge.

alison999

You are only entitled to the treatment that you clinically NEED. If you dont need it, you dont need it. The dentist might be doing it more for a quite life than anything else.

boozercruiser

alison999 wrote: »

You are only entitled to the treatment that you clinically NEED. If you dont need it, you dont need it. The dentist might be doing it more for a quite life than anything else.

With respect, I think that you are missing the point. This started off because the Dentist originaly said that my gums looked a little unhealthy and that I should go and see the Hygenist at a cost of £25 which would include the Scale and Polish I wanted.
Now of course the Dentist would be more than happy if I went to the hygenist and would not object to THAT.......WHY..........WELL......

More Money for HIM:p and less work for HIM.:p

Less cash for ME:mad:

I am not fresh off a Banana Boat thank you very mutch!:D

Also, this is a Money Saving Forum....NOT a Money Giving Away Forum.:D

Apollonia

boozercruiser wrote: »

The Moral of this story is of course that a Scale and Polish should be done under the NHS. Do not be shuttled on to a so called Hygenist at extra cost.

As someone has already said:
A scale & polish should be done under the NHS - ONLY IF IT IS CLINICALLY NECESSARY.

And what are you implying by the use of the phrase 'so called Hygienist'?

What an insulting way to refer to a profession that provides much appreciated dental treatment to people who actually suffer from gum problems!

Toothsmith

Your last check-up has no relevence to this one boozecruiser. It's a totally seperate contract, and that practice isn't even obliged to see you. There is no 'continuing care' on the NHS any more. No-one is registered with any practice or dentist.

This time, the dentist clearly stated (according to you) that you 'didn't need' a clean.

This time, you requested one. That means it can be provided outside the NHS quite legitimately.

I agree with Alison that the dentist has probably just agreed to it for a quiet life.

I would be careful, as the next time you come to make a check up, you might just find that that practice 'doesn't have capacity' to treat you.

Pennylane

I have to say I do understand where Boozecruiser is coming from on this.

Getting a scale & polish was, for years and years, the norm at all NHS dentists we went to. You had your check up and then they'd say "you need one filling (say) and I'll just give you a scale & polish."

I just cannot remember the last time I had one. So, why were we given them so frequently before and why are they not giving us them now?

boozercruiser

Pennylane wrote: »

I have to say I do understand where Boozecruiser is coming from on this.

Getting a scale & polish was, for years and years, the norm at all NHS dentists we went to. You had your check up and then they'd say "you need one filling (say) and I'll just give you a scale & polish."

I just cannot remember the last time I had one. So, why were we given them so frequently before and why are they not giving us them now?

The reason one is not automaticaly given a Scrape and Polish now is that a whole new industry has sprung up to push you in front of a Hygenist at extra cost.

"Getting a scale & polish was, for years and years, the norm at all NHS dentists we went to. You had your check up and then they'd say "you need one filling (say) and I'll just give you a scale & polish."

I am age 67 now, and your memory is exactly the same as mine. I have all of my own front teeth with 5 teeth missing from the rear. An annual check up, the odd filling and the yearly Scrape and Polish has served me well and this speaks for itself.:D

Look on the Internet for 'Scrape and Polish and there are a whole lot of companies extoling the virtues of this practice for dental care and prevention of tooth decay.

For me, this is proven good practice, the NHS provides for it, and I intend to have it.

Toothsmiths concerns that I may be taken off the list do not frighten me. I do not give in for concerns like that, otherwise I would have just accepted tons of *rap on my head over the years without a fight.

And I would certainly fight a decision like that anyway.:mad:

The NHS in general, and dental care in this country has gone down the pan anyway in recent years with the new contract Dentists have under this useless, incompetent Government, including rising costs for patients.

Up until around 3 years ago a check up, filling including the regular Scrape and Polish would cost £13. Now it is £39 with less being done for that money. Living on a Pension, that extra £25 to £30 matters to me.

I have worked all of my life and do not get this work done free like so many deadlegs who never worked, and indeed have no intention of ever working.

Anyway, the only reason I have continued with this post is simply to advise people NOT to be pushed off to a Hygenist when the Dentist can do it under the NHS without extra charge.:D

Toothsmith

Pennylane wrote: »

I have to say I do understand where Boozecruiser is coming from on this.

Getting a scale & polish was, for years and years, the norm at all NHS dentists we went to. You had your check up and then they'd say "you need one filling (say) and I'll just give you a scale & polish."

I just cannot remember the last time I had one. So, why were we given them so frequently before and why are they not giving us them now?

The clean and polish is one of the most simple to perform, and effective preventative measures we can do. And on the NHS, we used to be paid an extra £7.50 odd for doing one, which was why it was done so frequently - more or less if you 'needed' one or not.

Nowadays the rules have changed. The powers that be have decided that a clean and polish has no health benefit whatsoever, and that dentists doing them on the NHS were just wasting taxpayers money.

Hence the new system, which no longer 'rewards' dentists for doing them, but by only paying a fixed amount for a treatment be it one filling or twenty, actively encourages dentists to only do the bear essentials to get a patient 'dentally fit' at that point in time, with no thought for the future.

The system stinks, and I refused to have anything to do with it, which of course, makes me a 'greedy dentist'.

The system now says that an NHS patient is entitled to everything 'necessary' on the NHS. The game the dentists still on the system have to play - if they want to stay in business - is making every treatment plan as simple as possible.

Dentists who don't want to play this game but to do what's best for their patients long term dental health have to do it outside of the state funded system.

Dentists who want to survive because they work in a place where they feel they couldn't survive outside that system have to be very careful hw they explain things to patients.

Dentists who just take the taxpayers money whlst operating 'private' practices deserve to be exposed and complained about.

Patients who throw their weight about and demand things that they really aren't entitled to under the state system are really no better than gaming dentists.

Toothsmith

boozercruiser wrote: »

Anyway, the only reason I have continued with this post is simply to advise people NOT to be pushed off to a Hygenist when the Dentist can do it under the NHS without extra charge.:D

But only if it is 'necessary' at that point in time.

Basically I agree with you as to it's necessity - but the people wo have designed the system feel it isn't.

You are not helping anything by 'insisting' on it when it has been deemed unnecessary for you at that time. And you may only find that you will not be welcomed at more and more NHS practices.

Personally,I feel you would get much better dental care within a private setting anyway.

If you are angry about the system, then write to MPs. Don't just make a pain in the bottom of yourself at your dental practice. That won't change anything for the better.