Charges for private dental treatment

tonytooth

Hi Tom, just a thought, but it may have been the acid etchant (that is used to alter the tooth surface to help the filling bond better) which may have caused the bad taste/pain.... rather than the actual resin.

And well put re the ozone. It may well be beneficial in some circumstances but whether its outcomes are any better or more cost effective than the procedures we already have is another matter.......Only time (and good trials) will tell

tomstickland

It was defintely the resin, though the irritation might have been the acid etchant. Either way, it's preferable to tooth rot. I paid £128 for a 45 minute visit and I actually think it was good value. Take out practice overheads and materials etc and it's not mega money for the hassle of doing a filling.

tonytooth

fair enough, i've just never had any patients complain about pain/taste in the back of their mouths after white fillings....
anyway, 'twould be good if more people shared your feelings on the cost of treatment

Undisputedtruth

sylwright wrote:

For god's sake get a life!! and I can see why you chose your name, but maybe you should change it to !!!!!! KNOWITALL!! It would be more accurate.

Sorry to bring the tone down but your attitude has really got my back up :mad: :mad: :mad:

Thanks Sylwright, your post has truly spurred me on. As I already have a life I will tackle Toohtsmith's comments bit by bit. I have every right to challenge him for misrepresenting my words.

Undisputedtruth

tomstickland

It's because consumer goods are so cheap. I've looked at this from a number of angles:

- I paid £128 to cover: practice overheads (receptionists, cleaners, admin, dental assistant, machinery, building etc), materials, and then used up 45 minutes of chair time with a dentist.

-How much do people pay for basic car servicing?

-What value do I put on not being in pain and preserving a tooth?

-How much would I want to be paid to spend 45 minutes doing what's a fiddly and not really a very entertaining task?

I've found going fully private has actually provided me with a better service. The dentist is happy to talk about what he's going to do, I can ask questions and I believe that I receive better care. Maybe not fully MSE, but I believe that I get better value, even though I pay more.

Paying Denplan for 4 years, now that's something I do resent.

Toothsmith

tomstickland wrote:

Paying Denplan for 4 years, now that's something I do resent.

It would have been good value if you'd used it!

owey

Toothsmith,
Can you give me a bit of advise?, just been to the dentist and they tell me they are going private :mad: . It looks like they want me to go for a policy which cost £10 a month, which will give me 2 check-ups 2 polishers and x-rays if I need them per year, plus 15-20% off further treatment.Or I can register with them for £30, strange that, as I am already registered with them, "scam comes to mined there :rolleyes: .
They said they are going private becuse it would cost the same for a check-up or a check-up and fillings on the new NHS prices?. So it would not be fair on people that don't need any work doing.
I have just looked up the new chargers which are in three bands, £15.50, £42.40 and for major treatment £189.00, not sure if these are up to date?.
I don't see how it can be cheaper for me or most people to go private, is it worth going on the books of another dentist, or are they telling me the truth that it won't be much more expensive staying with them.
If only I could get all his customers together and refuse to pay, he surly would have to change his mind.

Toothsmith

Hi Owey,

You are registered with the practice until midnight on 31st March. That is when the 'old' NHS contract expires, and everybody who is currently registered with an NHS dentist is De-registered by the Government. This is because such an embarrassingly low number of people are registered with an NHS dentist, they are abandoning the concept of registration.

There will be dentists with NHS contracts on April 1st, and there will be patients looking for NHS treatment. All those looking for treatment will be entitled to contact any dentist with a contract!

There are many problems with the 'New contract' which is why dentists are abandoning it in droves. There are many good threads on these forum in which I go into the reasons. I would suggest you have a read through these. Most are in this Health board, but the discussion board and the vent board have a few as well.

Bear in mind, your dentist has to see many people in a day, and so he/she will have to give some explaination as well as doing the check up or treatment. There is no way they can go into it in precise detail with every patient, and answer all questions and have any philosophical arguments about the rights and wrongs of it all without running hopelessly behind schedule, and really putting everyones back up even more!

This is why some patients come out feeling they've not been told the whole story, and believing the tabloid version of the greedy dentist (although even the tabloids now are beginning to see the blame may well lie elsewhere) think some scam is afoot.

The long & short of it is that no - it's probably not cheaper to go private, but I can see what your dentist was trying to get across. It will be a lot more expensive than before to be an NHS patient, and for the extra money you're paying, the service will be vastly inferior, as you will have to jockey for your appoinment with every other person looking for an NHS dentist.

In theory, yes, if everybody refused to pay private rates, the dentist would have to do a rethink. When I went private 8 years ago my 'rethink' plan was to take over my fathers tyre & exhaust business (He was looking to retire (No pun intended) at the time) and give up dentistry completely. Other options would be to emigrate to a country like Australia or New Zeland, where life is generally better, and a dentist is still allowed to make a living!

In practice though, the dentist will be able to survive with a lot fewer patients. In fact to operate in a private environment, it is actually necessary to loose at least 1/3 and preferably 1/2 of your patients in order to be able to spend more time with the ones who have chosen to stay with you. It is a safe bet in this day and age that at least half of a patient group will be well informed enough to know what is really going on and see that a few quid a month really is good value for money to be on the books of a decent dentist.

Of course if it's a dentist who you aren't really happy with anyway, then now may be a good time to have a look at what else is available. I cannot recommend chasing down the last NHS dentist in the country though.

As I have been saying lately, now is the time to find a decent private dentist and to become an established patient there. in a couple of years time, the good private places will be stuffed full of patients discontented with the NHS service, leaving very little choice for those that have stuck with the nHS 'come what may'

raymond

I hope all those patients forced to "go private" will get a refund on their national insurance contributions which will no longer be needed to pay for NHS dentistry.

By the way, undisputed truth may recall the fantastic laser treatment that meant no more drilling ever again .... how many dentists are using that ?

I would prefer my dentist to make a professional decision about new techniques based on his years of training and many years of experience rather than some book jockey on a forum who knows all about dentistry by being a patient.

Symbeaux1

Toothsmith,
I would appreciate your advice, I do not neglect my teeth, but it sure looks as if I do!! I'm going to the dentist tomorrow because I've lost part of a back tooth filling. My question is, having had three extractions after unsucessful root canal work post-abcess several years ago (one gap in front bottom and other two visible) , I really need to be able to smile again, I have broached the subject several times with my dentist regarding the possibility of having some sort of bridge work and his attitude is that it will be considered at a later date, how do I pin him down in the prevailing climate of change to say if it is ever going to happen ?? Or should I just have the treatment necessary to secure a certificate of dental health and then sign up with denplan???