Avoiding the dentist because its to expensive!

scottishchick27

alison999 wrote: »

standard nhs price for a filling is £45.60 so its not that much more than if you saw a nhs dentist tomorrow.

It's not as much as that. I had one today and it cost me £13. Might be cheaper as I'm in Scotland but not sure.

LondonDiva

http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/nhs-dentists/about-the-nhs-dentists-campaign/index.jsp

https://www.nhs.uk

alison999

scottishchick27 wrote: »

It's not as much as that. I had one today and it cost me £13. Might be cheaper as I'm in Scotland but not sure.

i thiink scotland is different (and maybe wales?) but in england its £45.60

Toothsmith

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Apparantly 3% of the population with these type of fillings are allergic to them or sensitive at least.I am allergic to metal on my skin so probably am allergic to heavy metals in my body too.

If you're reacting to metals on your skin, it's almost certainly nickle that's the culprit.

There is a small amount of nickle in amalgam alloy as well.

The symptoms you describe in your first post are typical of the sort of symptoms linked with most health scare stories. Stuff so general and widespread that 99% of the people reading them think 'Oh yes - that must be what I've got'.

No reputable dentist should agree to remove amalgam fillings because a patient is worried about the mercury in them. In fact, as a general rule of thumb, it's probably a good way to spot a disreputable one!

It would be OK for a dentist to agree not to provide any more if a patient was worried about such things, and replace the amalgam as and when necessary - but not drill out perfectly good fillings based on an unfounded patient fear.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I've found in the past that by avoiding going to the dentist you end up paying more in the long run in all ways.
I used to have a dental phobia and never went till I had an abcess,now I've got over that I go every six months and have saved myself lots in both money and anguish.
Anyway if your teeth look awful that's not good and you probably would'nt think twice about paying out for new clothes or having your hair done.
This is'nt just looks it's your health.

Toothsmith

scottishchick27 wrote: »

It's not as much as that. I had one today and it cost me £13. Might be cheaper as I'm in Scotland but not sure.

Scotland is still on the 'old' NHS system, where each treatment item has it's own price.

England and Wales went over to a new system in April 2006 where there are 3 charge bands, and you pay depending on what treatments are in the plan.

That gives the crazy situation though (For both dentist and patient) that a treatment with one filling costs the patient £44.60 and gets the dentist 3 funding points, whereas a treatment with multiple fillings, root fillings and extractions costs £44.60 and gets the dentist 3 funding points as well! (In Wales - the band charges are a few pence cheaper.)

That's why patients often encounter a bit of 'gaming' these days, where what should be one big treatment plan is split into smaller chunks done 8 weeks apart - when the dentist can cliaim it as a new treatment, and get fresh funding points.

If you encounter this, you should question it. (Sometimes there are good reasons why bits of treatment should be delayed) and complain to the PCT if you feel a treatment is being 'milked'.