Dental Insurance Cost Cutting Plan Article Discussion Area

Toothsmith

silverfoxuk wrote: »

I'm just back from a visit to the Hygenist (£38.50). I'm a bit of a coffee addict so my teeth tend not to stay (natural) white for too long. I clean twice a day with a flouride toothpaste and floss a couple of times a week (I know it should be daily) - is there anything else I could do to help my teeth keep their sort of natural whiteish colour rather than coffee brown? Should I use a mouth rinse/wash? Or/and use a 'whitening' toothpaste?

I wouldn't use a mouthwash - some of these can actually cause staining of their own.

The 'whitening' toothpastes may well help here. (They don't really whiten, but they can keep staining down). The Bicarbonate of Soda toothpastes such as the Arm & Hammer brand one might help too. They can taste a little salty though.

Any chance of just cutting down on the coffee??

silverfoxuk

Toothsmith wrote: »

Any chance of just cutting down on the coffee??

working on it...... I've started to substitute coffee with tea. Not sure about whether tea has a lesser staining effect, but good to reduce my caffeine intake!

Couldn't resist when I was in the supermarket on way home today and bought a bottle of dentyl ph. It says no alchohol so thought it might be quite mild. It's strange looking in the sink after a rinse though at all those 'bits'. I can hardly believe that after cleaning my teeth, that the bits are really bacteria or something like that.

Anyway I will use sparingly, maybe in the morning only when I want freshen up. Thanks for the tip on the barcarbonate toothpaste. Will give it a go.

iliko

Toothsmith wrote: »

Band 3 is £189. Be it a simple one unit denture, that used to cost about £40 on the NHS, or a single crown, which used to cost £60 on the NHS. It is true that many crowns, which could well have cost £384 before on the NHS will now too cost £189, but as the fee for making these crowns comes out of the dentists pocket, and he gets no more credit for doing many crowns as he gets for doing one, the chances of getting taken on by an NHS dentist if you need such complex work is next to nothing.

Can I go to NHS dentist pay £189 and have for example 2 bridges and 3-4 fillings covered?

Toothsmith

iliko wrote: »

Can I go to NHS dentist pay £189 and have for example 2 bridges and 3-4 fillings covered?

Technically - yes you can.

I would very much doubt that you would get anywhere in practise though.

The cost of such a treatment is likely to be way more than the dentist would get for actually doing it, so he'd 'make' more money if he gave you £20 and asked you to go elsewhere!!!

The idea of NHS treatment is to make the patient healthy as simply and cheaply as possible.

Using this as your yardstick, I can see no instance where a bridge would have any 'advantage' over a much simpler, and 'cost effective' plastic denture.

Yes - there are many advantages to a bridge over a denture, just as there are many advantages of an implant over a bridge. But when cost is a major factor in the thinking, it overrides everything.

Toothsmith

BTW - a few fillings and a simple plastic denture would also be a Band 3 £189 treatment

P.S. the Band 3 charge has gone up to £195ish since April 07. I'm not sure exactly anymore, as I'm loosing touch with the NHS now.