Cost of white fillings instead on silver on NHS for student?

bobby000

I am due to go to the dentist this week for four fillings, i am in full time education and recieve NHS treatment free, the fillings are on my back teeth but instead of the silver ones i get free on the NHS am i able to pay the difference and get the white ones, if so does anyone know how much this will cost me, thanks

atypical

Perhaps asking the dentist would be the best thing? I would guess that you would be paying the private charge for white fillings minus the remuneration the dentist gets from the NHS for silver fillings. This'll obviously differ between dentists.

Zziggi

Mine were £60 per tooth. But this may be of no help as it may differ between dentists, different sized tteeth and this was 18 months ago. But maybe its a vague guide for you?

dmg24

It does not work like that, you either pay NHS or private, you cannot top up the NHS amount.

Mankysteve

There no discount for student. They base opon your income and that of your parents. I've got some dental work that needs doing which I can't afford to because of this.

bloaty

Not sure if this helps but my son went last Friday for a white filling which was not a front tooth.

He is unemployed and we paid for it as a Christmas present. He was told it would cost £105 but fortunately the day before his appointment he was talking about it with a friend and was told that there is a maximum amount you are expected to pay as a NHS patient. So he asked how much it would cost to have the veneer replaced on one of his front teeth and was told it would cost the same, so not sure if it was because he was already paying the maximum contribution or was it because it was a front tooth?

Might be worth you checking this out (perhaps do a google search) before you go as could save you a lot of money

Good luck.

pcombo

lol keep ur teeth in good condition till summer then sign on then its free

dmg24

bloaty wrote: »

Not sure if this helps but my son went last Friday for a white filling which was not a front tooth.

He is unemployed and we paid for it as a Christmas present. He was told it would cost £105 but fortunately the day before his appointment he was talking about it with a friend and was told that there is a maximum amount you are expected to pay as a NHS patient. So he asked how much it would cost to have the veneer replaced on one of his front teeth and was told it would cost the same, so not sure if it was because he was already paying the maximum contribution or was it because it was a front tooth?

Might be worth you checking this out (perhaps do a google search) before you go as could save you a lot of money

Good luck.

There are set levels for NHS treatment. If the treatment is purely cosmetic it will not be available on the NHS, and there is no cap on what the charges may be for non NHS work.

pcombo, students cannot 'sign on' in the summer unless they are parents, or they have left education permanently.

bobby000, is the dentist definitely doing silver fillings? I have a white filling at the back, so there are instances when it is available on the NHS (I think it is used because it has better bonding qualities?).

Toothsmith

bloaty wrote: »

Not sure if this helps but my son went last Friday for a white filling which was not a front tooth.

He is unemployed and we paid for it as a Christmas present. He was told it would cost £105 but fortunately the day before his appointment he was talking about it with a friend and was told that there is a maximum amount you are expected to pay as a NHS patient. So he asked how much it would cost to have the veneer replaced on one of his front teeth and was told it would cost the same, so not sure if it was because he was already paying the maximum contribution or was it because it was a front tooth?

Might be worth you checking this out (perhaps do a google search) before you go as could save you a lot of money

Good luck.

It probably cost him 'the same' because the NHS bit (replacing the veneer) was free as he was on the right benefits. So all he was paying for was the white filling.

Toothsmith

bobby000 wrote: »

I am due to go to the dentist this week for four fillings, i am in full time education and recieve NHS treatment free, the fillings are on my back teeth but instead of the silver ones i get free on the NHS am i able to pay the difference and get the white ones, if so does anyone know how much this will cost me, thanks

If fillings are small, then white filling is deemed now to be the best material to fill a tooth with. As such, it is no longer a 'cosmetic' option and can be provided on the NHS.

This is a link to a thread I started back in June last year, just after the Chief Dental Officer - Barry Cockcroft CBE (The MOST undeserving honour in this years New Years Honours list) made this proclimation.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1763029&highlight=white+filling+nhs

The_One_Who

pcombo wrote: »

lol keep ur teeth in good condition till summer then sign on then its free

As dmg24 says, you can't 'sign on' unless you have left education permanently, or are a parent. It's not really good advice in any case.