Annoyed with the dentist!

jdturk

trumpton wrote: »

There surely has be a balance between profiteering private dentists and the NHS charges.

Supply and demand, if the supply is there for private dentists then so beit

Laz123

In a recession people cut back on all sorts and one is a visit to the dentist. So they have to drum up business.

I think the charge should have been explained properly before the x-ray.

jugglebug

trumpton wrote: »

To put the original poster's concerns in perspective - I had an abcess uder a crown and had about 4 appointments to try to save the tooth, several x-rays, 2 lots of antibiotics, finally an extraction. As an NHS patient the total charge was £42. My friend is having some fillings and an extraction privately and has been told it will end up being several hundred pounds.

There surely has be a balance between profiteering private dentists and the NHS charges.

You do realise that the £42 isn't actually what the dentist recieves dont you though? The NHS makes up the rest.
Also if a dentist is private there are certain things they cannot get tax relief on etc so in real terms if a dentist leaves the NHS they have to increase their turnover by a significant amount just to stay still. To say they are profiteering is to misunderstand the system. Most leave because the current NHS system is unfair to both patients and clinicians. Why should you as someone who has had treatment on a single tooth to save it pay the same as someone who needs 32 teeth filled? You are being penalised for being generally healthy. Why should the dental practice recieve the same amount of funding for treating you as a practice that is treating someone else for the multiple problems?
This is why in the NHS contract the work is defined as needing to be of a "reasonable" standard. Dunno about you but given the choice I want better than reasonable.

All that aside though yes the dentist should have informed the patient of the costs beforehand.

snapping_crocodile

The last time I went to the dentist I saw a new bloke as my previous dentist had left. He X-rayed me despite the fact I had no comlaints, as he said it is good practice to do it every three or four years *shrugs* But as the others said it was included in the first band nhs payment of a regular check up. OP are you nhs or private, and did you have any other work done?