Is There a Dentist In The House?

bank_of_slate

When you attend for a check up, the dentist should take xrays and plan to do all clinically necessary work in 1 course of treatment, even if several appointments are required!
Some may do exactly what you have said to acheive their UDA target quicker (Units of Dental Activity) and bring in more revenue.
This is known as supervised neglect.
...Linda xx

whatatwit

Have a look at HSA going through Quidco (of course) depending upon whatever optical needs you have, it may be worthwhile you joining that as you can claim back a % of your dental & optical spends as well as other things.

Toothsmith

Sorry - I've only just found this thread.

Linda's answers above cover the NHS situation very well though.

Any dentist with an NHS contract SHOULD take you on and do all the above treatment within on £189 band 3 charge.

BTW, how do you know in such detail the treatment you need? And if it was because one dentist told you, why didn't he do the treatment?

Snaggles

Hello! Toothsmith, could I just ask a quick question (sorry to hijack the thread, but it sort of relates to the same thing). My hubby called in to the dentists I go to the other day and asked if they were taking on new NHS patients at the moment - they said 'Not officially, but we will book you in for an appointment and the dentist will make an assessment and decide if she wants to take you on'. It just seemed a bit odd, and I wondered if this was standard practice?

Hubby probably needs quite a bit of work doing, so does this mean they are less (or more) likely to want to take him on?

Thanks very much.

Toothsmith

Snaggles wrote:

Hello! Toothsmith, could I just ask a quick question (sorry to hijack the thread, but it sort of relates to the same thing). My hubby called in to the dentists I go to the other day and asked if they were taking on new NHS patients at the moment - they said 'Not officially, but we will book you in for an appointment and the dentist will make an assessment and decide if she wants to take you on'. It just seemed a bit odd, and I wondered if this was standard practice?

Hubby probably needs quite a bit of work doing, so does this mean they are less (or more) likely to want to take him on?

Thanks very much.

This is so they can filter out people like the OP, who need loads of work doing, for which they will only get the same points for as someone with just a little bit of treatment.

I can fully understand why they are doing it - they don't want to go bankrupt - but it is against the spirit and the letter of the NHS contract.

Go along to the appointment, and try to remember all that is said to you as accurately as possible.

If private alternatives are offered, find out why they have to be private and can't be done on the NHS.

If the dentist decides he can't see you on the NHS, or offer you full treatment on the nHS, then a phone call to the PCT would be in order.

In my opinion, no dentist should have signed this mare of a contract if they didn't feel they could operate it correctly.

Incidentally, if you haven't seen it on the thread I created for it, there is a petition on the 10 Downing Street web site to scrap the New NHS Dental Contract.

The petition can be found HERE and I would appreciate as many signatures on it as possible.

Please pass on the link to friends/family/colleagues.

Thank You.

Snaggles

Thanks Toothsmith, he's just rung me and you were right, they wont see him as an NHS patient because of the amount of work needed, although they would treat him privately, at a cost of £350 (estimated). Problem is that paying £189 would have been a struggle, but £350 is a huge amount for us to find.

To be honest, I can't really blame them though, I've been nagging him to see a dentist for years. :mad:

They've told him to think about what he wants to do and give them a ring, and I'm tempted to say just have the work done, because his teeth aren't going to get better on their own, and it will need doing sooner or later.

Thanks for your help anyway!

Toothsmith

How much has he paid them so far?

Did he pay the £15.50 NHS examination charge and sign a NHS form?

If so, then he is an NHS patient, and entitled to his treatment on the NHS.

£350 does not strike me as that big a treatment plan. I would be surprised if it included crowns or dentures, which may well mean that the treatment band it fell into on the NHS would be £42.40.

I think the PCT would be interested in your experience though. Especially if NHS forms have been signed and charges paid.

Snaggles

He paid £15 (not sure why it wasn't £15.50) - not sure if he signed anything but will ask him when he gets home. In actual fact, although £350 is a lot of money to us, I was surprised that it wasn't more than that myself. There is another dentist near us that is taking on NHS patients at the moment, so I'm wondering whether it's worth him speaking to them to see if they would take him on? I will get him to think about contacting the PCT as well. Thanks for the advice.

Toothsmith

It was probably £15 as a 'private' examination fee.

Yes - examine all options, but as you said, don't put off getting the work done, as it won't get cheaper.

SeriouslyStressed

Hello Toothsmith

I based my assesment on what I can see in the mirror.
By that, I mean I can see how many fillings have fallen out, how many crowns have broken, and have to assume any cracked teeth will need to be crowned and likely have root fillings done.

My two upper central incisors (U1L+U1R) need crowned ( one is root filled which needed my gum cut open, worked on, then stitched up, plus the usual pulp removal and red rubber things put in, then amalgam post and porcelain crown over that ).. well it's broken ... diagonally and looks hideous and it's hard to speak. The filling area where the back of the crown meets the gum has also gone.

My other central(U1L)...did have a filling in but as my crown broke it meant there was'nt alot to hold the filling in. It was quite a big filling approx half tooth width and went quite deep. It's a mess and obviously rot has set in. Occasional pain but nothing a regular dose of ibuprofen has'n been able to calm thankfully.

I DID see an emergency dentist last year but all she would do was put some temp filling in to the one tooth ( that chalky white stuff )

my right upper cuspid/canine?( UR3 ) used to have a filling in it's rear upper area but it's out. Also has a filling in front side but it's going black on lower section.

Tooth next to my right front tooth (UR2) ( between canine and front ) had a filling half tooth width, again this filling is out, this tooth is also cracked vertically.

Other side upper front tooth ( UL2) is a crown but back has broken off.
Lr4 pulled, Lr5 sort of pulled ! ( remaining tooth has broken through gum and is now exposed, as it was never fully removed hmm )
Lr7,Lr8 pulled.
My back right lower molar (LR6) is/was virtually all amalagam and any tooth material above gum line has broken away.
Lower left side ( LL4 ) had a large filling and this amalgam too has come out.
LL7+8 pulled.
UL4 has a large filling but it is loose. Nothing beyond UL4. Nothing beyond UR5.

The list could go on and on I suppose.... I'm sure you get the idea.

Like I said, I cannot realistically see any dentist doing all this on one single £189 course, so of course I need to get an approximate figure to put on my IN/OUT SOA sheet.

It's difficult to speak clearly, it's hard to eat, and I've retreated socially to the point I just dont go out socially or speak to anyone if it can be helped.

I'm depressed , on incapacity benefit and generally have poor health. I'm 37 male.

Cumbria is in Dental Crisis.

I'm happy to email you some photo's of the horror scene.
If anything, I've under-judged work needed.

Getting to see ANY dentist ( even just for an approximation ) is unlikely around here, and trying to go private.. well. I'm on this board, so it's not happening, but does'nt stop me needing to put down a realistic ( as possible ) figure for dental outlay in my SOA IN /OUT sheet.