£515 for 4 fillings. Is this NHS dentist trying to rip him off?

enigma368

So, my boyfriend went to the Dentist last week for the first time in a few years. He asked to be seen as an NHS, not private patient and this was agreed.

The Dentist has told him he needs 4 fillings and has recommended that he get the white/composite fillings for all 4. He said that as two of the fillings are in the back teeth, he could probably get away with metal/amalgam fillings but he should definitely get the other two as white fillings, as they are nearer the front.

Anyway he was quoted £515 for these 4 fillings. My boyfriend was surprised at the cost for NHS work and said he would think about it and left with just paying the £17.50 NHS diagnosis charge for now.

Looking at the NHS Personal Treatment Plan form he signed I realise now that the Dentist has put the filling charges down as private treatment!! even though he mentioned nothing of this to my boyfriend and my boyfriend assumed he was being quoted for NHS work only.

Also, the Dentist practically insisted he get the two fillings nearer the front done as white/composite fillings. But looking at his mouth, the two teeth are actually not at the front, but in the middle, and one of them is surrounded by a metal filling on both sides. So in other words, he is saying to get a white filling done(privately) for cosmetic reasons even though it will be surrounded by two metal fillings!!!

The Dentist also gave him some spiel about metal fillings being outlawed in many countries and that "he is not even sure if they do them in this practice"(how can a Dentist not know what treatment they provide in his own practice). All in all it sounds like the Dentist was trying to rip him off. Am I correct in thinking this?

Until I noticed it on the NHS form he signed, my boyfriend had absolutely no idea that he was being quoted for private treatment.

So in summary, am I correct in thinking that my boyfriend can have all 4 fillings done under the NHS as one course of treatment(£48). And that the £17.50 he was charged for diagnosis should be taken off this £48? He is perfectly happy to have metal fillings done as he realises that white fillings won't be covered by the NHS as they are not the front 6 teeth.

I am very angry with this especially as my boyfriend probably would have just unknowingly agreed to it if could have afforded £500. This just seems like con artistry to me.

BargainGalore

This was on news the other week about some dentists doing work privately as they get more than for nhs http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/05may/Pages/oft-dental-charges-and-complaints.aspx

nhs chargers

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages/nhs-dental-charges.aspx

Pennylane

You might also like to look at a thread on here

OFT calls for dentist industry shake up.

Toothsmith

The thing we don't know here is just what was said between the dentist and your boyfriend, in the surgery where you presumably weren't present.

The picture you're painting of your boyfriend is of some gullible (but presumably loveable) baffoon who can easily be taken for a ride by anybody, and that it's a really good job he's got you to look out for him otherwise he'd be taken for a ride every time he steps out of the door.

Now - he said he wanted to be seen on the NHS, and for £17.50 examination charge, he undoubtably was seen for a check-upon the NHS.

The dentist and he have then had a discussion, and as a result of that discussion, he has come away with a written treatment plan (Which is just what is supposed to happen) detailing what is a private treatment and what is an NHS treatment.

This MUST have been produced with his agreement, and the fact it's written down in plain english for him to show to anybody who could then - as you have done - pick up on what has been written and question it further, does not strike me as someone who is trying to quietly con people out of money.

Your boyfriend would not be the first person in history to agree to something expensive whilst sat in an 'office' with a 'salesperson' and to then deny that they knew what they were agreeing to when the wife or girlfriend sees the bill!

So - Yes, your boyfriend has undoubtabley come away from the surgery with a more expensive treatment plan than YOU thought he was going to need.
Was the dentist trying to rip him off? - well,by putting down clearly in writing what seems to have been discussed and agreed in the surgery, it doesn't seem to me to be the standard way of going about ripping off a patient. After all, all you have to do now that you have seen the treatment plan is to ring the practice up and say you have changed your mind and you would like the NHS treatment option (Which you are correct in saying would now be £48 - £17.50)

As to the bit about amalgam being banned in certain countries and the dentist not knowing if they doit at that practice that certainly sounds srtange. Amalgam certainly IS banned in some countries, but as you say, the dentist should know if they do it or not. Was this the dentist trying to con your boyfriend? Or was your embarassed boyfriend shooting stuff he'd read to cover up the fact he'd been rumbled?

Maybe your boyfriend doesn't really want amalgam in his head because he doesn't feel comfortable with it? Matbe he would prefer to have the work done privately? Maybe he values his teeth?

It could be that the dentist is trying to rip him off, but I think there could also be other explanations.

brook2jack

Your boyfriend does not have to have any treatment he doesn't consent to.
If he does not want private treatment then he is entitled to have NHS treatment for these fillings. They will not be white but will be amalgam fillings and this should have been put down as an option on the NHS treatment form if your boyfriend was interested at the time . A dentist who provides NHS treatment has to provide ,in the case of simple fillings a NHS option, which may well not be the same as a private option.

In the first case your boyfriend should contact the practice before his appointment and say he wants NHS fillings so the appropriate appointments can be made (private appointments take alot longer than NHS so it's no good going in on the day asking for NHS treatment). If he has no satisfaction then you can go through the practice complaints system.

This is , of course , if this is what your boyfriend wants. many people want white fillings and know they have to pay extra. From the sound of it there was at least some discussion and the correct paperwork filled out detailing what was NHS and what private treatment and it was your boyfriend this was discussed with and you are getting a second hand version of this. Either way if your boyfriend is now not sure he wants private fillings he needs to contact the practice before the appointment.

enigma368

The picture you're painting of your boyfriend is of some gullible (but presumably loveable) baffoon who can easily be taken for a ride by anybody, and that it's a really good job he's got you to look out for him otherwise he'd be taken for a ride every time he steps out of the door.

Well I wouldn't go that far but.. :P

Seriously though I think the bottom line here is that he was persuaded into getting white fillings without having any clue that he was agreeing to private treatment. He was given the impression that the cost difference was minimal. Whether this is because the Dentist misled him or he just misunderstood, we can't know.

Either way the treatment was labelled correctly as private work and my boyfriend signed it so essentially its his own fault for not reading what he was signing. I still am pretty certain from what he said that the Dentist was at least mildly deceptive in what he did, and it is unfortunate that some of our healthcare providers appear to be turning into less than trustworthy salesmen.

Ultimately my boyfriend does not have £500 and was just planning to put off two of the fillings until he could afford it. He literally had no clue that he could get all the work done for a one off fee of £48(minus £17.50 already paid) instead of £515 and is now absolutely delighted.

all you have to do now that you have seen the treatment plan is to ring the practice up and say you have changed your mind and you would like the NHS treatment option (Which you are correct in saying would now be £48 - £17.50)

Excellent, thank you. Is there any risk that they will say "well you agreed to private work so if you now want to have it done NHS, the £17.50 is not refundable?" i.e. he will have to pay a new £48 on top of the £17.50 he has already paid?

brook2jack

Only if the £17.50 was paid more than two months ago. In which case it is a new course of treatment . Otherwise it is a continuation and your boyfriend will only pay the difference.

enigma368

Perfect thanks Brook and everyone. Exactly what I needed. He is very relieved.

Toothsmith

He hasn't signed a 'contract'. Just a bit of paper that says that he's had the costs explained to him and understood them! Which it would seem that he hasn't! So the paper is probably pretty meaningless anyway!

wondercollie

Just be glad you have NHS dental. I need a crown to repair a broken tooth. No root canal involved. I'm looking at just under 1500CDN$. Thankfully we have dental insurance at my work and the hubbies, so I'm only going to be around $75 out of pocket.

skypie123_2

According to one of the links a poster put up, white fillings are available on the NHS so why then would this dentist be suggesting the patient has them done privately?
Surely if he goes to a dentist under NHS care, on an NHS appointment for which he has paid £17.50 for NHS treatment then it stands he wants NHS care!
I don't think there was any need for you to be inferring yet again Toothsmith that the patient is wrong, or a buffoon, and the dentist is yet again right. Looks like if he wanted NHS care that is what he should be paying for, not private.
We are entitled to NHS and that is what a lot of people want, and can afford. Nothing wrong with that. Just because you would like us all to spend £500 on our teeth every time we go see a dentist.
I've yet to ever hear you state that maybe, just maybe, the dentist could be taking the mickey out of their patients and yet it clearly goes on.