Private dentist cheaper than NHS...

Mr_K

NHS dentistry is a no brainer if you qualify for free treatment. I always go NHS, even though I pay, but the charging structure is crazy and they let me down today.

I lost half a tooth (day before i go on holiday !), rang my NHS dentist and there was no way they could see me today. In desperation went to a private dentist over the road (fearing i'd have to pay several hundred quid for a crown). They saw me within 15 mins of me ringing. Did a large white filling (with a proviso that it would probably need a crown in the next few years but there was no hard sell). They charged me £38, the NHS charge would have been £48 (!) Maybe they took pity, I don't know. Will probably still go for the NHS when I need a crown, but will check out the private charge as well.

welshdent

Mr K I believe you like many others have inadvertently been taken in by the media campaign that likes to pretend all private dentists are money grabbing con artists. Private dentistry is variable. A private filling with me starts from £30 up to 60. Sure some charge more and others charge less but the landscape the media like to paint is ridiculous. Plus the better you look after yourself the less chance you need ANYTHING done in which case its even less!
As a comparison, an ex girlfriend of mine used to go every 2 months for hair highlights at £60 a time. So given a filling with me will hopefully last years and the highlights last months, what is the better value for money??
I am glad it went well. Most of us just want to do the best job we can for our patients.

Bluemeanie_2

I now go private. It has cost me a bit more but now I am better off the quality and care and the not waiting etc I can't fault. Oh and every tooth my NHS Dentist filled has had to be taken out. Could just be a coincidence but this has happened with 3 teeth so it makes me wonder.

j.e.j.

It's interesting what Mr K is saying, but for me I guess the thing is, how would you budget for it if you go private. If you are nhs at least you know (in theory!) roughly what you'll be paying, and that there's a maximum charge. I don't like the thought of going along to a private dentist not knowing if it's going to cost £40 or £400..

Bluemeanie_2

j.e.j. wrote: »

It's interesting what Mr K is saying, but for me I guess the thing is, how would you budget for it if you go private. If you are nhs at least you know (in theory!) roughly what you'll be paying, and that there's a maximum charge. I don't like the thought of going along to a private dentist not knowing if it's going to cost £40 or £400..

Hello, you can ask him how much it will cost in advance of having the work done. I got mine to give me a "quote" lol. I would in theory prefer an NHS Dentist as it is cheaper and easier to budget like you say. But I just was not happy with the quality of care.

welshdent

I pretty much provide entirely NHS work but one thing I think we all need to consider is cheaper doesn't always mean better. We have become somewhat conditioned in the UK to always go for the cheaper option but we should really be lead by the quality option. Now I am not saying for a second that all private treatment is quality. That would be frankly absurd. What I AM saying is taking the NHS option because it is less expensive is also misguided. Also as the OP has observed, the NHS is not always the cheaper option. A "cheap" NHS filling may last for example 5 years if very large. So roughly £40. An "expensive" private option or indeed NHS inlay at say £200 ish may last 20. Now the cost per day over that time frame is more or less the same at about 2p per day. However the filling will require replacement again assuming the filling is even possible. Not everything works like that and we can not predict how things will work out. Nor do I wish to insult anyone that feel they are not in a position to afford expensive work. Just trying to allude to value not being related to price. Indeed I have seen a fair amount of failing implant work provided abroad a couple of years ago because "it was cheap". Hardly value for money though it it doesn't even make it to a decade.
also regarding unexpected bills .... almost everything I treat on a daily basis is self inflicted. decay? check. Gum disease? check. The consequences of both? Check.
So with that in mind the best way to avoid expensive bills is to prevent both in the first place by following the advice of the dental team and attending regularly to catch things before they are a problem.

j.e.j.

Fair enough, if you're not happy with the quality of care, then go for the private option. I guess a way of budgetting for it might be to go for something like denplan, but would that necessarily mean there are no extra costs when you go for your appointment? The surgery I go to does their own insurance plan from about £12 a month, I think, so that would be budgetable, but at the moment I am happy with the care I'm getting from my dentist as an nhs patient.

As for tooth decay and gum disease being the patient's own fault, you can say that about lots of diseases (heart disease, adult-onset diabetes etc). Maybe there should be a 'sugar tax' on sweet foods :rotfl: Ha, I wouldn't put it past them!

welshdent

Denplan care covers dental treatment excluding lab charges and cosmetic work. I.e. a ceramic crown nay cost 3-500 privately but 77-110 under denplan. The point I was making for being preventable was just to highlight how easy it can be to avoid unexpected high bills

trumpton

I have an NHS dentist and they are really good. I think the trouble is that the NHS charges are actually too cheap, and the private ones are often too expensive. I wouldn't object if NHS charges went up a bit.

I would rather they put the charges up and used the money to fund orthodontic treatment for kids that don't quite qualify at the moment.

Maybe if the NHS charges were a bit more, the private charges wouldn't be so high and it wouldn't be so hard to find an NHS dentist.

I agree about hairdressers, though. People think nothing of paying £70 for their hair colouring.

j.e.j.

trumpton wrote: »

I agree about hairdressers, though. People think nothing of paying £70 for their hair colouring.

Yes, highlights or colouring can set you back £50 to £150.
Many people also think nothing of spending £50+ in a pub or club at the weekend.
Some people choose to spend loads on football kits and season tickets they can ill-afford.
and so on and so on..

It's about prioritising, isn't it.

With dentistry perhaps we tend to be of the mindset that it's health, therefore it ought to be free (at the point of entry), as nhs treatment generally is. I think having an nhs, we are not accustomed to having to budget for our healthcare, or to seek out reputable practitioners.