NHS Dental costs - have I been charged correctly?

Annonay

brook2jack wrote: »

Unfortunately information about nhs dentistry is often very poor.

So why doesn't it even appear to be mentioned on the NHS website, the Department of Health Website, or indeed the NHS dentist surgeries???

I know MSE Martin is not a dentist, but perhaps you could help others by getting him to correct his articles on NHS dental charges if there really is a Band 4 charge

e..g.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/family/2012/02/nhs-prescription-charges-in-england-to-rise

londondent

The band 4 course of treatment is essentially anything to do with urgent care/emergency treatment whic could be a prescription, temporary filling/arrest of bleeding etc. it happens to attract the same fee as band 1.

When the new contract was made in 2006, a band of treatment had to be created to claim for these emergency procedures but did not include an exam/check up.

In terms reclaiming the money paid towards your root canal treatment, speak to you dentist, and politely remind them that it should it covered by the " further treatment within two months " clause. The refund should be direct from the practice.

brook2jack

Yet another link with the emergency treatment charge (band four) http://www.bradford.nhs.uk/your-health/local-health-services/dentists/ If you carefully read the posters in nhs surgeries there is a bit about the charge right at the bottom .

brook2jack

Here is another link, look on page two for emergency treatment which attracts the same charge as a band one treatment. It includes assessment which is essentially what you had http://www.erypct.nhs.uk/upload/DENTAL/Guide%20to%20dental%20treatment%20bands.pdf

Annonay

Many NHS links that say the cost for emergency treatment should be charged at the Band 1 level (no mention of a Band 4)

e.g.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1781.aspx?CategoryID=74

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

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages/dental-%20emergency-and-out-of-hours-care.aspx

... as do the links you provided

So no Band 4. Emergency treatment should be charged at Band 1 (as I said way back in post#3)

brook2jack

Yes there is a band four charge, it is not band one. For a band one treatment the dentist has given you an undertaking to do all treatment necessary to secure oral health, band four is emergency treatment to stop the patients oral condition deteriorating further and nothing more.

If you had swelling the dentist could assess you , take x rays, and charge £17.50 . You could then be booked in the following day for a check up band one another £17.50 would then be due.

In essence you are paying two band one charges but the dentist claims for a band four and not a band one treatment. Indeed part of the PCTs monitoring of dental contracts includes how many band four treatments a dentist does because even though the patient charge is the same as a band one treatment the dentist gets paid around four pounds more for a band four treatment. (1 uda vs 1.2 udas), and no other treatment other than emergency treatment is covered in this band.

welshdent

Band 4 is sometimes called band 1 urgent which I think is misleading but they do so becuse the charge is the same for both. It definitely exists though and has been there from day 1

welshdent

It may also be worth noting that there is zero financial incentive to make you pay for something that should be free so your dentist is not trying a fiddle. They would be paid the same if you paid or didn't. That touches on my point that you don't pay the dentist anything directly. It's pct cash

Annonay

brook2jack wrote: »

If you had swelling the dentist could assess you , take x rays, and charge £17.50 . You could then be booked in the following day for a check up band one another £17.50 would then be due.

If that happened, I would definitely say that was a rip off.
You were already assessed the previous day, and given any emergency treatment to reduce/eliminate the pain!
That £17.50 could even, I suppose, include the cost of a temporary crown if you say had broken a tooth, or even extraction if that was the best option.

Then if you need to go back, you could then be charged £48 (e.g. for an extraction) or even £209 (e.g. for a crown) but I wouldn't be paying another £17.50 for what the dentist should have done the previous day and was already paid for.

In the unlikely event I was previously booked in for a checkup the following day (and I had an emergency that couldn't wait until tomorrow - remember I had to wait 2 working days to get my emergency appointment that they charged me for) I would tell the dentist to give me a check up whilst in the chair and would cancel the following days appointment.

Annonay

welshdent wrote: »

Band 4 is sometimes called band 1 urgent which I think is misleading but they do so becuse the charge is the same for both. It definitely exists though and has been there from day 1

Erm... all the links seem to confirm Urgent treatment is charged at Band 1 rate.

To say Band 4 has been there since day 1 is incorrect - this 3 band (or 4 band in your mind) charging system hasn't been around that long.