Dental plan vs Dental money pot...

chunky79

We are all on DENplan too, It costs us £43 a month we have no NHS dentists in our area. For this we have Hygenist every 6 months. Check up every 6 months. Booked in within 3 hours if you have pain. Children have 3 monthly checkups. Fishure sealants as soon as tooth has come through. The only extra we pay for is lab work if needed and laughing gas or sedation! Definatelyt well worth it .

SarahNeedle1872

donteatthat wrote: »

I might be able to give some advice.....

Private surgeries are only able to accept NHS maternity cards if they have an NHS dental contract, which is unlikely if they have gone private.

Dental plans - you need to be dentally fit before you qualify for Denplan, so IMO it is a bit of a con (am a dentist btw). Once you have paid to be dentally fit, in theory as long as you have had the treatment done well, and look after things you should not face a big bill for some time....

Other plans include Practice Plan where you pay an amount per month which covers exams, x-rays and sometimes scalings and gives you discount (usually 10-20%) off the cost of regular private treatment.

Some comapines give a small amount of dental cover to their employees - BUPA covers some dental things, but obviously is a taxable benefit so costs you at some point.

I have had some patients using HSA for some reimbursement of their dental costs, also other insurance based companies, not sure what the usual costs of these are per month. I suppose what is best for yuo depends on how much dental work you have had in the past, and how well you look after your teeth, diet etc. If you have had lots of problems in the past, then denplan may suit you, but if no problems, no fillings maybe save the cash!

The governemnt is set on removing dentists from the NHS.........whatever they say there will be little if no NHS dental provision in a few years to come I'm afraid.

HTH

Thanks, this is a great help. I think I will leave it for now and just save the cash. I don't anticipate any problems with my teeth as I go fairly regularly, and my OH has already started his treatment. Nice to have a bit of inside info!

SarahNeedle1872

Toothsmith - Love ur sig, doesn't that just about sum up the lovely Mr Blair and his NHS pledges!

Actiongirl_2

When this crown goes, its going to be crown, check up x ray & scale & clean and probably they will look at replacing one of my (tow) fillings its not giving me grief ( yet) but I anticipate that alone will cost me somewhere in the region of 500- quid once ive paid the VAT :mad: vat :wall:

that will be more than a full year of policies, so I expect it will be moneysaving.[/QUOTE]

I just finished my second installment of £600 for a crown at a canary wharf dentist todya. Granted, its a great tooth, but that is all my spare money for one month. Have taken out a Saturday hospital fund for future. Only £150 a year dental benefit, but also £200 optical and £500 chiropody and other bits. So well worth the £12 a month.

narnia2000

Sorry to hijack, haven't been to the dentist in 10 years, before that good record, lost my faith as I spent 48 hours in agony, tried to ring around for an emergency dentist.....no-one would see me, root died, no more pain though, look on the bright side:) What would be my best plan??

Dithering_Dad

Toothsmith wrote: »

By paying something monthly, patients are encouraged to come along for check ups and hygienist visits regularly (As they're already paid for) and in doing that, they keep their treatment needs to an absolute minimum.

If patients pay as they go - then they can be tempted to put off routine visits, and that's when problems start to get out of hand.

This was the point I was going to make, but it was made so well by Mr. Smith that I thought I wouldn't bother. But then I decided that it was such a good point that it could safely be made twice, without suffering from the repetition.

Hmnn, now what was the point? :think:

Oh yes. Having regular checkups (whether your plan pays for it or you do) is like having your car serviced, it's a hassle and it costs money but it's far cheaper than paying for that engine rebuild because you had an oil leak you didn't know about and the sump ran dry. Hummm, yes.. Mr. Smith does make a better point than me...

Our NHS dentist is 35 miles away from where we live, but as it's only twice a year and we all go at the same time it's not that great a hassle, the kids are free so it's just the price of a scale an polish for Mrs Dither and me. We all have the same dentist so we all pile into her room and take turns in the chair, which I think is a lot more reassuring for the kids when they see their parents having the same treatment!

chunky79

donteatthat wrote: »

Watch out for Denplan as well in that if you need treatment on referral for example - oral surgery, or root canal treatment - anything involving a specialist it is not covered so you have to pay in full. I've had a few patients caught out on that one.

xx

I have had 2 root canals, i am on denplan and paid nothing extra! Maybe my dentist is a specialist i have no idea i just know he is good lol:o

Toothsmith

It's not often that a decent dentist should have to refer for root fillings. As for oral surgery, you can easily refer back into the NHS hospital system for that, and that is free anyway.

catewithers

So how much is the average Denplan policy then?! I'm a bit clueless when it comes to this sort of thing but becoming increasingly concerned because my teeth have caused me all sorts of problems and they're not going to get any better.

And if you have to get your mouth sorted out before you can have a policy... how is that checked? Do you have to have a tooth medical before they'll give a policy?

chunky79

:rolleyes:

catewithers wrote: »

So how much is the average Denplan policy then?! I'm a bit clueless when it comes to this sort of thing but becoming increasingly concerned because my teeth have caused me all sorts of problems and they're not going to get any better.

And if you have to get your mouth sorted out before you can have a policy... how is that checked? Do you have to have a tooth medical before they'll give a policy?

We had to be checked, both my partner and i are on £15.95 each and kids £6.05 each over 5 years old. It ranges from £10 to £20 depending on the general health of your teeth. How lucky i was to have them sapped during each pregnancy:rolleyes: Before denplan i was having treatment every 3 months gauranteed. Since joining i have only needed check ups lol not that i actually want tooth ache again.