NHS vs Private Dentists

cazziebo

What do you think?

I've been with a private dentist for years. It meant that I could get appointments for me and the children either early morning, late nights or Saturdays. As a single parent it was important for me not to have too much time off work. The practice has now changed and it's all private so no more access to convenient times unless they are really far in the future. Point is, I don't know the difference between NHS and private. I do know I have a great dentist, who really cares for our teeth, and my two girls have gorgeous teeth.

I pay £40 per month, and it's well worth it, imo. I could add my partner on for another tenner. However, he says he is happy with his NHS dentist as he only has to pay a tenner for each sixmonthly visit. He does have good teeth and his appointments only last minutes. Our check ups last a lot longer and we also get quarterly hygenist visits as part of our deal.

Is the service the same? Are we just paying for added extras?

Karrie

I wish I could go private. I am a single parent and cannot afford to pay £30 + a month. My parents never took us to a dentist and our teeth were ruined by the time I got a job and was able to afford to pay for NHS treatment. I can remember having a hole in my front tooth from that age of 9 til I was 16. However, my current NHS dentist is crap. I have a bad black decaying tooth at the front and a crown which obviously needs replacing and last check up all he said was "see you in 6 months." I just wonder just how black and decaying does it have to get before they will replace it. I guess I have to be in pain before they will do anything. I daren't smile at the moment as I am very concious of them. NHS (in my area) is crap imo.

Toothsmith

cazziebo wrote: »

What do you think?

I've been with a private dentist for years. It meant that I could get appointments for me and the children either early morning, late nights or Saturdays. As a single parent it was important for me not to have too much time off work. The practice has now changed and it's all private so no more access to convenient times unless they are really far in the future. Point is, I don't know the difference between NHS and private. I do know I have a great dentist, who really cares for our teeth, and my two girls have gorgeous teeth.

I pay £40 per month, and it's well worth it, imo. I could add my partner on for another tenner. However, he says he is happy with his NHS dentist as he only has to pay a tenner for each sixmonthly visit. He does have good teeth and his appointments only last minutes. Our check ups last a lot longer and we also get quarterly hygenist visits as part of our deal.

Is the service the same? Are we just paying for added extras?

I don't quite understand the first bit of your post. Why is it now harder to get the convienient times?

If you have always been private, but now the service seems worse, I would write a letter to your dentist expressing your disappointment with that.

The point about being private is that you look after less people than an NHS dentist, so you offer a better service. Appointments should be more easily available.

If by 'a long way into the future' you mean a 3-4 weeks, then I would still consider that acceptable for routine stuff, as long as emergencies were still seen speedily.

The average NHS practice generally has a wait of weeks for emergency stuff, and months for routine stuff.

You would certainly notice the difference there.

I would still write a polite letter though, pointing out that you feel the service has deteriorated. A letter like that from a regular and longstanding patient often has the effect of a bit of a wake-up call if they've got a bit complacent lately, and maybe signing up a few too many patients.

Trust in your dentist is a very important thing though, and I wouldn't change unless you really feel your payment isn't worth it anymore.

In that sort of price bracket though, you should have no problem finding another dentist offering the sort of service you are looking for.

cazziebo

sorry, Toothsmith - I haven't made myself very clear. (Learn so much from your posts, by the way - thanks.)

I am very happy with my dentist, and the standard of care is excellent. The practice used to take both private and NHS and then switched to private only. So now all patients get the same (high) standards of service. I was just making the point that the reason I was private in the first place was so I could get the 8.30 appt weekdays, or a Saturday morning. If I want that now it could be up to three months to wait. Emergencies are seen immediately - not just serious ones. I got an appt in two hours for a broken filling.

The point of starting the debate was that my OH is happy with his NHS service, but I don't see that he can be getting nearly the same level of care as we get. So, having not had NHS service for so long, I just wondered what it was like.

Don't grudge my £40 at all - and would be happy to add on another ten pounds for him if it was worth it. People spend a fortune on hairdressing and face creams, but imho nice teeth make you look years younger.

Toothsmith

You seem to me to be an 'A' class patient and one that dentists fall over themselves to keep happy and want to retain.

I still think a polite and friendly letter just explaining the fact that you feel one aspect of their excellent service has just slipped a little would really be of benefit both to you and to them.

I personally would always welcome such a letter from my 'nice' patients.