Dentists Overcharging Patients

BlueSkyFool

Hello Everyone

I thought Id bring this issue up around Dental charges for NHS Patients as I have discovered it seems patients are being grossly overcharged.

If this has been brought up before in a thread I do apologise in advance.

Ok you may be aware that there are 3 standard charges for all NHS dental treatments these are as follows:

• Band 1 course of treatment – £18.50
  This covers an examination, diagnosis (including X-rays), advice on how to prevent future problems, a scale and polish if needed, and application of fluoride varnish or fissure sealant.
• Band 2 course of treatment – £50.50
  This covers everything listed in Band 1 above, plus any further treatment such as fillings, root canal work or removal of teeth.
• Band 3 course of treatment – £219.00
  This covers everything listed in Bands 1 and 2 above, plus crowns, dentures and bridges
  
  It seems that NHS patients are unaware that once you have your examination and diagnosis that unless you require further treatment as described in band 2 or band 3 you are only supposed to pay once.
  
  What I have discovered is, that dentists are charging patients the band 1 and then charging them again when they next visit for the prescribed treatment as determined by the dentist
  
  For example if you go to the dentist and have your initial examination and they tell you that you need a tooth extraction, they should only charge you the band 2 which covers both band 1 - examination and band 2 the extraction.
  
  If for example the dentist claims you need more then 1 course of treatment they are still only supposed to charge you once and the same goes if the dentist determines you need more evasive treatment as in band 3 you should only be charged the one fee once the dentist makes his diagnosis.
  
  The NHS Website clearly states
  
  "Depending on what you need to have done, you should only ever be asked to pay one charge for each complete course of treatment, even if you need to visit your dentist more than once to finish it. You will not be charged for individual items within the course of treatment"
  
  I have discovered that dentists are getting away with this because they say the course of treatment you require is located at another dental surgery, however this is still wrong they are by law not allowed to charge patients twice regardless of the fact they have to send you to another surgery.
  
  I recently took this up with my own dentist and was immediately refunded, and I also advised my parents to address this issue with their dental surgery because as NHS Patients the had an examination and was charged for it and then were told they needed to see a hygienist and charged £500 and then another £120 for a whitening kit, they did not go for cosmetic dentistry at all they are NHS Patients and both retired and in their 60s they just believed that the treatment they were told they needed to have was necessary and paid up not knowing they have been seriously overcharged.
  
  I think this is absolutely disgusting and want to ensure no more unknowing people are scammed in such a way by healthcare professionals that are prescribing unnecessary treatment and grossly overcharging.
  
  Make sure you have all your receipts that you have paid for your treatments and then take up the disputes with your dentist, if however they refuse to refund you then you can complain to the NHS Commissioning Board. All information is readily available on the NHS Website.
  
  Please also see below what treatments are covered by each band.
  
  Here is what each bands of treatment cover:
  
  Band 1 course of treatment: £18.50

• clinical examination, case assessment and report
• orthodontic case assessment and report
• advice, dental charting, diagnosis and treatment planning
• radiographic examination, including panoral and lateral headplates, and radiological report
• study casts including in association with occlusal analysis
• colour photographs
• instruction in the prevention of dental and oral disease including dietary advice and dental hygiene instruction
• surface application as primary preventive measures of sealants and topical fluoride preparations
• scaling, polishing and marginal correction of fillings
• taking material for pathological examination
• adjustments to and easing of dentures or orthodontic appliances
• treatment of sensitive cementum
  
  Band 2 course of treatment: £50.50

• non-surgical periodontal treatment including root-planing, deep scaling, irrigation of periodontal pockets and subgingival curettage and all necessary scaling and polishing
• surgical periodontal treatment, including gingivectomy, gingivoplasty or removal of an operculum
• surgical periodontal treatment, including raising and replacement of a mucoperiosteal flap, curettage, root planning and bone resection
• free gingival grafts
  permanent fillings in amalgam, composite resin, synthetic resin, glass ionomer, compomers, silicate or silico-phosphate, including acid etch retention
• sealant restorations
• endodontic treatment of permanent or retained deciduous teeth
• pulpotomy
• apicectomy
• extraction of teeth
• transplantation of teeth
• oral surgery including surgical removal of cyst, buried root, unerupted tooth, impacted tooth or exostosed tooth and alveolectomy
• soft tissue surgery in relation to the buccal cavity and lips
• frenectomy, frenuloplasty, frenotomy
• relining and rebasing dentures including soft linings
• addition of tooth, clasp, labial or buccal flange to dentures
• splints (other than laboratory made splints) in relation to periodontally compromised teeth and in connection with external trauma
• bite raising appliances (other than laboratory made appliances)
  
  Band 3 course of treatment: £219.00
  
  

• laboratory made porcelain or composite veneers, including acid etch retention
• inlays, pinlays, onlays and palatal veneers, in alloys containing 60% or more fine gold, porcelain, composite resin and ceramics
• crowns including any pin or post aids to retention:
  – full or three-quarter crown cast in alloys containing not less than 33⅓% fine gold or platinum or palladium
  – full or jacket crown cast in alloys containing stainless steel or cobalt chromium or nickel chromium
  – crown in porcelain, synthetic resin and other non-metallic crowns
  – full or jacket crowns in alloys containing not less than 33⅓% fine gold or platinum or palladium, or alloys containing stainless steel or cobalt chromium or nickel chromium, with thermally bonded porcelain
  – jacket crown thermally bonded to wrought platinum coping
  – prefabricated full or jacket crown, including any pin or post retention
• bridges including any pin or post aids to retention:
  – bridges in alloys containing 60% or more fine gold with or without thermally bonded facings
  – bridges cast in alloys containing stainless steel, cobalt chromium or nickel chromium, with or without thermally bonded facings
  – acid etch retained bridges
  – bridges in other materials
  – provision of full (completed) or partial dentures, overdentures and obturators in synthetic resin or metal or both synthetic resin and metal, including any cast or wrought metal components or aids to retention
  – orthodontic treatment and appliances
  – other custom made applications excluding sports guards

Laz123

Thanks, very useful to know. Thieving !!!!!!!s.

BlueSkyFool

Hi Laz you are very welcome, I also posted in the health, beauty and moneysaving section under household & travel, there is further info on there as Ive had some responses and clarified a few things which you may find interesting.

lulu_92

I think it's ridiculous that this has even become an issue! It's not right at all!

C_Mababejive

Are there any dentists listed on checkatrade or similar websites?

If not, perhaps this is the way forward. Encourage good dentists to list on such websites and then we the customer can decide which is the best value dentist for us?

geerex

Excellent post and very good to know. Thanks!

MarkBargain

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Are there any dentists listed on checkatrade or similar websites?

If not, perhaps this is the way forward. Encourage good dentists to list on such websites and then we the customer can decide which is the best value dentist for us?

Dentists can be rated on https://www.nhs.uk Start by clicking the dentists tab and typing your postcode into 'services near you'.

On the wider subject, I would report overcharging to my local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) so it can be investigated.

jaylee3

Thanks OP, but I have to say that the last time I went, I only had to pay the one amount. I had a checkup and had a small filling, and the dentist did it while I was there, and he also did a polish and scrape, and took X Rays to make sure that everything was OK inside my mouth. And I was charged the £50.

The last time I had anything done (before that,) was about 7 years ago, and I genuinely can't remember what happened then. But I think that in the past that I MAY have paid for the checkup (Band 1) and then paid for the Band 2 treatment too! But I can't be sure.

But I can see how easy it would be to pay your £18 for the check up, and then come back 2 weeks later for your filling(s) etc, and be charged the £50. It is wrong.

People do need to challenge their dentists about this! If someone is charged £18 for the checkup, then when they go back for their filling(s) etc, they should tell the dentist that they only owe £32.

It's a massive jump isn't it, from £50 to £219! :eek:

BlueSkyFool

Yes Jaylee its a worrying issue because it is very misleading, my folks are going to confront their dentist next week and I am hoping they are prepared to pay them a refund.


I have now managed to secure 7 refunds for work colleagues and family members now which is quite shocking and shows how common this is happening because people are simply unaware of their rights.


The moment you threaten to complain to the NHS Commissioning Board its funny how quickly you receive a refund, I believe that when more people start to realise the truth about the NHS Charges this is when we will start to see a steady decline in dentists accepting NHS Patients.


I think the proverbial may hit the fan and this is going to end up like the PPI scandal

brook2jack

jaylee3 wrote: »

The last time I had anything done (before that,) was about 7 years ago, and I genuinely can't remember what happened then. But I think that in the past that I MAY have paid for the checkup (Band 1) and then paid for the Band 2 treatment too! But I can't be sure.
:

Bandings of treatment only came in in 2006 and only in England and Wales. Prior to then you would have paid per item of treatment and bandings would not have applied.

esuhl

Huh. My dentist has been charging me separately to see the hygienist every six months... at £65 a time. Apparently that's what they recommend to everyone.

But I should be able to get a scale-and-polish included...? Very interesting...