Dentists

McKneff

My dentist charges the same for a check up from him or a visit to the hygienist, ie band 1 NHS

System

My dentist charged band 2 approx. £50 for a check up ,x ray, root extraction and a scale and polish.

techno12

My dentist used to charge £100 every six months too for a check-up and hygienist visit.

I changed to an NHS one and it's £18 for the check-up and £35 for the hygienist.

Also, the frequency of my appointments has changed last year after the dentist said "9 months from now on".

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/apr/11/british-dentists-breach-contracts-appointments

It says there is "good evidence" this is happening, despite guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Health (NIHCH) from 2004. It ended the traditional six-month checks for adults and suggested they could be extended to two years. Rules based on the guidance were introduced for dentists two years later. Practices have had to record recommended recall intervals for their patients in the last year."Some dentists in England are seeing patients more than they need to, in breach of their government contracts, according to a Department of Health briefing.

I guess the better your oral health, the less frequent the appointments, in theory. I bet a lot of practices stick to the traditional "every 6 months" regardless.

brook2jack

It is important to know that there is no scientific evidence behind the recommendation that checks ups can be up to two year intervals. This recommendation was made to free up capacity to allow more people to be seen by a nhs dentist without the government spending any more money.

One of the important checks a dentist does is for oral cancer , which is one of the cancers showing the greatest increase in numbers and decrease in age in the UK ( in my area rates of oral cancer are the same or greater than cervical cancer) The recommendations is every one including those with no teeth should attend a dentist at least once a year because of this http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/mouth-cancer/about/screening-for-mouth-cancer

Some people will need three monthly check ups (children with decay , adults with decay, gum disease problems). 6 month check ups , minimum, are the standard in the rest of the world.

nearlyrich

My NHS dentist includes a scale and polish with the £18 ish NHS charge I just had an emergency appointment which was an x ray and diagnosis of an abscess which will need either double root canal or extraction and this will be covered by the £50 ish charge I paid then as will my schedules check up and clean this week. I am not looking forward to the treatment but at least my dentist is not charging as much as some seem to.

DD265

My NHS dentist will also do a scale and polish as part of the routine check up.

However for a more thorough clean, she would recommend the hygienist which is private and about £40.

Cyberman60

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

There is no reason at all why not visiting a dentist on a regular basis must automatically lead to halitosis or any other similar condition.

Provided good oral and dental hygiene is practiced, keeping a healthy mouth is something that can be accomplished without having to fork out for scheduled checks provided that professional help was sought as and when required.

So true. I keep my teeth in good order by brushing every day and flossing once a week. I've been three times in the past nine years:

in 2006 to be advised I needed root canal treatment for 600 quid which I declined (antibiotics cleared up my toothache).

in 2012 to have a check-up on a split tooth for 15 quid (private surgery but under NHS) and then a month later to have it removed in an NHS surgery for no extra cost.