Dentistry = Highway robbery

Parisien

Story goes like this.....

Holiday in France, 2nd last evening, thought I have a big bit of grit in my mouth whilst eating...turns out to be the gold filling plus side of a single tooth had come away.

Waited 1 month for an appointment....no one taking NHS patients any more in my home town.

Appointment for 4.pm....called at 4.02pm.

Initial assessment, everything else ok, 2 mins prep work with drill, 11 mins work, gluing said parts back onto original tooth, no other materials used nor x-ray etc......13 mins work, 1 minute pleasantries.

Bill £94...for private care.

Seems reasonable too you.......?

Greentea

Maybe you should try this?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=5955673#post5955673

Nutty_Tart

Uh oh! I had a lot of work done 2 years ago (fixed braces - should have been done when I was a child, but thats another story!) Fixed braces been off for over a year and have a bonded retainer behind my teeth to 'keep' them there and stop them from moving back. Bonded retainer has broken and some teeth have moved - got to go tomorrow - Do I need to defrost the credit card?????

DKLS

Parisien wrote: »

Story goes like this.....

Holiday in France, 2nd last evening, thought I have a big bit of grit in my mouth whilst eating...turns out to be the gold filling plus side of a single tooth had come away.

Waited 1 month for an appointment....no one taking NHS patients any more in my home town.

Appointment for 4.pm....called at 4.02pm.

Initial assessment, everything else ok, 2 mins prep work with drill, 11 mins work, gluing said parts back onto original tooth, no other materials used nor x-ray etc......13 mins work, 1 minute pleasantries.

Bill £94...for private care.

Seems reasonable too you.......?

Actually not too bad, think about all the other costs, rent, rates, light, heat, staff, insurance, equipment, maintenance etc the list is endless.

Personally I want a well paid happy dentist routing round my mouth, not someone worring about the mortage getting paid, I am happy to pay for a skilled service.

Parisien

DKLA...sorry...but it doesn't stack up, means they value their labour/work at £360 an hour.......joke!

Quite happy to have paid £40-50, I just think their book of tariffs/fees is a license to print money, yet again rip off (N) Ireland!

PS See thread on N Ireland in poverty!!! Now I know why!

Witless

Parisien wrote: »

DKLA...sorry...but it doesn't stack up, means they value their labour/work at £360 an hour.......joke!

Not quite - did you consider

VAT - the dentist was providing a service & VAT is payable
there was more than one person involved (I assume) - dentist / assistant / receptionist
premises - either rent or purchase
rates
electricity
insurance
equipment

to mention but a few.

£360 ph assumes a revolving door system, even if this was the case the profit is far from £360 ph.

I'm registered as an NHS patient but go privately; I get my appointments when I want; he does Thur evening sessions from 6:30 - 8:30 and completes the work (if any needed) in one session rather than 15 min appointments spread over several weeks; if there is 'pain' involved as opposed to 'routine' he will see you on the same day.

My largest bill has been under £100 for multiple work; an extraction & 'cosmetic clean' was £57; routine check ups / 'cosmetic cleans' are in the £35 region. He rarely takes X rays (exttra cost - but always 'essential' when on an NHS appt) preferring to do manual / visual checks.

My son (in the way of all 22 year olds) had let his registration lapse; an emergency appointment on the day of contact was £68.

When you consider the pain relief when required, the convenience etc - I think it's good value.

(Obviously, in the sticks the rates are probably different to the city)

Toothsmith

Witless wrote: »

Not quite - did you consider

VAT - the dentist was providing a service & VAT is payable
there was more than one person involved (I assume) - dentist / assistant / receptionist
premises - either rent or purchase
rates
electricity
insurance
equipment

to mention but a few.

£360 ph assumes a revolving door system, even if this was the case the profit is far from £360 ph.

I'm registered as an NHS patient but go privately; I get my appointments when I want; he does Thur evening sessions from 6:30 - 8:30 and completes the work (if any needed) in one session rather than 15 min appointments spread over several weeks; if there is 'pain' involved as opposed to 'routine' he will see you on the same day.

My largest bill has been under £100 for multiple work; an extraction & 'cosmetic clean' was £57; routine check ups / 'cosmetic cleans' are in the £35 region. He rarely takes X rays (exttra cost - but always 'essential' when on an NHS appt) preferring to do manual / visual checks.

My son (in the way of all 22 year olds) had let his registration lapse; an emergency appointment on the day of contact was £68.

When you consider the pain relief when required, the convenience etc - I think it's good value.

(Obviously, in the sticks the rates are probably different to the city)

Very well informed post - with the one exception that VAT isn't payable on dental treatment.

As I sometimes say to the more irksome patients - it's not the 10 minutes in the chair you've just paid for - it's the 20 years it's taken me to have that chair there and for me to be up here knowing what I'm doing!

Another thing - I like many dentists have more than one rate for my time.

(A bit like budget airlines on their plane seats)

The BEST rate is for my regular patients who turn up regularly - take my advice, and work in partnership with me in order to provide the best dental care that we can.

There is a higher rate for those that just turn up when something goes wrong, and expect me to be there to fix it.

Visitors or holidaymakers where I live may be charged the lower rate or the higher scale depending on whether I rate them as the category 1 or category 2 patients.

The highest rate is for the complete pain in the bums who moan like bu££ary at everything I say, do nothing that I suggest, give my reception staff a hard time if I can't see them NOW - even though they failed their last two appointments 10 years ago - and it's now the tooth that needed that tiny filling that is broken in two and giving them sleepless nights.

With them, I think of a number, and multiply it!!

They either pi$$ off and bother someone else, or pay me so much that I really don't mind looking in their festering gobs anymore!!

I would suggest Parisien that you fell into the 'Irregular but OK' category here.

If you start going regularly to the dentist, you may well find rates falling a bit, and your time in the surgery increasing (You were after all, probably just squeezed in).

If your next visit isn't until something else falls out/off - then you may well find your dental costs steadily rising!!

Witless

Toothsmith wrote: »

Very well informed post - with the one exception that VAT isn't payable on dental treatment.

Not well informed obviously - I just assumed the govt took every opportunity to screw us.

Toothsmith wrote: »

Another thing - I like many dentists have more than one rate for my time.

(A bit like budget airlines on their plane seats)

The BEST rate is for my regular patients who turn up regularly - take my advice, and work in partnership with me in order to provide the best dental care that we can.

I had a notion something of this type came into it, if we ring for non routine - there's always space; and the price of 'routine' certainly hasn't gone up, it seems to have fallen.

Realistically - it's a business, the 3 of us are fairly reliable no hassle repeat customers.

Parisien

Gee, if I had of known I needed to bring the dentist a bottle of champagne to get him to treat me professionally and not rip me off then I would have done so!

So you run a semi-sophisticated cost grid with....regularity, manners, length of time at practice, nice to receptionist, etc up one side...and what multiple can I charge them up the other.......sorry...not buying it, nor is it acceptable!

I was introduced to the practice by a neighbour, turned up before my time, was courteous at all times, thanked them profusely..............and I live in the sticks!!

There goes your theory!

tonytooth

He rarely takes X rays (exttra cost - but always 'essential' when on an NHS appt) preferring to do manual / visual checks.

hi folks, don't wanna get into the rip-off dentistry debate at the minute, don't have half an hour!
i just wanted to point out that if your dentist is taking routine, quality xrays as per professional guidelines, he is doing you a favour.. better to pick up that cavity when it is small than to leave it until it is detectable "manually/visually"... better for your teeth, your wallet and your dentist..

tony

Teerah

Parisien, just out of interest, where is your home town??