Dental advice please

peachyprice

Blue_Mermaid wrote: »

Thanks Peachyprice.

He said the fee for the consultation is £55 and the fee for the specialist is £350 for the first appointment. Maybe the £350 includes some treatment. I don't know.

I would have thought it would include a fair old whack of treatment for that price! Maybe x-rays etc.,? My daughter had the consult and a good clean under the gum line for £55, luckily she didn't need any other treatment, so I don't know what else your £400 might include.

peachyprice

brook2jack wrote: »

I don't know of any periodontist who charges as little as £55 for a first consultation. A periodontist is a dentist who has a post graduate qualification in periodontics (gum health) . A first consultation would take at least 45 mins to an hour and will require x rays etc. most will charge £180 to £200 ish for a first consultation .

Well I do, that is what I paid. And yes I do know what a peridontist is, and that is exactly who we saw. I don't know why you felt the need to clarify when I'd already said we'd seen a peridonist, do you think I was confused?

It was a 45 min consult appointment with a clean.

brook2jack

Considering a room in a dental surgery costs £150 an hour to run in a cheap location , considerably more in a major city centre, at £55 for 45 minutes the periodontist is running at an enormous loss .

It also has to be said that initial consults without treatment take at least 45 minutes to an hour , as loss of attachment charts alone mean 6 measurements need to be taken for every tooth , x rays take time to report on and even going through medical and dental history takes time. I'm amazed all of this was fitted in along with treatment in 45minutes , even more so that the periodontist was willing to do this at a large financial loss.

The average surgery charges £60 to £120+ for 45 minutes just with the hygienist so you can see how I am puzzled £55 pays for 45 minutes in a periodontists surgery.

This is an example of charges that are nearer to the norm http://www.mvdentalgroup.co.uk/periodontal-gum-disease-information.htm

Toothsmith

Blue_Mermaid wrote: »

Thanks Toothsmith.

My worry with seeing the hygienist first though, is that I haven't seen a dentist for years. So, I felt a thorough check-up first was advisable, so that all problems can be diagnosed, not only gum disease.

It is much easier to assess clean teeth, than those coated in x years of plaque and tartar!

The hygienist will not remove any problems, or make anything harder to spot, by removing old food & bacteria!

Toothsmith

peachyprice wrote: »

£400 to see a peridontist? Really? It's £55 for a first consult at the practice I go to. I would shop around if I were you.

My daughter saw her recently, it was worth every penny, she knew so much more about gums than my dentist. Although my dentist was aware that there was something not right with my daughters gums and that it wasn't disease or poor hygiene, the peridontist knew what it was straight away.

I must say - this sounds to me more like a re-branded hygienist than a periodontal specialist dentist.

I don't know any periodontist who's charges have been that low. It was always dearer than that, even when I qualified in the late 80s!

Also - I don't know a periodontist who would do the cleaning themselves. They send it on to the hygienists for that bit.

peachyprice

brook2jack wrote: »

Considering a room in a dental surgery costs £150 an hour to run in a cheap location , considerably more in a major city centre, at £55 for 45 minutes the periodontist is running at an enormous loss .

It also has to be said that initial consults without treatment take at least 45 minutes to an hour , as loss of attachment charts alone mean 6 measurements need to be taken for every tooth , x rays take time to report on and even going through medical and dental history takes time. I'm amazed all of this was fitted in along with treatment in 45minutes , even more so that the periodontist was willing to do this at a large financial loss.

The average surgery charges £60 to £120+ for 45 minutes just with the hygienist so you can see how I am puzzled £55 pays for 45 minutes in a periodontists surgery.

This is an example of charges that are nearer to the norm http://www.mvdentalgroup.co.uk/periodontal-gum-disease-information.htm

This is a peridontist at my surgery, not a separate practice. She is there once a week, sometimes twice. I can't say how much my dentist charges the peridontist for a room, but I can tell you that the hygienist is nowhere near £60 -£120 either, so I'm guessing not as much as £150.

She didn't have to do x-rays etc., it's all there in my daughters dental records, they were done by the dentist 2 weeks before.

What can I say, I paid what I paid, whether or not they're making any money isn't really my concern, the fact that she was able to diagnose my daughter and will give the required treatment at the appropriate time is.

brook2jack

This is an excellent overview of periodontal disease and what a periodontist might do http://www.surbitonsmile.co.uk/Periodontal_Treatment

peachyprice

Toothsmith wrote: »

I must say - this sounds to me more like a re-branded hygienist than a periodontal specialist dentist.

I don't know any periodontist who's charges have been that low. It was always dearer than that, even when I qualified in the late 80s!

Also - I don't know a periodontist who would do the cleaning themselves. They send it on to the hygienists for that bit.

OK yes, I'm stupid, my daughter didn't see a peridontist I got it all wrong, she didn't clean her teeth for her and I didn't pay £55. Is that better? Maybe I dreamt the whole thing?

Jesus.

Blue_Mermaid

Toothsmith wrote: »

It is much easier to assess clean teeth, than those coated in x years of plaque and tartar!

The hygienist will not remove any problems, or make anything harder to spot, by removing old food & bacteria!

What if the problems I have now are not due to gum disease? The teeth that are loose are hurting. What if I have an absess or something else? Shouldn't that be diagnosed now? Will the hygienist be able to diagnose such things?

brook2jack

Since around two years ago patients are able to access hygienists directly. They can , to a limited extent, diagnose . More recently qualified hygienists are dual qualified as therapists , that is they can do simple fillings, x rays etc without an input from a dentist. This , of course, only applies to private treatment at the moment. On the NHS you have to see a dentist first and dental therapists tend to work mostly in community dental clinics, although some NHS surgeries do use them.

It is up to you which you would prefer to see first .