Will I be chased over £5 of debt?

CAPTAINBLONDECHICK

Reya wrote: »

My dentist certainly doesn't. They offer both private and NHS services. Their private fee for a small x-ray is £9.50 and for a large x-ray it's £22.75.

The basic NHS charges for all dentists are:

Emergency dental treatment – £18.80

Band 1 course of treatment – £18.80
This covers an examination, diagnosis (including X-rays), advice on how to prevent future problems, a scale and polish if clinically needed, and preventative care such as the application of fluoride varnish or fissure sealant if appropriate.

Band 2 course of treatment – £51.30
This covers everything listed in Band 1 above, plus any further treatment such as fillings, root canal work or removal of teeth but not more complex items covered by Band 3.

Band 3 course of treatment – £222.50
This covers everything listed in Bands 1 and 2 above, plus crowns, dentures, bridges and other laboratory work.

[ Source ]

So I've no idea where the OP's dentist is getting their scale of charges, but it's certainly a weird one.

I think that scale only relates to England. It definitely does not relate to NI, but even at that, I don't think there is even anything on the NI scale as low as £5. A check up is £6.xx so I'd imagine that would be the lowest

EDIT: I stand corrected! Taken from NI Direct site:-

"If you are not entitled to free treatment or help with the cost of treatment then you are required to pay a charge for Health Service dental services. The charge is 80 per cent of the dentist’s fee up to a maximum of £384. The table below gives some examples of typical treatment charges.

Examples of Health Service dental charges
Dental treatment/ service Price
Examination (basic – extensive) from £6.68 to £20.96
One x-ray £3.26
Two x-rays £4.64
Simple scale and polish £10.58
Amalgam fillings from £7.12 to £18.32
White fillings (mainly front teeth only with Health Service) from £13.51 to £35.46
Root filling molar £80.35
Root filling premolar from £44.97 to £52.14
Root filling incisor or canine £37.61
White crown on front tooth from £69.48 to £105.87
Metal crown on back tooth from £71.03 to £92.24
Simple extraction from £6.59 to £39.73
Surgical extraction from £18.32 to £45.38
Full upper and lower denture £145.07
One full denture £90.53
One partial denture from £56.78 to £89.51
Denture repairs Free"

mcjordi

tbh if you dont pay it they could just turn round and say we no longer want you as a patient...

fatbelly

mcjordi wrote: »

tbh if you dont pay it they could just turn round and say we no longer want you as a patient...

At those prices I'd stay with them!

hackneysteve

I am moving house anyway so I don't want to go back to them. The dentist did ask if I minded if she did an x-ray but I thought she was asking in case of a health reason

Then afterwards the receptionist said we're charging you because an x-ray is therapy, only a check up is free. I said I didn't know an x-ray was therapy I thought it was part of the check-up. She said well it's not, I said I didn't know, she said well it is.

I want to complain to the NHS but I fear that might confirm the debt issue at a higher level, meaning I'd have to then pay. Maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie but then again they shouldn't be doing that

[Deleted User]

£5??? are you serious?? pay it,its less than a packet of cigs or 2 pints of beer.....

Movingon5464

I agree with woodbine - just pay it ! I know it seems unfair they didn't tell you there would be a cost before they did it but for the sake of £5 save yourself the stress and time you could waste fighting this - life is too short.

StrugglingYouth

Just pay it. Isnt worth any of your time at all. Even in the time it took you to write the OP you could have earned it..

Suggest to them you will pay it when your wage comes in at the end of August?

redux

hackneysteve wrote: »

I am moving house anyway so I don't want to go back to them. The dentist did ask if I minded if she did an x-ray but I thought she was asking in case of a health reason

Then afterwards the receptionist said we're charging you because an x-ray is therapy, only a check up is free. I said I didn't know an x-ray was therapy I thought it was part of the check-up. She said well it's not, I said I didn't know, she said well it is.

I want to complain to the NHS but I fear that might confirm the debt issue at a higher level, meaning I'd have to then pay. Maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie but then again they shouldn't be doing that

Of course it's not therapy.

They spent thousands of pounds on an X-ray machine for the sole purpose of ripping off gullible people.

katejo

StrugglingYouth wrote: »

Just pay it. Isnt worth any of your time at all. Even in the time it took you to write the OP you could have earned it..

Suggest to them you will pay it when your wage comes in at the end of August?

I would just pay it. Perhaps you will be removed from their NHS treatment list if you don't pay up? That could be very expensive.

Pinklemonade

I work as a dental nurse and, although im unfamiliar with how things differ in N.I, in my practice an outstanding debt WILL be passed on to a debt collector even if only for a few pounds. The patient will also be de registered from the practice meaning they will need to find a new NHS practice, which is not always easy as practice's are not obliged to take on new NHS patients and will also sometimes ask if you are, or have been, registered with another NHS practice and your reasons for leaving.
NHS and GDC guidelines make it compulsory for all pratices to clearly display both their private and NHS fees. Providing this is done, the dentists themselves are under no legal obligation to discuss fees prior to treatment (though most do out of courtesy). So long as the practice in question has displayed their fees (usually in reception or the waiting room) and the debtist has obtained consent for treatment then they've done nothing wrong and complaing to the NHS, GDC or PCT will be pointless.
Think about it, do supermarkets remind you of the price of every single item AFTER you've decided to buy it even though the price was clearly displayed at the time of purchase??