NHS dentists-now like a needle in a haystack.

Witless

martin57 wrote: »

Hi Toothsmith,

Thank you very much for your reply. Its good to hear it from the horses mouth so should I rephrase that from the dentists mouth ...lol.

I was just wondering if you give us an indication of what you would consider a fair charge (private patient) for say (1) examination (2) filling (3) Tooth extraction (4) scale and polish.

Now I'm not asking for your specific charges but rather maybe the average of what other dentists you know might charge.

The reason I am asking is that then I can compare the extra costs involved to probably the better care I might get, with shorter frequency between appointments. Present is 6-8 weeks.

Hope you can give us some idea on this and thanks again.

martin57

*gulp*

I've just read Toothsmith's reply.

I'm glad I live in the sticks!

Rang my dental practice (mentioned previously) last Wednesday, first appoint available was today. In 'discomfort' - so accepted.

Receptionist rang my mobile about 45 mins later to offer me 5:10 pm the next day with a dentist that wasn't my normal one (she'd noted my number when I rang.). We have to have our mobiles turned off at work so didn't get her but she left a message. She then rang my wife at home to make sure I got the message. (They were 'holding' the appointment for me till 9:30 am next morning.)

Wife accepted on my behalf.

Treatment - examination, 2 x X-rays, 1 x extraction, 1 x filling 'smoothed' off, 1 x new filling, scale & polish.

Cost (remember - everything completed inside 27 hrs of first phone call!) - £117. (No 'individual' breakdown given.)

Considered a 'private dental plan' & rang next day to a) thank the receptionist for the trouble she took & b) ask if they recommended any particular plan.

"No Witless" she said "we don't; if someone has one we honour it but we find it every bit as good if we charge reasonable rates, that way everybody wins: smaller bills but more frequent visits for 'routine' maintenance"

'Private' may be wee bit dearer but I definitely think I'm on a winner!

Toothsmith

You see - there is big variation in the 'private' market.

Asking for an 'average' can be a bit like asking how much a meal costs at a resturant.

There are all sorts of resturants at all sorts of price points.

The thing with dentistry is the cost should be proportionate to the amount of time you get and the service you receive.

Dental practices in the same area will have similar running costs, staff costs etc, therefore the cheaper places will probably have a bit higher throughput, so a bit less time spent on explainations, discussions etc.

Sounds like you have a practice with v. good customer care there witless.

rjh090384

well in the dentist i work from memory the charges are:

We quote that for first exam would be £30 that would include exam, clean and polish and x-rays and you would probably pay about the smae for your check up.

White fillings start from about £50 obviously depending where they are

cant remember how much extraction is.

these are private costs but we do have a waiting list for nhs patients which is about 3 months at the minute i think.

Witless

Toothsmith wrote: »

Sounds like you have a practice with v. good customer care there witless.

Yup!:D

But it cuts both ways - 3 adults in the household, no 'timewasting', prompt payment etc etc.
(We seem to pay less than friends who would have a tendancy to 'miss' appointments etc - there's never an 'itemised' bill but because the rates are reasonable, you don't need one.)

When we're booking 'routine maintenance' stuff we're flexible to a month either way. (We get our reminders about a month before the 'due' date, if we haven't made an appointment by a fortnight after the 'due' date the receptionist makes a provisional one (obviously suitable to the practice) at roughly the normal time we go.)

Small provincial town, established practice, semi retired 'main' practioner, couple of junior partners after a living rather than a fortune.

Cee

I had lapsed in my check ups a few years and went back to the dentist with a chronic toothace, i had been walking the walls all night. I was told re register under nhs but wait 6 weeks for an appointment or go private, I had to pay £25 just for him to check out the problem and after he pulled the tooth and gave me some antibiotics for the infection the next bill came to just over a hundred quid.

Next time its the pliers!

Teerah

arkonite_babe wrote: »

AFAICR, teerah and toothsmith are both dentists. teerah is from NI, so hopefully she will see this query and be able to answer it for you

Sorry guys, just seeing this thread now

I think everything has been covered above. The only thing I would add would be that it will be increasingly difficult to find an NHS dentist in Northern Ireland. Many towns have alrready converted their fee-paying NHS patients to private. Many will have heard of the new dental contract imposed in England and Wales last year. A new contract is currently being drawn up for Northern Ireland too and although we have been promised that it will not repeat the mistakes of the Eng/Wales fiasco, in reality it is unlikely to be much different. There is no spare cash lying round to be injected into NHS dentistry and lots of practices are converting now rather than waiting for a contract that will be to the detriment of all involved.

In reality though, private dentistry is probably not as expensive as widely thought. Yes, there will be some expensive practices but with a little searching and recommendation you should be able to find a practice that treats you well and does not charge the earth.

It is unwise to ask for average prices though, you would be better to contact your practice and ask how much treatments cost. For comparision, our practice charges £33 for a new patient exam, £27 for a scale and polish, £35-£60 for fillings and £40 for extractions.

Jaime-V

My dentist went private (on the outskirts of BElfast) I was gutted as I felt very comfortable with them, the charges are £15 a month and that gets you 2 exams and 2 hygienst visits a year and then 20% off treatment.

But I wanted some crowns replaced (well they needed done) for a front tooth it was £495 and a pre molar £295. White pre molar filling was £85. Personally I could not afford this as you could not pay this off by DD over a few months, it had to be paid in full before the treatment was finished.

I found another dentist down the road and they took me on and got the work done on nhs for just under £400 as had to get a root canal as well. This was a lot of money too but I was just glad to get it done. Though they had indicated that they will be going private very soon too.

I just don't know what to do for the best, I do 'miss' my old dentist but I couldn't afford the prices. Do any dentists let you pay off over a few months by DD or anything if you need a lot of treatment?

knowledgeman are you in NI, if yes would you PM your dentist name? please?

Can anyone recommend a dentist in North Belfast/Newtownabbey/Carrickfergus areas that has a better plan than my original dentist?

Any replies appreciated. PM if you dont want to say on board. Thanks )

Teerah

Knowledgmans prices are not necessarily those that you would have to pay Jaime-V. There is a sliding scale of charges based on the amount of work you have had done in the past and therefore are likely to need in the future. You could pay it off over so many months with a 0% credit card though?

Jaime-V

Thanks Teerah for the reply:D See what you mean about the charges. I have just cleared and cut back my CC limit, I really dont want to put anything big on there again in the future (if poss) The one im at now only accepts cash and cheque too! I think I might go and have another chat with my original dentist.

life isnt easy:rotfl:

Toothsmith

Teerah wrote: »

we have been promised that it will not repeat the mistakes of the Eng/Wales fiasco, in reality it is unlikely to be much different.

The England/Wales fiasco??? Good Lord Teerah, who on earth said that!! All the health ministers over here think it's been fantastically successful!

Welcome to life outside the NHS. Another few months and you'll be wishing you'd done it years ago! Good luck.