Dentist - check up frequency

brook2jack

miller wrote: »

They'd better sift out the Haribo addicts then

And therein lies the problem.

Dentists are not allowed to refuse to treat someone who needs a lot of treatment. So they will be paid the same for someone who only needs one filling as someone who needs 10 fillings, root canal treatment, treatment of gum disease etc.

In truth a dentist loses so much money treating the haribo addict they would be better off paying them £20 to go elsewhere.

This is why 85% of practices fail to hit their treatment targets (units of dental activity) every year and end up repaying huge sums. Each year fewer and fewer practices hit their targets and repay more and more money , whilst each year the costs of running a practice increase exponentially.

A conservative estimate is it costs around £120 an hour to run each surgery/room in a dental practice in a cheap area. The practice gets no grants to pay for equipment,staff,training,materials etc except what it earns per patient seen.

geriann

Mee wrote: »

I normally follow the advice of the NHS Choices:
"How often should I have a dental check-up?

After your check-up, your dentist will recommend a date for your next visit. The time to your next check-up could be as short as three months or as long as two years (or up to one year if you're under 18).
Generally, the lower your risk of dental problems, the longer you can wait before your next check-up. So people with good oral health will probably need to attend only once every 12 to 24 months, but those with more problems will need check-ups more often. "

it's interesting to see what NHS Choices says & to read that everybody's dentist says different time-lengths between appointments.

for as long as i can remember my dentist has said see her every 6 months. she says the same to my parents.

jenniewb

I think you'd get a clearer answer from the surgery receptionists- I'd be more concerned that (if it were me) I'd be deleted from the systems if I didn't show at least once every 2years- though some may have this as a year and I suppose you'd only know by asking.


Having said that, I'd be wanting to visit at least once a year and ideally every 6 months if my teeth were OK. With appointments and waiting lists for work to be done etc the last thing you want is to find you have something which isn't an emergency but requires an appointment and you have to wait weeks before an appointment then a further few weeks for work to be carried out.


At my surgery we get a text reminder AND a letter written if it's been 6 months, though due to other commitments I've let that slip in the past before making an appointment because I needed it and they couldn't find me on the system- I don't know if this was a technical glitch (there were new systems put in between my appointments) or if they'd thought I wasn't coming back.


I know London is different and finding an NHS dentist isn't so tricky here but have heard of other areas where people queue for miles and come from miles and miles away when a new NHS dentist is registered. If you know this is going to be a situation you'd end up without a dentist, please don't end up excommunicated!

welshdent

Miller I drive a skoda. What's your point?

Dentist earns money for doing the job they are trained to do. Front page shocker.