Dental advice

jo6677

Hi all

My partner visited the NHS dentist 2 weeks ago. All was well but he was advised to have a hygienist appointment. He went 10 days ago. A couple of days later he felt unwell and we thought it was a cold. He found a lump on his jaw yesterday and went back to the dentist who spent 5 minutes looking and said he had 2 abscesses and was prescribed antibiotics. They also want to charge him £25 excluding prescription for the 5 minute appointment. Given that he had already paid £50 for the hygienist which most likely caused the abscesses, is this unfair or am I just being moany?!!

McKneff

a hygeinist wouldnt cause an abcess

How much was his first visit to the dentist.

£50 for a hygienst is OTT if he is an NHS patient, is he nhs or private, please clarify.

The abcesses would be being treated as a completely different thing, hence the cost.

sheramber

The hygienist would be a private appointment so not part of NHS.

jo6677

Hi, it's an NHS practice. First appointment was roundabout £30. There were no probs detected. The hygienist in the same practice was £49. If they are a bit too vigorous and irritate the gums they can cause infections albeit not common. Coupled with no signs of any problems confirmed by the dentist on his check up a couple of days beforehand. Just seems a bit expensive.

McKneff

the check up should be around £23, a band A

Hygienist should also be this amount, at least our dental practice charges a bank b

Tell him to ask for a breakdown on charges.

Practices are usually a mixture of NHS and private clients.
My Dentist is BUPA (private) but take on NHS patienst
Tell him to ask if he is on the NHS list.

NHS has 3 bands

Band 1, 2 and 3. Google it to find out what each band covers;

jo6677

Will do. Thank you

pollypenny

I won't use the hygienist at at our practice. She's far too rough and rather rude, anyway.

My dentist says my teeth are great and my brushing is excellent.

sheramber

If the practice uses a private hygienist NHS charges do not apply.

It appears that you husband was charged for an emergency appointment as his previous course of treatment/checkup was finished.

welshdent

A hygienist can not cause an abscess. An abscess is caused by an infection with bacteria usually. A dental abscess is caused by decay in to the pulp chamber or a fracture exposing it. a periodontal abscess is caused by accumilations of plaque under the gum. A hygienist would be TREATING that not causing it because they are physically removing the plaque. It was probably coincidence and bad luck that it flared up around the same time.

worried123

welshdent wrote: »

A hygienist can not cause an abscess. An abscess is caused by an infection with bacteria usually. A dental abscess is caused by decay in to the pulp chamber or a fracture exposing it. a periodontal abscess is caused by accumilations of plaque under the gum. A hygienist would be TREATING that not causing it because they are physically removing the plaque. It was probably coincidence and bad luck that it flared up around the same time.

I do agree with this post completely. I pay £50 to see the hygeinist...private....but had i seen my private dentist regarding an abscess etc i dont think they would have charged me anything for just looking at it.

Either way - hope it clears up soon....please take every single antibiotic prescribed...i imagine your partner was feeling quite unwell with this.