NHS Dental charges

Undervalued

welshdent wrote: »

Regards a non strategic tooth. The sensible line would be yes, private. But I tend to err on the side of caution because you know the world we operate in now! common sense went a long time ago. Our indemnifiers would throw us under a bus. Personally I also do little NHS now too for these reasons!! Only the last couple of years but it is better for me personally

As I have said before in similar discussions I sympathise with the position NHS dentists find themselves in.

However that is not the patient's fault. They are ultimately entitled to their rights under the NHS and should not be given false / misleading information by the dentist for financial reasons.

Obviously we don't have enough details here to know if specialist treatment was actually needed. It is possible that this tooth, which could have been saved for £600, should actually have been saved for the same NHS fee that the patient paid for an extraction.

Toothsmith

What you say is right. But the most 'right' bit is that there are not enough details.

The OP's concern was that the emergency fee being separate from the Band 2 fee. This though was perfectly correct, and OP hasn't been back to raise any other issues, so was most likely happy with the (probably quite lengthy) discussions with his dentist about what treatment to have.

Undervalued

Toothsmith wrote: »

What you say is right. But the most 'right' bit is that there are not enough details.

The OP's concern was that the emergency fee being separate from the Band 2 fee. This though was perfectly correct, and OP hasn't been back to raise any other issues, so was most likely happy with the (probably quite lengthy) discussions with his dentist about what treatment to have.

Well he would be happy if he wasn't aware that a root treatment should (possibly) have been offered on the NHS for the same cost as the extraction.

The OP said......

I went for the extraction, as it's at the back of my mouth, and not really worth paying that money for

Which I read as wasn't worth c. £540 extra to him. That doesn't mean he wouldn't have preferred it for c. sixty quid! So it all hinges on whether it was within the capabilities of a non specialist dentist or not.

Of course if the same chap in the same surgery was willing to do it for 600 quid but not for the NHS fee then he is a very naughty boy indeed!

Toothsmith

Undervalued wrote: »

Of course if the same chap in the same surgery was willing to do it for 600 quid but not for the NHS fee then he is a very naughty boy indeed!

If the tooth was necessary for the OP's ongoing dental health, and the dentist said it needed root filling, but he was not prepared to do it on the NHS - then he is a very naughty boy.

But we don't need every molar in our head, and the NHS actively discourages molar endo on non-essential teeth. Both by the poor price it pays and also in demanding to see patient notes, and clawing back fees if a particular dentist has a prescribing profile outside the norm, and treatments cannot be justified.

So - I would still have the position that from the info given, this particular dentist is most likely to be operating within the rules rather than fraudulently.

System

That is what it sounded like. I was told the NHS root canal work mostly likely wouldn't work, but I'd I paid private it would be a much higher chance..

Toothsmith

Vim_Fuego wrote: »

That is what it sounded like. I was told the NHS root canal work mostly likely wouldn't work, but I'd I paid private it would be a much higher chance..

If he was saying that if he did it on NHS it probably wouldn't work, but if he did it privately it would be a much higher chance (as opposed to you paying a specialist to do it privately) Then Undervalued is correct - he has been pretty naughty.

System

It was a she, but yes, the NHS version of the treatment she would do had a low success rate, but the private option she could do would be higher.

I naively assumed it was a different procedure, bit it sounds like they are upto no good.

This is a new dentist taking over my existing practice that I have been with for years with no problems. Now it's all changed, it's all about private work, it appears they are trying to get rid of NHS patients.

Undervalued

Vim_Fuego wrote: »

It was a she, but yes, the NHS version of the treatment she would do had a low success rate, but the private option she could do would be higher.

I naively assumed it was a different procedure, bit it sounds like they are upto no good.

This is a new dentist taking over my existing practice that I have been with for years with no problems. Now it's all changed, it's all about private work, it appears they are trying to get rid of NHS patients.

Well in that case the dentist appears to have behaved most unprofessionally and should be strung up by the molars!!

It sounds as if you have lost a tooth that could potentially have been saved because a "professional" has behaved totally unethically and bent the rules for selfish financial reasons.

The dentists on here will blame the system (with considerable justification) but ultimately whilst that individual was working within that system (their choice) they have a legal, moral and ethical duty to do their best for their patient.

I would strongly suggest you make a formal complaint to the GDC.

Toothsmith

I don't blame the system! I once the evidence is there, I call things for what they are. I just don't leap to conclusions.

Now - it depends what you want to achieve from the complaint.

If you want something that will go on for years, then go GDC first. It probably will end up with quite severe sanctions for the dentist - but it will take a long time to get there. You wouldn't get anything out of that anyway. You'd need to take separate action for that.

The way to complain would initially be to go to the practice. They would be pretty worried about it escalating - so you may well get a satisfactory resolution going their and using their in-house complaints system first.

If this doesn't work, - then the local area NHS team would be the next place to complain to. They would investigate it, and if deemed necessary, and part of a pattern of behaviour, then they would probably send it to the GDC anyway.

AliceBanned

Slightly hijacking this thread but it was of interest to me because recently I had an abscess and took no action - it cleared up on antibiotics from my GP.


The NHS dentist I went to said it needed root canal and outlined the costs NHS, private with her, private with a specialist. I asked her the difference between NHS and private treatment and she said it was 'the materials used'. Seemed a bit vague and it has calmed down for now but if it returns I will need to go ahead with some kind of treatment and still have no idea of the best option as I don't like the idea of root canal at all. It is a molar.