Dental Charges Advice please

Allie26

Hi, just wanted some advice on dental charges please. I had to go to Dentist today (26th Feb) as my filling fell out on the weekend so he replaced it for me and I was charged £62.10.  I have a check up appointment due on 30th April which I will have to pay £22.70 (maybe more if the prices increase!)  My question is if I can get my check up before the 26th April would the check up cost be covered under the £62.10 Band 2 payment I made today?  As I understand that treatment within 2 months can be covered under the one payment. Obviously normally the check up would be before the filling, so not sure if it still works the other way round. The receptionist at the Dentist wasn't very helpful when I tried to ask her, she just said I would have to pay again

Undervalued

Hopefully one of the helpful dentists will reply.

However my understanding is your dentist is wrong! Either it was a one off emergency repair which should have cost you £22.70, or it was part of a course of treatment which (band 2) would be £62.10. In which case any other necessary treatment that falls within band two should be done at no extra cost within the two month period.

brook2jack2

Actually you will have to pay for the check up. The band two charge has to include an assesment so your routine check up will be part of a new course of treatment.

Undervalued

brook2jack2 said:

Actually you will have to pay for the check up. The band two charge has to include an assesment so your routine check up will be part of a new course of treatment.

I am sure you are right but I am now unclear as to why the OP was charged £62.10, rather than the emergency treatment fee of £22.70 for the one off "replace the filling"?

If they were to be charged £62.10 (band 2) then should that not have included a full checkup and any other necessary band 2 treatment?

I'm confused! So what does the NHS emergency / quick patch up £22.70 cover? The fact that it is exactly the same amount as Band 1 makes it even more difficult to grasp.

Allie26

Thanks for your replies. Think I got charged £62.10 as it was a permanent filling not a temporary one. Looks like I will have to pay £22.70 for my check up then! 

brook2jack2

Band 4 course of treatment (Urgent Care Appointment) - £22.70

This covers an emergency appointment where dental health will be compromised if not treated quickly for example  a temporary filling or a crown re cemented.  This is only a short appointment to get you out of immediate pain or discomfort. 

Undervalued

Sorry Brook, I am sure you are right and I am being thick but I am still a bit confused...

I fully understand that a quick patch up would have been a stand alone charge of £22.70.

However, as I read it, the dentist opted to do a full repair. Has that not, in effect, started a Band 2 course of treatment so anything else that needed doing at the moment should be included?

I wasn't aware there was an NHS option to do a one off "full job" on just one tooth then have to start again with a new course of treatment for anything else that needed doing.

So, presumably had the OP insisted that the dentist just did a temporary job (£22.70), on the basis she was coming again shortly, she would actually have been 40 quid better off? I suppose the fact that the OP's next appointment wasn't for two months may have tipped the balance but what would have happened had it been in two weeks?