NHS Dentist Charging Private Rates

Lockdownlinz

Yesterday I had to take my 93yr old mother to her NHS dentist as her front tooth had become wobbly and was close to falling out. He advised us her options were to have a bridge made and fitted at a cost of £1800 or, when pressed, that she could have a plate (false tooth) fitted for around £270, as a Band 3 NHS treatment. He said the bridge couldn’t be done as an NHS treatment because of all the work involved for him and as he can now see fewer patients and the future of his practice is uncertain, he’s had to put his prices up. Shocked by this, I subsequently called NHS England to check the pricing and they informed me that a bridge CAN be done as NHS treatment for the same cost as her dentist was charging for a plate (false tooth) to be fitted. They suggested I rang around some other NHS dentists. I then called my own NHS dentist who told me that they are currently only doing private work, for financial reasons, during the Covid crisis. Has anybody experienced something similar? Are any NHS dentists in South Gloucestershire/Bristol offering the NHS treatments they are contracted to provide? 

brook2jack2

NHS dental treatment provides the simplest treatment to secure dental health. A wobbly tooth means your mum has gum disease, this might very well be affecting the teeth either side , which may well not be in good condition,  It is difficult to say without a dentist seeing her, her xrays etc but I very much doubt you will get any dentist agreeing to do a bridge on the NHS in this situation , besides which very few dental labs are open at the moment and certainly none which will do bridgework on the NHS,

ChrisA1993

Hi,
I am a dental nurse in Scotland so the NHS system works slightly differently here.
I agree with the comment in that further investigation is often needed into the state of the adjoining teeth with x-rays and further analysis. If these teeth are found to be mobile or decayed it can be pointless doing a bridge as effectively the structure of the teeth which holds the bridge are not sound. It is worth noting that once a tooth is extracted the gum takes time to heal and will recede slightly. This means that it is often best to have a denture placed at least initially as you could pay for a bridge to be fitted but after a few months the gum line will be different and there will be a space present between tooth and gum (although there are options of temp bridge in some cases - again dependant on dentist). In Scotland, if a patients tooth was to be extracted and they were an NHS patient, the options of both private and NHS is offered if the dentist feels suitable. In regards to your mum, if she was an NHS patient she would be entitled to NHS dentures (again going of Scotland rules) which would cost approx £100-200 dependant on material used. She may or may not be given the option of an NHS or private bridge dependant on if the dentist thought suitable (again there are many different types of bridge both NHS covered and Privately Charged) It is often very difficult for people of that age to get used to wearing a denture (unless she already has one) if it doesn't affect her speech, eating abilities etc some would say just to leave the gap though I appreciate aesthetically would be a problem for some.
Hope this helps.