Dental charges

nicurro

Hello,

This may be in the wrong area of the forums but maybe an Admin will correct.

When I phone my Dentist to make an appointment they ask if I have pain to which the usual answer is a bit of pain.

The appointment is made and I attend expecting to have a full checkup.

The dentist then says that he can only look at the tooth causing pain as it is an emergency appointment!

This then costs £23.80 for the visit and subsequently another £23.80 for the next appointment to cover a checkup.

should I be informed that the first appointment is an emergency slot by the receptionist prior to making the appointment?
I ring them to make what I thought was an appointment for a check up but it appears that if you say you have pain they class it as an emergency.

Surely this isn’t right!

pinkshoes

How long between phoning and getting the appointment?

If days then they have clearly given you an emergency appointment. You did say you were in pain...

If it was a couple of months then clearly this is not right. 

Laz123

They should have informed you if they booked an emergency. Otherwise it's bad customer service, or worse it's a means to extract more money from you to make up for all the money they've lost due to the pandemic.

Tokmon

nicurro said:

Hello,

This may be in the wrong area of the forums but maybe an Admin will correct.

When I phone my Dentist to make an appointment they ask if I have pain to which the usual answer is a bit of pain.

The appointment is made and I attend expecting to have a full checkup.

The dentist then says that he can only look at the tooth causing pain as it is an emergency appointment!

This then costs £23.80 for the visit and subsequently another £23.80 for the next appointment to cover a checkup.

should I be informed that the first appointment is an emergency slot by the receptionist prior to making the appointment?
I ring them to make what I thought was an appointment for a check up but it appears that if you say you have pain they class it as an emergency.

Surely this isn’t right!

If you just want your usual regular check up then surely you just wait for them to contact you at the normal interval and arrange the checkup? 

Also are you saying you have a little bit of constant pain? Maybe you should try a different dentist if they can't sort it properly.

Gavin83

Are you in pain or not? If you are then the appointment should be to deal with the pain. If you just want a general check up then you should tell them you want this but expect to wait.

If you're making up or exaggerating pain to cut the queue then I really don't think you can complain about the outcome. 

[Deleted User]

nicurro said:

Hello,

This may be in the wrong area of the forums but maybe an Admin will correct.

When I phone my Dentist to make an appointment they ask if I have pain to which the usual answer is a bit of pain.

The appointment is made and I attend expecting to have a full checkup.

The dentist then says that he can only look at the tooth causing pain as it is an emergency appointment!

This then costs £23.80 for the visit and subsequently another £23.80 for the next appointment to cover a checkup.

should I be informed that the first appointment is an emergency slot by the receptionist prior to making the appointment?
I ring them to make what I thought was an appointment for a check up but it appears that if you say you have pain they class it as an emergency.

Surely this isn’t right!

This is weirdly written as it sounds like you do this regularly.

Check ups are twice a year anything outside this would be classed as emergency unless of course it’s part of an agreed ongoing treatment from what they found during a checkup or an emergency appointment.  

Torry_Quine

If you're calling for a check up then that's what you ask for.  Telling them it's about pain means that's what they'll check out.

nicurro

So if I have a bit of pain which I can cope with until an appointment is available it is right that this is classed as an emergency dental need.
What absolute rubbish!

More like a money making racket by certain large dental firms.

if you went to the doctors with a bit of pain in your toe would you expect them to chop it off?

Maybe next time I lie to the pain question and just put up with it until the check up appointment is available which would be within a week or so.

powerful_Rogue

nicurro said:

So if I have a bit of pain which I can cope with until an appointment is available it is right that this is classed as an emergency dental need.
What absolute rubbish!

More like a money making racket by certain large dental firms.

if you went to the doctors with a bit of pain in your toe would you expect them to chop it off?

Maybe next time I lie to the pain question and just put up with it until the check up appointment is available which would be within a week or so.

Did the dentist extract the tooth?

Seems like someone didn't like the common sense answers they were given.

[Deleted User]

nicurro said:

So if I have a bit of pain which I can cope with until an appointment is available it is right that this is classed as an emergency dental need.
What absolute rubbish!

More like a money making racket by certain large dental firms.

if you went to the doctors with a bit of pain in your toe would you expect them to chop it off?

Maybe next time I lie to the pain question and just put up with it until the check up appointment is available which would be within a week or so.

Either your still young or from another country as this is what it’s been like 35 years of my adult life.

A check up is to make sure your teeth and gums are good to go and if any work needs done. If you need the dentist in between check ups then you have to pay for it. 

Torry_Quine

nicurro said:

So if I have a bit of pain which I can cope with until an appointment is available it is right that this is classed as an emergency dental need.
What absolute rubbish!

More like a money making racket by certain large dental firms.

if you went to the doctors with a bit of pain in your toe would you expect them to chop it off?

Maybe next time I lie to the pain question and just put up with it until the check up appointment is available which would be within a week or so.

No you say i would like a check up.