Entitled to Free NHS Dental Care but dentist has gone private

Pennylane

No NHS  dentists in the whole of our county are taking on new patients. Our Dentist who the whole family have been with for years is going private this month.  A family member is exempt from charges so where does this leave them as the care will be non NHS? 

Our MP was unaware of this and cannot answer our question.  Just a check up will now cost £70 (£80 for first one) which they won’t be able to afford let alone if they need more expensive treatment.  

comeandgo

I suggest they get on a few of the NHS dentists waiting lists.  There will be somewhere NHS that does emergency dentistry but that would not cover check ups.  It’s the way of UK at the moment.  

Pennylane

comeandgo said:

I suggest they get on a few of the NHS dentists waiting lists.  There will be somewhere NHS that does emergency dentistry but that would not cover check ups.  It’s the way of UK at the moment. 

Most dentists around here have closed their waiting lists. A couple told me they had a two year waiting list. thanks for replying though. 

elsien

Pennylane said:

No NHS  dentists in the whole of our county are taking on new patients. Our Dentist who the whole family have been with for years is going private this month.  A family member is exempt from charges so where does this leave them as the care will be non NHS? 

Our MP was unaware of this and cannot answer our question.  Just a check up will now cost £70 (£80 for first one) which they won’t be able to afford let alone if they need more expensive treatment.  

It leaves them either paying or finding another dentist, unfortunately. Could they afford a monthly payment plan? Most of the private dentists do denplan or similar.
The cost will depend on the state of their oral health and how much treatment the dentist envisages they might need but it might be worth at least asking what is the monthly fee would be for them then deciding from there.

Pennylane

elsien said:

Pennylane said:

No NHS  dentists in the whole of our county are taking on new patients. Our Dentist who the whole family have been with for years is going private this month.  A family member is exempt from charges so where does this leave them as the care will be non NHS? 

Our MP was unaware of this and cannot answer our question.  Just a check up will now cost £70 (£80 for first one) which they won’t be able to afford let alone if they need more expensive treatment.  

It leaves them either paying or finding another dentist, unfortunately. Could they afford a monthly payment plan? Most of the private dentists do denplan or similar.
The cost will depend on the state of their oral health and how much treatment the dentist envisages they might need but it might be worth at least asking what is the monthly fee would be for them then deciding from there.

this affects thousands of people. If you get certain benefits because you are on a low income how can you find  £80 for a check up and maybe £300 for an extraction?  There are going to be an awful lot of people with rotten teeth!  It’s £12 or £18 a month depending on level of care for a plan and then you pay for your dental treatment on top of that.  If people are deemed to be exempt then there should be somewhere they can go and receive dental treatment using their exemption.  

otb666

i have an NHS Dentist that was unable to extract my tooth so had to wait 9 months before it was finally pulled out by hospital

Undervalued

Pennylane said:

comeandgo said:

I suggest they get on a few of the NHS dentists waiting lists.  There will be somewhere NHS that does emergency dentistry but that would not cover check ups.  It’s the way of UK at the moment. 

Most dentists around here have closed their waiting lists. A couple told me they had a two year waiting list. thanks for replying though. 

Assuming you are in England (Scotland and N. Ireland are a bit different) then a NHS waiting list is a bit meaningless.

In theory, you can go to any NHS dentist that will see you and once they do a check up and prescribe a course of treatment they are obliged to complete it. After that they don't have to see you again. So technically there is no such thing as being "registered" with an NHS dentist.

That said, individual practices are largely free to operate as if regular patients were registered with them and prioritise, only seeing new patients if they have capacity. So, any "waiting list" they have is unofficial and not regulated by the NHS.

It is all something of a mess and availability varies wildly around the country. In the city where I live there doesn't seem to be any significant problem getting a NHS dentist.

Pennylane

Undervalued said:

Pennylane said:

comeandgo said:

I suggest they get on a few of the NHS dentists waiting lists.  There will be somewhere NHS that does emergency dentistry but that would not cover check ups.  It’s the way of UK at the moment. 

Most dentists around here have closed their waiting lists. A couple told me they had a two year waiting list. thanks for replying though. 

Assuming you are in England (Scotland and N. Ireland are a bit different) then a NHS waiting list is a bit meaningless.

In theory, you can go to any NHS dentist that will see you and once they do a check up and prescribe a course of treatment they are obliged to complete it. After that they don't have to see you again. So technically there is no such thing as being "registered" with an NHS dentist.

That said, individual practices are largely free to operate as if regular patients were registered with them and prioritise, only seeing new patients if they have capacity. So, any "waiting list" they have is unofficial and not regulated by the NHS.

It is all something of a mess and availability varies wildly around the country. In the city where I live there doesn't seem to be any significant problem getting a NHS dentist.

You can’t get an NHS dentist in the whole of our county!