i really need a dentist

mummyyummy_2

in a nutshell, there are no NHS dentists anymore where I live ( well there are but the waiting list is years long) and because all the rest packed up and left ive not been able to see a dentist in a long time. I now receive benefits so I am entitled to NHS treatment. I have a broken and split front tooth, which is discolouring to the point i wont even smile it depresses me so much. I presume I would need some sort of veneer/crown, I was told this a few years ago by a debtist after emergency root treatment on the tooth!! Should I just go private? Does anyone know the cost of such treatment? I thought about dental insurance but if a dentist was to check my teeth first, theres no way an insurance company would pay out ( would it be a fraud kinda thing?). Any advice...i have lived with this for about 2 years now but it just split in half earlier this evening, I cant hide it anymore.

ethansmum

If you are getting depressed about them then I personally would pay the cost of going private. Please phone nhs direct and see if they can help you find a dentist.

floyd

Could you try a payment plan where you pay a set amount each month to help budget for treatment? Companies like Denplan do this and they will take you on even if your teeth are in poor condition, you will just pay slightly more a month.
There are lots of other companies who offer similar treatment plans

LondonDiva

have you put your postcode on www.nhs.uk and had a look at what comes up?

If there are no NHS dentists close to your home, what about near where your relatives are / on the other side of town? Where are you based?

SparkyG

Take a look at Tesco dental insurance. It's on their website, or you can get a leaflet in store. It costs £16.95 a month, there is no initial examination, so it doesn't matter what condition your teeth are in, and you can see any dentist of your choice.

You will have to wait 3 months to claim, but as well as covering 100% of maintenance costs( check-ups, scale and polish etc) you can claim 80% of the cost of any treatment up to £2000 a year.

IMO, pretty good VFM;)

Good luck to you anyway, whatever you decide to do:beer:

masterthief

is there a dental hospital where you live? I know there's one in Liverpool as part of the Royal Liverpool Hospital, and dental students train there. You can get work done free/NHS rates (not sure if there's any payments as I used it when I was a student and got exemption) by the students dentists who are supervised by their tutors. The work I got done was excellent, but its a bit of a hassle as you have to turn up at 8am and wait around until your ticket gets called, then they either do some emergency work (by qualified dentists) or check you over for schedluded student work. Is worth it though, if you can't afford going private.

hope this helps.

msmicawber

There should be an NHS Dental Access Centre somewhere local to you who will provide emergency treatment to anyone not registered with a dentist. I went to our local one and they treated me then found me an NHS dentist when I couldn't. If you google 'Dental Access Centre' and your town name (or that of the nearest big town to you) you should find one.

Toothsmith

If a root filled front tooth has broken/split, and it has been like this for some time, and the edges are decayed (Which could be why it has discoloured) you might easily find that the NHS treatment plan would be extraction and single unit denture.

Although this may not be the treatment you want, it is a perfectly justifiable treatment plan given the state of the tooth. It is also the most cost-effective treatment for the dentist to provide, as it will have the minimal cost to him, and the maximum 'points' score towards his targets.

So - you might well be looking around for ages for an NHS dentist only to find that his treatment wold be to take the tooth out and give you a denture. He might well offer to rebuild the tooth privately as a private choice - but the extra time you have spent waiting to see him would mean that it would have an even poorer chance of survival.

If keeping the tooth is important to you, I would put your effort into finding a reasonably priced private dentist who can deal with the problem quickly and efficiantly.