Dental Payment Plan

Woodland_Fairy

Good Day,

I'm an NHS patient seeking advice on a dispute with my Dental Surgery regarding a Hygienist Payment Plan.

Here's the situation:

• Signed up for a payment plan in June 2024. I was advised by a Receptionist that a £16/month payment plan would save me money on my 3-monthly hygienist visits, which were £52 a visit at that time.

• The 1st payment of £41.50 was taken on July 8th (£9.50 initial fee, and two £16 payments to get me “up to date” - one for June and one for July).

• This transpired to be a mostly verbal agreement between me and my Dental Practice, as the email they said I would receive did not detail anything specific to my Hygienist Plan. I received an email from "Practice Plan" (the organisation facilitating the payments) about my Direct Debit agreements and they gave me T&Cs for an emergency dental plan, not my hygienist agreement (copy of this email attached - I can provide the attached T&Cs if required also).

• Problem started: After enrolling, the Hygienist said I only needed 6-monthly visits, meaning I was overpaying for the plan's intended frequency.

• Attempts to resolve (Dec 2024 - June 2025): I tried repeatedly to contact the dental surgery via email and phone, with little to no response or help from the Reception team. A scheduled call from the Practice Manager in April was missed due to a family emergency of mine.

• "Resolution" from Practice Manager (July 2025): I finally spoke to the Practice Manager on July 10th. She was hostile, claimed my calculations were wrong, stated hygienist fees were now £65 (despite the plan being for "cheaper" visits), and refused to refund the £41.50 “setup fee” as she called it..

• The outcome: She agreed to refund only £62. Based on my calculation (total paid £233.50 for two visits @ £48/visit within the plan period), I believe I'm owed £137.50, not £62.

I feel I've been misled and overcharged. I took on this plan to save money but have been left out of pocket. I'm an unpaid carer, so it really does hit me hard to lose money like this.

My questions for the forum:

1. Can I really be charged for full price Hygienist Visits, which have increased by £13 a visit since I signed up to the plan.

2. The Practice Manager seems to think she can also not repay me the £41.50 that I paid at the start of the plan. Is this right?

3. If anyone can advise what my consumer rights are here, and what, if anything, I can do to stop this happening to anyone else.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

sheramber

Did you query the plan being called ‘emergency dental plan and not hygienist plan?

Have you read the terms and conditions?

Is it an annual plan or an open ended plan? 

What do they say about the cost of hygienist visits  changing? 

born_again

Looks like plan is run by a 3rd party & not your dentist. So you would need to take it up with Practise Plan, as per letter. As your dentists are not receiving the money paid. So anything back from the dentist is good will.

If Hygienist said I only needed 6-monthly visits. Was this the same one that you were visiting every 3 months. So on that advice, why not cancel the policy given the costs?

Undervalued

If you are an NHS patient and hygienist treatment is clinically necessary (eg to treat gum disease as opposed to cosmetic) then it should be provided as part of the NHS Band 2 price. That is for England and I think Wales, Scotland and NI may be different).

Woodland_Fairy

Undervalued said:

If you are an NHS patient and hygienist treatment is clinically necessary (eg to treat gum disease as opposed to cosmetic) then it should be provided as part of the NHS Band 2 price. That is for England and I think Wales, Scotland and NI may be different).

Really? I was told I had to have it because I was at risk of gum disease. I had low level gum disease, or something like that. No one at the dentists told me that I could pay for it through the NHS avenue. They just asked me to pay, and I did. Apparently, I was paying for the private price.

Woodland_Fairy

born_again said:

Looks like plan is run by a 3rd party & not your dentist. So you would need to take it up with Practise Plan, as per letter. As your dentists are not receiving the money paid. So anything back from the dentist is good will.

If Hygienist said I only needed 6-monthly visits. Was this the same one that you were visiting every 3 months. So on that advice, why not cancel the policy given the costs?

Thanks, but the 3rd party are just the agents for taking the money. The Dentists tell them how much to take and when. The "what for" is decided by the dentist, not by Practice Plan.

Practice Plan were very clear with me about that and I have an email from them saying as much.

The same Hygienist at the dental surgery said I could reduce my 3 monthly visits to 6 months, yes.

To be honest, my brain is so incredibly busy as I am a carer for two family members and when things go wrong for them, there is only me to sort it. When my appointments changed from 3 to 6 months, it didn't even occur to me immediately that I needed to alter the payment plan to reflect that.

My Uncle has dementia, and all sorts of emergencies were occurring with him and at his house during that time - my focus was purely on that rather than on a sneaky little direct debit that was going out of my account on a monthly basis...

It's not an excuse for a lack of vigilance, I know. But it is my reason for it.

Woodland_Fairy

sheramber said:
Did you query the plan being called ‘emergency dental plan and not hygienist plan?

Have you read the terms and conditions?

Is it an annual plan or an open ended plan?

What do they say about the cost of hygienist visits  changing? 

The plan was called, "Plan B: [dentist' name] Advanced Hygiene Membership." However the Ts&Cs I wad given relate to a thing called "Emergency Dental Plan." 

I've skim read the Ts&Cs to look for anything relevant or particular to my situation, and they mostly seem to have the caveat that Practice Plan are not responsible for the actual arrangements between patient and dentist.

It's just an open ended plan, designed to break down the cost of paying the full costs of hygiene visits. At the time of application I was also told that the plan works out a bit cheaper for me as the price of Hygiene Visits on the plan are less.

The Practice Manager at the dentists told me on the phone that I was only able to have lower fees for the Hygienist visits while I was on the plan. If I came off the plan, then full price would apply and the visits were now £65 (they were £52 before I started the plan a year ago).

Therefore, retroactively I've had to pay £65 for both of my visits during the plan's existence. Despite the fact the visits may have coincided with the period when the Hygienist visits were still £52 (before their increase).

I have never been notified of an increase of the fees, and did not see a sign in the office that indicated this change during any visits.

Woodland_Fairy

My Dad goes to a different Dentists (who I'm on the waiting list for, because they are brilliant!). They always scale and polish his teeth during his appointment. 

This is all the Hygienist did to me during my Hygienist appointment; a scale and polish. I was never in the chair longer than 10 minutes. 

However, my dentist would only look at my teeth during my NHS routine visit. He never included a scale and polish. My understanding now is that this should have been included in my usual dentist visit for £27.50. 

It's so hard because we are not experts ourselves and we rely on medical professionals to be honest with us about what they are doing. 

I really feel that I've been taken for a ride my Dental Practice.

saajan_12

Woodland_Fairy said:

• Signed up for a payment plan in June 2024. I was advised by a Receptionist that a £16/month payment plan would save me money on my 3-monthly hygienist visits, which were £52 a visit at that time.

• The 1st payment of £41.50 was taken on July 8th (£9.50 initial fee, and two £16 payments to get me “up to date” - one for June and one for July).

How was this going to be cheaper? Even if everything went as planned, £16 x 3 = £48 so £4 cheaper, but then you pay £9.50 upfront so it takes 2.5 cycles to even break even, before anything starts getting cheaper. Its all of £6 better after a year.. 

Woodland_Fairy said:

• Problem started: After enrolling, the Hygienist said I only needed 6-monthly visits, meaning I was overpaying for the plan's intended frequency.

Why didn't you terminate the plan after the first visit and just start paying normally? Or at least ask to get what you paid for ie the 3 monthly visits, even if unnecessary? 
You've severely limited your options by letting it go on for 14 months (based on the £233 paid to date). 

Woodland_Fairy said:

• The outcome: She agreed to refund only £62. Based on my calculation (total paid £233.50 for two visits @ £48/visit within the plan period), I believe I'm owed £137.50, not £62.

I feel I've been misled and overcharged. I took on this plan to save money but have been left out of pocket. I'm an unpaid carer, so it really does hit me hard to lose money like this.

My questions for the forum:

1. Can I really be charged for full price Hygienist Visits, which have increased by £13 a visit since I signed up to the plan.

2. The Practice Manager seems to think she can also not repay me the £41.50 that I paid at the start of the plan. Is this right?

3. If anyone can advise what my consumer rights are here, and what, if anything, I can do to stop this happening to anyone else.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

THe question is really what you originally contracted for - what is "enhanced hygiene membership"? If that's any hygienist visits needed, then they have provided that to you. If that's specifically 3 monthly visits, then you can claim costs arising from having fewer visits than expected. 

You can't necessarily just tear up the contract and change it to paying for each visit individually. Especially not at the 'deal' price a year ago of £48 while simulanteously tearing up the deal. As long as they are not breaching the deal and still allowing you to have the next hygenist appointment, then they may not owe you anything back and even the £62 is arguably just a good will amount, so it doesnt' really matter how its calculated. 

Undervalued

Woodland_Fairy said:

Undervalued said:

If you are an NHS patient and hygienist treatment is clinically necessary (eg to treat gum disease as opposed to cosmetic) then it should be provided as part of the NHS Band 2 price. That is for England and I think Wales, Scotland and NI may be different).

Really? I was told I had to have it because I was at risk of gum disease. I had low level gum disease, or something like that. No one at the dentists told me that I could pay for it through the NHS avenue. They just asked me to pay, and I did. Apparently, I was paying for the private price.

Yes! Although detailed treatment of this type can under some circumstances be Band 2 on the NHS, which is currently £75.30. That is instead of the Band 1 charge (for checkup etc), not in addition so your total cost could well be £75.30. That would cover how ever many visits were necessary to do the work.

The grey area may be whether you are "at risk of gum disease" so advised to have private treatment as a precaution or you actually have significant gum disease so have a clinical need of such treatment now.

Woodland_Fairy

saajan_12 said:

Woodland_Fairy said:

• Signed up for a payment plan in June 2024. I was advised by a Receptionist that a £16/month payment plan would save me money on my 3-monthly hygienist visits, which were £52 a visit at that time.

• The 1st payment of £41.50 was taken on July 8th (£9.50 initial fee, and two £16 payments to get me “up to date” - one for June and one for July).

How was this going to be cheaper? Even if everything went as planned, £16 x 3 = £48 so £4 cheaper, but then you pay £9.50 upfront so it takes 2.5 cycles to even break even, before anything starts getting cheaper. Its all of £6 better after a year.. 

Woodland_Fairy said:

• Problem started: After enrolling, the Hygienist said I only needed 6-monthly visits, meaning I was overpaying for the plan's intended frequency.

Why didn't you terminate the plan after the first visit and just start paying normally? Or at least ask to get what you paid for ie the 3 monthly visits, even if unnecessary? 
You've severely limited your options by letting it go on for 14 months (based on the £233 paid to date). 

Woodland_Fairy said:

• The outcome: She agreed to refund only £62. Based on my calculation (total paid £233.50 for two visits @ £48/visit within the plan period), I believe I'm owed £137.50, not £62.

I feel I've been misled and overcharged. I took on this plan to save money but have been left out of pocket. I'm an unpaid carer, so it really does hit me hard to lose money like this.

My questions for the forum:

1. Can I really be charged for full price Hygienist Visits, which have increased by £13 a visit since I signed up to the plan.

2. The Practice Manager seems to think she can also not repay me the £41.50 that I paid at the start of the plan. Is this right?

3. If anyone can advise what my consumer rights are here, and what, if anything, I can do to stop this happening to anyone else.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

THe question is really what you originally contracted for - what is "enhanced hygiene membership"? If that's any hygienist visits needed, then they have provided that to you. If that's specifically 3 monthly visits, then you can claim costs arising from having fewer visits than expected. 

You can't necessarily just tear up the contract and change it to paying for each visit individually. Especially not at the 'deal' price a year ago of £48 while simulanteously tearing up the deal. As long as they are not breaching the deal and still allowing you to have the next hygenist appointment, then they may not owe you anything back and even the £62 is arguably just a good will amount, so it doesnt' really matter how its calculated. 

Thanks,

Yes, I know I let it go on for too long. I tried to get in contact with them about it for the first time last December. 

Yes, I probably have been completely stupid about it and should have realised sooner it wasn't a good deal. It wasn't so much about getting it cheaper, it was about spreading the costs (I'm a full time unpaid carer so my income is low, as is my focus on my own needs/admin/welfare/health etc). The fact that it worked out a bit cheaper was a bonus.

The amount was specifically set up to reflect 3 monthly hygienist appointments. It would have been a different price if it was set up for 6 monthly appointments. It was not an ad hoc agreement, and I didn't want more hygienist appointments than strictly necessary. 

I do appreciate how foolish I've been. There was no paperwork given to me at the time of setting up the payment plan. I've never been given any paperwork specific to what was included - only verbally. That's on me, and I do feel hotly embarrassed by the fact I should have got more info in writing.

My understanding was that I needed the hygienist visits to reduce my chance of getting full gum disease. This is my first time back at the dentists for over 20 years - I've never been an adult at the dentists, and don't know how they work! 

However, my hygienist appointments tended to last about 10-15 mins (I now know a proper hygienist appointment should last about 30mins-1hr). And my standard NHS dental appointments never included a scale and polish (which they're supposed to, if necessary)... and so I suspect what they were doing was getting me to pay for a scale and polish type appointment. I don't know why else they didn't charge me the full £75 ish fee for a proper NHS hygiene appointment. 

Something about the whole thing is odd.

Yes, I know I should have continued on their case a bit more than I have done. It's like a cattle market at my dentists. Loads of people in/out and the receptionists don't have time to talk to patients, let alone deal with complicated enquiries. Whenever I've tried to talk to them about it, they don't know how to help me.

My emails, phone calls and visits were not helping to resolve the issue. I'd been trying since December 2024. 

I was frightened of just stopping the DD, because I don't know what my rights are.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for my cheque for £62. I suspect I'll never get it.

I've cancelled all my appointments at this dentist as well as the payment plan and my direct debit. The Dentists agreed to the cancellation. 

I obviously have no rights to speak of in this situation. So, never mind.

Lesson learned, I suppose.