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Dental care surprise
Pennylane
Posts: 2,721 Forumite
I've been working with some Lithuanian women in the UK and have been really surprised that they go back to Lithuania for their dental treatment.
One of them went home for Xmas and had her teeth done there and paid over £1,000 and was delighted to fit it in with her holiday. Another one caught a plane home a few weeks ago, had her teeth attended to and caught the next plane back so she didn't miss too much work.
They tell me that they could get their teeth done here on the NHS but they do not feel the dentists are as good as in Lithuania, so they would rather pay to go home. They say that the treatment is much better, more advanced and the denntists better qualified. I'm only saying what they tell me BTW!!
They are fairly low paid workers so this really did surprise me.
One of them went home for Xmas and had her teeth done there and paid over £1,000 and was delighted to fit it in with her holiday. Another one caught a plane home a few weeks ago, had her teeth attended to and caught the next plane back so she didn't miss too much work.
They tell me that they could get their teeth done here on the NHS but they do not feel the dentists are as good as in Lithuania, so they would rather pay to go home. They say that the treatment is much better, more advanced and the denntists better qualified. I'm only saying what they tell me BTW!!
They are fairly low paid workers so this really did surprise me.
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They tell me that they could get their teeth done here on the NHS but they do not feel the dentists are as good as in Lithuania, so they would rather pay to go home.
That's because the NHS dentists over here are Polish!!
Seriously though, people are generally more comfortable with the type of dentistry they've grown up with, so going 'home' to get work done wouldn't be unusual.
There are loads of pages on here discussing dental tourism if you're tempted to follow them.How to find a dentist.
1. Get recommendations from friends/family/neighbours/etc.
2. Once you have a short-list, VISIT the practices - dont just phone. Go on the pretext of getting a Practice Leaflet.
3. Assess the helpfulness of the staff and the level of the facilities.
4. Only book initial appointment when you find a place you are happy with.0 -
£1000 is just under the average gross pay for two months in Lithuania.
They obviously place great value on their teeth and by working here will have been able to pay the going rate there for excellent quality private care. They speak the language and if anything goes wrong as Lithuanian nationals will be well placed to get follow up care etc.
Many folks on relatively low incomes ,both UK and foreign born ,place different priorities on their disposable income ..... A friend who is a child minder has managed to send her child to private school. Her family have no car, no holidays, no TV , and sacrifice many things others see as necessities on something she has prioritised.0 -
Thanks for your replies. The reason I was surprised is that we often hear that foreign workers come here and are on all sorts of fiddles, get NHS treatment etc ..... I did actually type something to this effect in my post, but then deleted it.
Yes, they do place great value on their teeth and their health in general I have to say.
I have started a little fund myself to go to a private dentist (here;)) because I am not at all pleased with my NHS dentist. Does anyone know if I could go and get my teeth done privately to get them back into good order and then, go back to NHS at some time in the future for check-ups etc. But hopefully not to my usual dentist. There are some nice NHS dentists about, it's just we never seem to find them lately.
I have mentioned it on here before and I am just so disappointed in our latest dentist.0 -
You can swap backwards and forwards but the best thing is to find a dentist nhs or private you trust and stick with them.
By building up a longterm relationship a dentist can get a better picture of your long term health and needs rather than a "snapshot" of your mouth at one particular point in time.0 -
Thanks for your replies. The reason I was surprised is that we often hear that foreign workers come here and are on all sorts of fiddles, get NHS treatment etc ..... I did actually type something to this effect in my post, but then deleted it.
Yes, they do place great value on their teeth and their health in general I have to say.
I have started a little fund myself to go to a private dentist (here;)) because I am not at all pleased with my NHS dentist. Does anyone know if I could go and get my teeth done privately to get them back into good order and then, go back to NHS at some time in the future for check-ups etc. But hopefully not to my usual dentist. There are some nice NHS dentists about, it's just we never seem to find them lately.
I have mentioned it on here before and I am just so disappointed in our latest dentist.
If you get a decent private dentist, the NHS system, nomatter how nice the dentist, will have very little appeal.How to find a dentist.
1. Get recommendations from friends/family/neighbours/etc.
2. Once you have a short-list, VISIT the practices - dont just phone. Go on the pretext of getting a Practice Leaflet.
3. Assess the helpfulness of the staff and the level of the facilities.
4. Only book initial appointment when you find a place you are happy with.0 -
Toothsmith wrote: »If you get a decent private dentist, the NHS system, nomatter how nice the dentist, will have very little appeal.
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I'd like to ask WHY too please Toothsmith.
A few years ago we had a wonderful NHS dentist and he was so charming and gentle that my husband went in to see him and came out querying whether there was a mistake and I'd booked us into a private one:rotfl::rotfl:
We moved and the next dentists were OK but nothing special and then they went private. We wanted to stay NHS so moved and we got a nice woman and then she left. She was replaced by a South African who was very rough-handed and always in a hurry. His partner was the receptionist and she told me they were just there for a short contract to make a lot of money and go back to SA rich! They had no interest in seeing our country and they were certainly not interested in their patients. Never people like that before.0 -
The only way to survive financially on the NHS is to get through the volume as quickly as possible.
If you're nice, and explain things, and take your time, and do complex treatments to save teeth, and proper preventative stuff - you will not meet your targets, and the NHS will penalise you in your contact value next year.
So you may well find nice dentists along the way, but they won't be there for long. (Unless they're older and just hanging on for the NHS pension - which IS quite good!)How to find a dentist.
1. Get recommendations from friends/family/neighbours/etc.
2. Once you have a short-list, VISIT the practices - dont just phone. Go on the pretext of getting a Practice Leaflet.
3. Assess the helpfulness of the staff and the level of the facilities.
4. Only book initial appointment when you find a place you are happy with.0 -
I AM an NHS dentist and second what tooth smith says. If I Was looking for a dentist myself the last place I would look is the health service. On the whole I have no qualms with the individual dentists but the system we work within is just rubbish. I hate it and cant wait to get out. I didnt train for 5 years to be doing dentistry the way I am "encouraged". I get penalised for trying to work properly. The level of care I Would want just is not available on the health service as it is too costly for the dentist to provide. Listen to toothsmith!0
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I AM an NHS dentist and second what tooth smith says. If I Was looking for a dentist myself the last place I would look is the health service. On the whole I have no qualms with the individual dentists but the system we work within is just rubbish. I hate it and cant wait to get out. I didnt train for 5 years to be doing dentistry the way I am "encouraged". I get penalised for trying to work properly. The level of care I Would want just is not available on the health service as it is too costly for the dentist to provide. Listen to toothsmith!
Are you still working for the NHS Welshdent? Just wondering.0
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