[Misc] Dentist Query - Any one a dentist or know how the system works ?

[WATFORD zero]

£45 is double the NHS price. I went this morning and paid £22.70.

But looking at NHS rates, isn't that category 1 - check up scale and polish ? I believe a cracked or broken tooth would fall into category 2 - £62.10 (if you can get it done on NHS!)

On the basis that toothache is just about the most painful thing in the world we opted for a dental plan with Westdene Dental Practice. It’s a monthly charge but it’s been worth the money over the years. You still have to pay extras like crowns, root treatment and they don’t do implants (that’s pretty expensive).

IIRC we had to go private some years ago, not sure why (Mrs Wz would have organised it) at Westdene Dental Practice. I have to say that although expensive (and I think all private dental plans are), they have been excellent. My two 'kids', 24 and 26 have been with them all along and have the sum total of 1 filling between them.

 

[Chicken Run]

Since dentists have been allowed back to work I’ve had a tooth extraction, check up and hygienist visit , I’m a NHS customer and pay the above scales.

 

[GT49er]

Sadly Mrs WS is not exempt despite being unemployed. Personally I don't think £45 just to see a dentist for 10 minutes when you are an NHS patient is 'pretty good'.

Is it 'just to see' a dentist though? - presumably they'll treat her, so you'd have to pay the balance of that £62.10 for Band 2 treatment, and if she needs a crown (which sounds quite likely) it'll be the balance of that £269 Band 3 charge?
That's all just based on the info. on the website, plus my own experience as an NHS dental patient. Good luck anyway.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

But looking at NHS rates, isn't that category 1 - check up scale and polish ? I believe a cracked or broken tooth would fall into category 2 - £62.10 (if you can get it done on NHS!)



IIRC we had to go private some years ago, not sure why (Mrs Wz would have organised it) at Westdene Dental Practice. I have to say that although expensive (and I think all private dental plans are), they have been excellent. My two 'kids', 24 and 26 have been with them all along and have the sum total of 1 filling between them.

Yes it was Category 1. I have to go back in three weeks and will pay the remaining £200 odd when my treatment is complete.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

But looking at NHS rates, isn't that category 1 - check up scale and polish ? I believe a cracked or broken tooth would fall into category 2 - £62.10 (if you can get it done on NHS!)

IIRC we had to go private some years ago, not sure why (Mrs Wz would have organised it) at Westdene Dental Practice. I have to say that although expensive (and I think all private dental plans are), they have been excellent. My two 'kids', 24 and 26 have been with them all along and have the sum total of 1 filling between them.

I used to go to Westdene - Rachel - great dentist. Then they kicked me out when the new government 'contract' came in as they didn't want NHS anymore and I wasn't prepared to take out a Dental Insurance Plan. In the end it cost the NHS thousands.

Is it 'just to see' a dentist though? - presumably they'll treat her, so you'd have to pay the balance of that £62.10 for Band 2 treatment, and if she needs a crown (which sounds quite likely) it'll be the balance of that £269 Band 3 charge?
That's all just based on the info. on the website, plus my own experience as an NHS dental patient. Good luck anyway.

Yep - any treatment is on top of that. £45 for an NHS patient really is taking the piss.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Is it 'just to see' a dentist though? - presumably they'll treat her, so you'd have to pay the balance of that £62.10 for Band 2 treatment, and if she needs a crown (which sounds quite likely) it'll be the balance of that £269 Band 3 charge?
That's all just based on the info. on the website, plus my own experience as an NHS dental patient. Good luck anyway.

I'm guessing that if WS's dentist has run out of NHS UDA's (as explained by [MENTION=137]Blue&WhiteSea[/MENTION]) then the £45 is the price of a private check up (similar to band 1 NHS treatment - £22.70, a clean & polish or examination and diagnosis). A private crown then appears to be in the range of £350-£500 as oppose to the NHS cost of £269.30.

So it looks like being NHS halves the price(ish).

 

[driller]

With all the appointments cancelled since the start of lockdown in March, I'd be surprised if dentists had completed their UDAs, surely?


Are you in an exempt group? - of not, £45 seems pretty good compared to the £62.10 charge for band 2 NHS treatment. The charges seem to have rocketed this year - last year I was only charged £45 for my band 2 treatment.
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-qu...how-much-will-i-pay-for-nhs-dental-treatment/

There has been no increase this year in any bands
There is at present no uda targets.

 

[driller]

So Mrs WS is a registered NHS patient with a local dentist practice. Has been there a number of years. She cracked a tooth back in June and phoned up to see a dentist. "Sorry Mrs WS, due to Covid we're only seeing emergencies and a cracked tooth isn't an emergency.". The tooth has now cracked in half ( not a pleasant sight ! ). So Mrs WS phones up today and is told she will have to pay £45 just to see a dentist. "So, you no longer treat NHS patients then ?" - "Oh yes we do, it's just our credits have run out and and so we need to charge. We do charge a reduced rate though.".

What the actual fvck ?? Don't get me started on the fact health preserving dentistry should be FREE on the NHS anyway and that ALL state trained dentists should take NHS patients anyway. So, please, someone in the know explain to me how this system works ( I use the word 'works' very loosely ). As far as I can see dentists are nothing more than money sucking private enterprises.

Dm me

They are taking the piss and abusing the system.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Dm me

They are taking the piss and abusing the system.

Is that why your username is driller?

 

[driller]

Is that why your username is driller?

Maybe

 

[GT49er]

I'm guessing that if WS's dentist has run out of NHS UDA's (as explained by [MENTION=137]Blue&WhiteSea[/MENTION]) then the £45 is the price of a private check up (similar to band 1 NHS treatment - £22.70, a clean & polish or examination and diagnosis). A private crown then appears to be in the range of £350-£500 as oppose to the NHS cost of £269.30.

So it looks like being NHS halves the price(ish).

Yes, I understand that - I'm just puzzled as to how the dentist has[/B run out of UDAs, bearing in mind that huge numbers of appointments were cancelled over the summer, and only emergency UDAs were carried out. You'd have thought that would have left them with a surplus of UDAs to use up.

 

[METALMICKY]

Firstly, let's clear up the original posters major misunderstanding. NHS dentistry is not free. Please see link below. What is curious is actually where the £45 charge comes from and why they even started to go on about the UDA's.

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/dentists/understanding-nhs-dental-charges/

 

[driller]

Yes, I understand that - I'm just puzzled as to how the dentist has[/B run out of UDAs, bearing in mind that huge numbers of appointments were cancelled over the summer, and only emergency UDAs were carried out. You'd have thought that would have left them with a surplus of UDAs to use up.

The uda ‘target’ is currently suspended.

 

[GT49er]

There has been no increase this year in any bands.

Yes, so I see -- it has gone up in the last two years though:
https://www.google.com/search?clien...mAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesgBCMABAQ&sclient=psy-ab
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=nhs+dental+charges+2019+band+3

Must be slightly longer than I thought since I last paid them.

 

[WATFORD zero]

The uda ‘target’ is currently suspended.

Now that puts a completely different light on it, Go get 'em

 

[Saltydog]

I seem to recall that hospitals used to provide dental treatments. Is this a realistic option to have the cracked tooth treated?

 

[driller]

I seem to recall that hospitals used to provide dental treatments. Is this a realistic option to have the cracked tooth treated?

Not a hope

 

[Brian Parsons]

My late wife was a dental nurse for many years and the dentist she worked with mainly was a very brough Yorkshire man. Basically every tooth in your head is a moneymaker to them, so they do all they can to keep the patients tooth count as high as possible, when it's been extracted, zilch. Now unfortunately along came Covid 19 and upset the apple cart. How many times have you heard the reason ( excuse ) that this cannot be done or you cant do that because of Covid. Sadly your wife tooth will remain broken.
My dentist always wore gloves and a face mask long before Covid arrived and yet they were among the last to reopen.

Sent from my SM-A505FN using Tapatalk

 

[Live by the sea]

It will be very hard to find a NHS dentist to treat an emergency totally free as most have run out of funding through COVID .

If your dentist is any good then £45 to repair a cracked tooth is actually very good value . A good dentist even in Brighton seen privately to do the same job will charge you between £100 - 150 .

How else do you think private dentists can afford big detached houses in Hove ! Most good ones with a mixture of nhs & private can earn circa £300 k a year easily .

 

[Westdene Seagull]

It will be very hard to find a NHS dentist to treat an emergency totally free as most have run out of funding through COVID .

If your dentist is any good then £45 to repair a cracked tooth is actually very good value . A good dentist even in Brighton seen privately to do the same job will charge you between £100 - 150 .

How else do you think private dentists can afford big detached houses in Hove ! Most good ones with a mixture of nhs & private can earn circa £300 k a year easily .

It's not even as if I expect it to be fixed for free ( although all non-cosmetic dentistry should be under the NHS and so free at the point of delivery ), just that they shouldn't force NHS registered patients down the private route to line their own pockets. And like a previous poster has pointed out - how can any dentist have run out of NHS funding given they've refused to see anyone for months ?