Badly need dental work but credit rating shot to hell

[overwhelmed]

I am a regular, namechanged.
Ive been on a debt management plan for the past 6 years.
I got into a huge amount of debt (£60k) and finally it all came to a head and I had to deal with it.
I've now paid back £40k and have another £23k to go.(3 years)
I pay 655 per month to payplan.
I am (now) very good with managing my money.
I had even started to save a little bit up each month to try and have some set aside for emergencies. Unfortunately my parents both got ill in the space of a few months and my savings got whittled away travelling to see them and look after them.
I have enough for day to day living, and paying my bills.
I just dont know how I will sort out the dentist.

I know some of them do payment plans, but surely that is dependant on a credit check?
Does anyone have any clue as to what I could do?

[Buddy80]

Firstly, a huge well done for re-paying such a large sum of money!

Is your dental work such that it needs hospital treatment? Also, do check if you can join an NHS practice, I was pleasantly surprised that the only one in our town was taking patients and could join. Failing that, find an NHS one further away and see if they can take patients.

Also, is there a dental school near you? Many universities offer free/discounted treatment.

[Ragwort]

You could also try asking at the local hospital if they have a 'dental access centre' - we have one where I live (not exactly a big city ) and they do NHS work. I recently moved and having had to pay privately for many years was also very pleased to get into a NHS dentist very easily.

[overwhelmed]

I dont know if it would require hospital treatment.
But even NHS dentists cost more than I have to spare. (£20 per month is allocated on my budget to pay for medical and dental costs!)
I have £210 for housekeeping, £40 for footwear/clothing and £12 for haircuts per month plus the £20 for medical

My dental costs will have to come out of that.

I've got a few broken teeth that need proper extraction, and I have another one with a filling thats fallen out.
I'm in London, and there are no NHS dentists taking on patients near me. I know that Guys have a dental school, but I vaguely think you need to be referred.
I have a dental phobia, which is why I (stupidly) left things for so long.

[MrsMorton]

Extractions, root canal treatments and fillings all come under band two charge of £48 you would pay £18 initially then top it up to £48.

I was at a course at the Royal London in Whitechapel(?) recently and they seemed to be taking patients. When I was training you had to go as an emergency patient nod they would ask you if you wanted to go on the student waiting list. I did some really Gucci , really expensive stuff on some of my patients. All for free!

[overwhelmed]

Would that be £48 per treatment? ( 4 extractions plus 1 filling -maybe, might be too late to save) Becuase I dont have £200.

If so I'll just have to save again for a couple of months, and be frugal with shopping.

But that also means finding a dentist that takes patients. Which is not that easy. My boss recently paid £600 for some root canal work and fillings. Non NHS

Its ridiculous, I earn good money, and if I had saved long ago instead of getting into debt, this wouldnt even be an issue. Sigh.

[lucidlady]

Go to the emergency dental clinic at Kings Hospital - they will be able to help.

[Ragwort]

Total treatment band is £48 - for extractions and fillings.

Contact a local dentist and explain clearly that you need the number for a dental acccess centre, or dental services at a hospital and take it from there.

(can you not use some of your clothing and hair cut money, sounds quite generous to me?)

[VerySmallSqueak]

It'll be on the £48 band for fillings and extractions.

It only goes up a band if you have bridges/caps or any of that stuff.

You can just have an extraction and leave the gap - it's what I did with my last two extractions as they weren't visible.

I am just honest and tell the dentist I cannot afford the next band for the sake of non-visible extractions.

[CrispyHedgeHog]

Kings College Hospital have a dental school and if you turn up really early they have an emergency clinic.. like 7.30 in the morning. If it's a complex job then usually a student will take it on for the experience.

I know this because a friend went there, has been having months of treatment and doesn't have to pay anything.

[VerySmallSqueak]

I agree with Ragwort in that I would certainly divert some clothing/hair money for essential dental work (particularly if I were in pain) as it may become worse if you wait too long.

[overwhelmed]

I don't have a problem using the household/clothes/hair money, just giving you an idea of how much disposable per month is available.
And if it was £48 per treatment, there wouldnt be much left for food and travel to work. Thats all...

Ok I will ring around on Tues and see what information I can get.
I just didnt know where to start.
Thank you all.

[NorthernLurker]

It's £48 per course of treatment - so whatever needs doing. To give you an example:

I had two teeth extracted late last year - my dentist referred me to max fax at the hospital because they were a bit tricky. Then she did a root filling and another filling, that was £48. However we then reviewed the root filled tooth and felt the best thing to do was to crown it (it's right at the back) that's in the next band so another £161. Right after that was done another deep filled tooth started attention seeking and that has now also been root filled and will be crowned. That comes under teh same band. So total spend in my case £209, total work done:
2 hospital extractions
2 root fillings
another filling
2 crowns.

I've now bought an electric toothbrush

[VerySmallSqueak]

No overwhelmed it'll be £48 for all the treatment.

Don't panic!

You can get it done within one course of treatment.

When I go for a check up and I need a filling I always ask if the dentist can see anything else that'll need doing imminently so I can get that done too and get my money's worth

[overwhelmed]

Thank all of you.
Just need to sort out a dentist now.
Will start tomorrow. have a few days off so can spend time trying to find one. (Needs to be a gentle one too as have phobia)

[crazynanna]

I went to eastmans dental hospital in London where already qualified dentists were getting another certificate in order to practice in their own surgery and they did me 3 fillings by an already qualified dentist, checked by a consultant, and paid me £200 as well!

[BoreOfWhabylon]

Put your postcode in here to find NHS dentists in your local area. It tells you which ones are currently taking new patients.