Thanks all for the replies. I am mid thirties, and provided I have regular cleaning and look after myself it is relatively under control but yes, was very rapid onset and as they did not bleed was almost symptomless, I look back and can see my gums were receding at a very young age and did not really notice.
I think what upset me was that I was lied to.
I went to this dentist and paid the £19 fee for my checkup, but the dentist looked at me for 2 minutes and then sent me to someone else who made me pay £50 for a scale and polish.
the NHS website clearly stated that £19.70 fee for band 1 treatment should have included the scale and polish I was made to pay £50 for.
I question the dentist and two staff at reception on this, and all of them lied to me and told me teeth cleaning was not included on the NHS.
He did not tell me it was an option for him to clean them, or for me to go elsewhere to another clinic, or explain my options to me. I was simply told I absolutely needed it and I absolutely had to pay those extortionate prices (£50 for 30 minutes, £100 for an hour)
Presuming that as an NHS dentist an appointment at band 1 the dentist would have been paid by both me and the NHS for my appointment, for him to do nothing other than to tell me I had to pay someone else privately to scale and polish them seems like he was ripping off both me and the taxpayer as that £19.70 is clearly meant to include what he made me pay again for.
It is not somethign to do with their clinic having special funding or insufficient facilities - they clearly admitted to me today that I always had the option to have the treatment free on the NHS and accused me of apparently having chosen to pay privately.
why would I do that? Scammers!
I have already made an appointment with another dental sergey who are going to do my cleaning free of charge.
This is not really the point, the point is really the disinformtation.
They could have told me before i began treatment that at their particular clinic it was not included and I would have elected to have gone elsewhere rather than letting my teeth deteriorate and being kept awake worrying how I was going to pay for it.
They could have told me I had the option to go somewhere else when I explained to them my financial difficulty.
They could have told me that teeth cleaning and periodontal treatment itself is "included" on the NHS services list but that at their particular clinic the dentist did not do it.
Instead I was vulnerable, going through a hard time in my life and have essentially been swindled out of hundreds of pounds I did not have, because this awful dental practice were trying to make money out of me.
I stood there today with two receptionists. One told me I had been charged for private treatment because my treatment was "too bad" for a dentist to handle. The other told me I had the option to go to a hospital fro treatment but "God knows what that would cost you". Then the dentist came out and told me that they would have given me my options when I signed as a patient.
They were just all saying different things.
Ive absolutely no doubt in my mind they are an NHS dentist, pushing people into paying for private treatment because they simply make a buck off it. which is fine, but if you tell the patient they have to pay for it, or that it would cost more if they go elsewhere - then you are a disgrace.
I was very upset and still am. Gum disease is very common, especially in the elderly, sick, poor - and when I think inmy mind that they falsely extracted £800 out of me in two years and then multiply that my probably hundred of other patients - then I do feel incredibly angry about that.
Most of those patients will never know they have an option but to pay these extortionate fees for their much needed dental treatment.
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