To be annoyed with dentist upselling

But it wasn't £260 for 10 minutes work. The fee reflects his lengthy training, experience and skills.

Tbf I've been with two private dentists and they've not been like this. In fact, they've saved me money where NHS recommended a treatment at every single appointment.

Think you just needed to a. Get a new private dentist and b. Say "No thank you" when offered a treatment you don't want

Mine's a private dentist too. Charged me £260 to pull out a tooth - 10 minutes work - and then tried to sell me an implant for said space where tooth was for £6k. Told me the roots of one set of teeth were horizontal and needed another implant put in to help straighten them - another £6k. I had to give a very firm no or he'd have been there all day trying to tell me how awful my, frankly lovely and very good teeth, are.

My dentists' surgery is ex NHS, but there is no upselling as far as DH and myself have noticed. Their website is very nice and the reception and waiting room recently refurbished but seeing the dentist is exactly like it was under the NHS.
I must just be lucky.
The main dentist isn't there much these days, she is busy with other things (being a real housewife. She's as lovely in real life as on tv).

I came away crying years ago when mine first went private. New dentist. She said I'd need thousands of pounds of work, when I was just starting as a trainee and the lowest pay bracket. By the time I had got home, I had planned our how many extra shifts I'd have to pick up to be able to get it done by next year (which would basically mean working 7 days a week and missing out on half a night's sleep).

My parents talked sense into me and now my teeth are fine - without all that work.

Is there no code of ethics for dentists!?!? Awful, using their position of expertise to rip off vulnerable, trusting people!!

My hygienist charges £84 a time. Two appointments a year are covered on the plan, but she wants me to have four.

The dentist took out a tooth and I had a small plate fitted. It’s t the back so not obvious. Each time I go, she tells that it would look so much better with an implant. Each time, I tell her that I don’t have the £6,500 to pay for it. The monthly fee, which keeps on rising, is supposed to knock 10% of the price of treatment. Haven’t noticed that happening either.

Its all a rip off.

My dentist is private but completely the opposite , I have regular hygienist and check ups because I need them and every time I ask about whitening or cosmetic options he shuts me down oh next time next time we'll discuss . It's good in one way that he doesn't have the hard sell but I want stuff done and would appreciate a conversation.

I get this from my NHS dentist!! "You might need a crown, here's the Private price and it will look nicer..."

My GP has an app (in addition to the proper NHS one that they refuse to use) that is full of adverts for private healthcare.

Utterly disgraceful. Consumer culture everywhere, shit public health service, and we wonder why we have a mental illness epidemic.

I am 60. The prospect of starting to lose teeth due to receding gums in my seventies isn’t exactly shocking.

I’m 71 and find the prospect extremely shocking. I have quarterly hygienist appointments for that very reason. I want to hold on to my 30 teeth for as long as possible.

To be fair, I could technically get in trouble for not offering you the full range of options for missing teeth/another clinical issue. Also it isn't for the dentist to know whether the implants are in your budget or not- plenty of very well off patients have NHS dental check ups.

My NHS dentist told me this week that unless I cough up for one hour long hygenist appointments every three months, in ten years I will start losing teeth.

I am 60. The prospect of starting to lose teeth due to receding gums in my seventies isn’t exactly shocking.

I already see hygenist every four months but might see what she says. It’s a worry because you should be able to trust them.

It sounds annoying. My dentist is very chilled out, no pressure, if he ever suggests or offers something it's because it's free or medically required. In fact he gave me a tooth whitening syringe for free last time without me asking.
So they are not all like that. Definitely change.

I had this with a private doctor once. He charged me £100 for an extra procedure without telling me about the charge.

I fought it and was accidentally copied into an email from a manager berating the doctor for doing this again. I didn’t have to pay.

I work in the nhs and always assess capacity to consent and informed consent. So I have high standards of expectations from others.

I'm in North Wales and apart from an emergency dental clinic on Sundays in Rhyl (that you have to prebook for via 111) there is no NHS dentistry available.
My current dentist has halitosis and calls me honeybun, which makes me cringe inside out. I dread going for my routine check ups (although I pay a monthly direct debit in order to do so) because I just know he will find something that needs doing, or recommend some kind of cosmetic treatment. I have schooled myself to say no thanks, or I need to think about that, or I can't afford that.

My NHS dentist tried this once when they started doing private stuff....ii laughed and told her not to be so silly.
She's never done it again

No you don't need to say no. Active and informed consent is the bedrock of modern clinical practice.

My dentist is nothing like this, he just cares about the health of my teeth.
I wouldn’t trust their judgment, I would be thinking is this work necessary or going to cause harm in the future. How can you need a new filling next year? You either need one now or you don’t need one.

Move to an NHS dentist as soon as you’re able to even if it means being added to a wait list.

He casually mentions that it’s better to do an air polish and it’s only £39 more
I DO NOT SAY YES. I don’t think I even said anything

But you need to say no, very clearly, even if your child is about to knock over a stool. You'll have to get used to saying no if you are going to continue going to that dentist.
The upselling sounds really annoying. Fortunately mine doesn't do that (private dentist not in the UK).
I think some of the examples people have quoted on your thread are awful such as the one saying you look like a tooth is missing. Awful thing to do and say. They know full well people are very self-conscious about their teeth.
All of this stuff isn't necessary as long as teeth are healthy. If teeth aren't completely straight it's usually ok, as long as you can get floss in between and they aren't too crowded (that's what my dentist says at least).

She also says that even though everyone is very self-conscious about teeth people don't really notice minor cosmetic issues with them and "if they do and don't like it they can fuck off" (she's a bit of a special kind of dentist really!)

It's all about making as much money as possible and preying on people's insecurities and I feel said that it's got to this stage.
See all those young people going and getting Turkey Teeth. That's horrendous. Healthy teeth being ruined because of all this propaganda about having a perfect Hollywood smile.

My NHS dentist tried to upsell a modern brace to me. It would only be about £2k with a payment plan. And I'm on tax credits.
I used to really love my dentists surgery but these days they do my head in. One of them freaks out as I have sugary food and I get a lecture about that. I'm 50 and have never had a filling and I floss.

My dentist has just cancelled their NHS contract and for various reasons I am not staying.

I am therefore looking elsewhere. The majority (including my current one) are all "Smile Centres" with it seeming that actual dentistry is just a little inconvenience on the side. There obviously is no money in just routine checkups (prices so far are £50 up to £80) so everything else is up for the sell.

I have teeth that are ripe for up-selling (large gap at the front) but I hope they don't try it on me (would be shut down very quickly if it was)

My private dentist is the same and after paying £500 for unnecessary treatment, and being advised to have ceramic veneers at £1k a tooth, I’ve learned to say no thanks. My hygienist told me that my teeth and gums are healthy and that’s good enough for me.

I briefly had a similar dentist who had a side line in all manner of upsells.

He asked whether I wanted a retinol face cream for my 'menopausal' skin and advised that he also did whitening and botox! I pointed out that I was in my 30's, not menopausal and was soon to start IVF. So NO- I didn't want any of his stuff! I wrote a complaint to the manager and never went back.