Dentists refusing to do costly treatments?

It’s not the fault of the dentists. It’s the fault of the government, who haven’t increased the money they pay the dentists to cover the actual costs of the treatment. So some treatments would actually see a dentist at a loss if they did it under the NHS. Therefore they have no option but to charge private fees for if. The costs associated with dentistry are phenomenal, all fixed costs have gone up exponentially for dental practices and the NHS fees don’t cover the work. And no I’m not a dentist, but I know how to read and count and this information is readily available and plain to see if you care to look.

Agree with PP, it is not the dentists fault, it is structural issues with the NHS/gov

I live in a part of the country where NHS dentists are like hens' teeth, ours gave back their contract and the nearest for adults is a couple of hours away. I would be very happy with the options offered by your NHS dentist as my family has no choice but private all the way.

Nhs Dentists aren't there for cosmetic reasons. You're lucky to even have an nhs dentist. Its no different then other body parts the nhs will only pay for certain things.

Why would they do implants on the NHS? They will only pay for dentures on the NHS. Your mad to think they would be willing to spend thousands on implants.

What @BeetyAxe said, sadly. It's an absolute disgrace how successive governments have just not bothered to make sure we have a functioning public dentistry service.

The NHS is too busy trying to get nurses struck off in Darlington, paying for gender reassignment (arguably a form of cosmetic surgery) all over the place, and generally spaffing money up the wall on rainbow everything and expensive management who sit on their arses coming up with this nonsense. It’s tragic and needs to end. NHS dentistry and MH services for serious mental illness have been down the drain for at least the last 15 years despite the fact the civilised world has never had so many treatment options for both. I don’t blame you for wanting more OP. Bridges used to be available on the NHS in the 80s because DF had one done. Every salary for a gender services doctor or NHS plastic surgeon could have been money for at least one NHS dentist. Dentists would help more people as the appointment times are generally shorter.

Root canal is a band 2 NHS treatment. A bridge is a band 3 treament - but only for function, not cosmetic reasons.

I didn't think an NHS dentist could refuse clinically necessary NHS treatment in order to force you to pay for the same privately. Have you got a written treament plan? Can you ask them to explain why it needs to be done privately?

Locally we have seen a significant increase in NHS dentist provision over the last year. Using the NHS online Find a Dentist tool, there are 3 within 5 miles accepting new NHS patients.

I presume this is a back tooth.

Root canals on back teeth can be very complex and so many will need to be done by a specialist as it is not medico legally defensible to “have a go” without right training and equipment.

In the vast majority of the UK the NHS does not hav ed specialist endodontists so Amy referral would have to be private.

One tooth missing is not a health matter and the NHS does not provide implants except in very speciaL circumstances eg oral cancer .

Bridges are also not provided for back teeth or where multiple teeth are missing.

The NHS is there to secure health as simply as possible. The options may not be what you would prefer , but then you have to be told what the private options are.

Teeth don’t weaken if there’s a gap. Indeed there is the concept from the World Health Organisation of a shortened dental arch , in other words in order to be able to eat etc you only need 20 teeth instead of the 32 most people naturally have .

NHS dental treatment is about health not aesthetics so the fact a gap may be visible is something that you might not like but is not a health problem.

Most dentists who do NHS work will lose money on it , the private side subsides it. This is true for even the simplest treatment eg check ups etc. For many treatments they would lose less money giving you £20 to go elsewhere. https://www.bda.org/media-centre/nhs-dentistry-treasury-now-no1-roadblock-to-saving-service/

We have an NHS dentist .. they do root canals, and bridges via the NHS Banding. My husband has had both in the past year.

The question will be not how it looks without the tooth, but can you functionally eat without it. My nhs dentist is really against bridges as they can damage the adjacent teeth and can end up looking more teeth. She does root canals on nhs but only is she is 90% sure the tooth can be saved. If she feels the root canal with likely fail, she won't do it.

My dentist told me the same about one of my teeth that needs root canal treatment. He said he would have to refer me to a different dentist in the practice who does the root canal work but only works privately. Same as you it's a premolar. He said it will then need a crown that will also be done privately. I'm going to have an extraction that will be done NHS. I know I am lucky to even have an NHS dentist but also feel that they are being disingenuous to say that they offer NHS treatments.

Not sure why you think your teeth should be paid for tbh. My root canal was upwards of £1200

Why? I've had to have a few teeth extracted but I was never told of this causing any other potential issues.

At the practice I go to they have a revolving door of NHS dentists, usually recently qualified dentists or newcomers that never stay longer than a few months, just get a text cancelling check ups and told to keep checking if a new one has taken a room.They insist they offer "all" NHS funded treatments but in reality don't offer root canals or crowns. They can advise you need to seek a private root canal and they will crown privately as it is "not clinically necessary" for them to perform it as an extraction is available on NHS or can say it is a complex case, hence an endodontist referral. Basically, in my area IF you can get an NHS dentist, you get a very quick10 minute check up, amalgam fillings ( or white at front) and extractions. You have to pay them privately for other white fillings etc. No polish or scale, just see Hygienist £85+.

It's so expensive , a root canal with an endondontist is £100 consult plus £980 no guarantee and then £900+ for the crown with the dentist plus the cost of the dentist check up. NHS Dentistry has gone backwards, they need a huge change in the contracts with dentists. The dentist loses money doing root canals and crowns. Also, they have to juggle how many "units" of treatment they can offer in a session or risk not being paid by the NHS

If you are an nhs patient they should be providing all the services. I have an nhs dentist and have just had a crown fitted with a band 3 treatment price. I would be contacting 111 and asking for an out of hours dental appointment to get your nhs treatment.

What issues do you think an extraction would cause?

As PP said, the NHS is not for cosmetic dental work.

My friend damaged their two front bottom
teeth In an accident. They found An nhs dentist to look at them and they were going to take them out. I said go private for a second opinion and they saved the teeth for about 150 quid. Always get a second opinion.

Having a gap in your mouth is not good, it can lead to teeth shifting and bone loss which can lead to pain and functional bite problems later in life. I have just been through an extensive braces and orthognatic surgery process to avoid my bite problems getting worse. I would do everything to avoid having this again.

No wonder British people have a reputation for having bad teeth as the accepted wisdom on this thread seems to be that just extracting teeth is good enough.