How do people afford / pay for U.K. dentistry?

[yellowgreyblue]

Reading the other thread on missing teeth got me thinking in this current climate of increased living costs / post covid waiting lists / NHS dentists don't accept people anymore....how the hell do people pay for dentists???

I'm lucky to have an NHS place but even then a filling or planned extraction is £65.20 (more than a weekly shop for me). If you need dentures / bridges / crowns are £282.80. In an emergency you get things done for band 1 which is £23.80 but that covers fixing the emergency pain etc not necessarily the full treatment for the problem.

Private dentistry at my surgery is eye watering - initial consultation £84; check up with scale and polish £94; check up £54; filling £201; extraction £183; bridge £2100; crown £624; dentures £887; implant £2400.

What do you do if you have no money and especially no NHS dentist? I just don't get it. And you never need just one thing, it's always multiple I.e. check up, clean and filling etc.

We're single income family with disabled children and very little spare money. No benefits that qualify for free NhS treatment. I worry about us and everyone else's teeth. Am I missing something here? How are people doing it?

I can totally appreciate that dentistry is mega expensive to run. I work in the NHS and the real cost of treatments is eye watering.

What's the answer though? Some people can't even afford £20 a month for denplan even if that does mean you're covered for check ups etc. If there's no other option but private on some level and no money, what do people do????

@feellikeanalien

I have a number of issues with my teeth which although not urgent at the moment will probably become so.

My NHS dentist chucked me off the list and I cannot find another one. I could keep going to my old dentist if I pay privately. I can't afford to go private so will have to wait until I am in so much pain that I have to seek emergency treatment on the NHS.

Thankfully DD was not thrown off the list.

The state of dental treatment in this country is appalling and I don't see it improving any time soon.

Same for me. Chucked off the list because I didn’t attend an appointment during lockdown when they were shut Dc still go but I don’t.

• They pay cash from earnings
• Denplan / other insurance
• NHS or practice specific payment plans
• Credit cards / loans
• They don’t go to the dentist

Denplan and also work give me private healthcare insurance which includes a certain amount towards dentistry costs.

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda

- They pay cash from earnings

• Denplan / other insurance
• NHS or practice specific payment plans
• Credit cards / loans
• They don’t go to the dentist

Oh forgot

• Some travel abroad for big ticket treatments (implants and the like)

I have a new private dentist who charges quite low compared to the others...she is very good...a crown is about £120 more than the nhs banding charge...but generally i go abroad...turkey or usually barcelona...its cheaper and better treatment...and if you pay cash you get about 20% off the price...they do like the cash in spain...!!...my good local nhs dentists have a one year wait just to get registered....i think all the new dental graduates rush into cosmetic private practice...never seen a young nhs dentist these days...

I know what you mean! We have to travel 1.5 hours to our old town to go to our dentist as we moved last year and there’s no-one taking on NHS patients here. I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to do that but I’m staying on that gig for as long as possible as we can’t afford to go private.

I remember when DS was being assessed for braces (top and bottom) I naively thought that everyone got them for free, as when I was a kid so wasn’t worried. Fortunately it turned out he did qualify for free treatment as his teeth were very crooked, almost identical to mine actually except I was landed with a head brace 😆 Anyway, had it not been free, he’d still have wonky teeth because I was a single parent back there receiving no maintenance and there was no way I could have justified thousands of pounds for orthodontic treatment. I feel so sorry for any kids getting teased just because their parents can’t afford it and the government aren’t supplying it as they should be.

"On denplan then, you're paying £240 a year in monthly instalments and you get 2 check ups and 2 cleans - but that would cost £190 as a private patient at my surgery anyway. So you're paying £50 more to get 20% off treatment if you need it....but you still might not need treatment so you've overpaid and if you do need treatment, you still might pay hundreds which I couldn't afford anyway so would have to politely decline!

What happens if you have no NHS dentist but need emergency treatment? Does the NHS technically need to find you an emergency dentist?

I agree the state of oral health is going to go downhill....
The advantage with denplan is you will definitely go at least twice a year to get the best value for your money, whereas if you had to pay separately you may not or skip visits.

Also any emergency appointments are free, whereas if you aren't a denplan member you have to pay for any emergency appointments. Obviously have to pay for any treatment but you get a small discount*"

*Sorry was trying to quote the above but can't do it on my phone.
What you are describing is Denplan Essentials. Denplan Care covers the cost of all necessary treatment as well. The only extras being lab bills. You pay a bit extra though, but it's usually cost effective.
On top of that is an insurance element, so emergency treatment t abroad is covered, as well as trauma.

@ExplodingElephants

NHS orthodontic treatment is free for those that need it the most. They assess the malocclusion and find the worst cases. It's free in Scotland up to the age of 25, however there are massive backlogs due to Covid

Oh really @Mossstitch - I had no idea! I presumed I’d end up paying for it somehow, I didn’t ask my dentist at the time! I don’t really understand the process either, he gave me a letter that I have to take to the X-ray clinic (without an appointment so I guess it’s just a walk in thing and I can’t figure out the best time to just go and turn up without having to wait for hours!), they take the X-rays and then will send me with a images on a disc (this is what he said ), which I take back to the dentist and then he sends me back to the hospital to get them taken out?! Something to do with where I live; he said if I had a different postcode they could take all the X-rays at the dentist surgery… anyway, it all seems a bit convoluted and I can’t bring myself to get the ball rolling! I should add, I’m utterly terrified of the dentist in general!! Not the man himself, he’s perfectly nice, just people doing things to my mouth

@electrocautery
Yeah I think it's a different name for the one I have not denplan, there are other option where they assess the condition of your teeth and then give you a price that would include any treatment needed too. But it's a lot more expensive. Mine is approx 14.50 a month.

@TheChosenTwo sympathies, I too have dental phobia from childhood experiences🙈 two of my sons have impacted wisdom teeth, and we work at a hospital, one has had them out and the other is on the waiting list and definitely no charge👍. NHS dental treatment is very confusing isn't it, I've just been to the dentist and been told I need a broken tooth out and 60 something pounds but if you need it done at a hospital it's free🤷

My dentist has gone private but kept having fees for lower bands and appointments. The higher bands though are scary.

I get a bit of UC each month, so that covers the cost of emergency and basic treatment. I have 2 teeth missing near the front. I've been begging dentists for a bridge for years now but they won't do it on the NHS. A tooth on the other side is now on its way out, and the only option I'm being offered is extraction and an even bigger denture than the one I have now. I hate my denture

Dh has Denplan which is about £25 a month and I pay privately as I only go twice a year and I've not needed treatment in over thirty years (touch wood!). I've now gone on to once yearly check ups as I went a few weeks ago for the first time since covid and it was £85 😳.

Ds (age 14) has just been told he will no longer get NHS treatment so looks like we will have to pay private for him too. It's outrageous.

Ohmnomnom

I had a bridge on the NHS, and need another one, which will also be NHS. Your dentist just doesn’t want to do it.

My nhs dentist went fully private this month. In my county there is now no nhs dentist with space. I have gone with My Dentist (which I think is a chain.) I pay £35 a check-up and about £90 a filling. I need a bite guard which will be £140, half the nhs price.

What galls me is I now pay more NI and sit in the waiting room next to nhs patients. They pay less for the same treatment. I pay more NI and don't have a nhs dentist. So angry about this. There waiting list for nhs is closed as there are 800 already on it.