Dentist - NHS or private?

[popapoppadum]

Reading this morning about the lack of NHS provision for dental treatment. I'm interested to see how many people are already going private and what your experience has been compared to NHS.

I'm private - I avoid the NHS at all costs. The dentist I go to only takes private patients and I can get an appointment whenever suits me, there is a 24 hour emergency service, the dentist takes her time and I never feel rushed into making a decision. The practice is immaculate. It's worth every penny.

Compared to the run down NHS dentist with it's unhelpful reception staff and tired worn down dentists the difference is night and day.

Out of curiosity why did you pay for the crown? That's band 3 on the NHS.

We were all NHS patients at our old location but relocated for work and there are no dentists taking NHS patients in our new location so have had to go private. Fortunately I have private dental insurance through work that covers my family so it's costing pretty much the same as the NHS costs were, and will work out less if we do need treatment beyond basic checks and hygienist.

No difference between NHS and private level of service for us - check ups are the same including x rays. Still book them six months ahead. There seems to be longer waits in reception at the private dentist. The private staff are grumpier but it might be that they're sick of being moaned at for not having any NHS provision?!

There isn't any difference except the price and maybe some materials depending on practice.

I do a combination of both. Private is eye wateringly expensive though.

Neither. Basically I don’t have a dentist, until o have an issue then have to go private if it’s bad enough. My child is just getting teeth and will have to look at a private dentist for her but have no scope to pay monthly so not sure what I’m going to do 😭

I love the private x-ray machine,so much nicer than having your mouth full of plates and trying not to gag!

Been with my nhs dentist 18 years. Did want to move to a closer practice when we moved but no availability. In recent years my problems have been :

1. Not being able to get an appointment when I had a cracked tooth for 8 months,
2. They seem to cancel the NHS appointments much more often than they used to so I'll end up on average an appointment every 9 months and same for dc,
3. Dc not getting orthodontic treatment on nhs even though they said he could because by the time his health was good enough to go ahead and they'd messed around he was too old.

Definitely seems a two tear system in recent years at our practice. My neighbour is nhs, her dh is private at same practice as us he Definitely gets the best treatment.

I switched to Private after a troublesome tooth that 4 NHS dentists over many years couldn’t deal with. He sorted it instantly.
The Practice too the DC as NHS because I was there as a Private patient but I am not sure what will happened when DD is 18
Luckily we can afford it

I've been private for years now, I was with an NHS dentist but decided to make the switch. I much prefer private, whenever I've had issues, they see me ASAP. Last time my wisdom tooth caused me pain, I came in for them to have a look, 10 minutes later it was out and the pain was gone. It's worth the money IMO

My two relevant experiences. First, private dentist missed tooth staining behind front tooth. Changed dentists to new NHS dentist (this was early 2000s) due to costs and they immediately spotted the stain and took care of it. Second, private dentist tried to tell me ALL my molars needed filling(!). Clearly not true. That was 2013 and since then none of them have had to be filled. Back with my NHS dentist who is brilliant.

DH can't find an NHS dentist near us so will be looking at private treatment soon. Looks like privatisation is on the cards for all of dentistry in the next few years!

I would look for one that does denplan
£17pm gets me 6 monthly check up, 6 monthly hygienist and any work needed a plus x rays etc

Private, my friends who are nhs with the same dentist have a longer wait for an appointment.

There was also a thing on the local Facebook page about a dentists cancelling the nhs appointments at short notice. But the people who were private didn't have theirs cancelled.

Are you sure that includes treatment because that's really cheap!

I've been using private (BUPA) for the past 6 years and the quality is so much better than the NHS dental I received. I have problems with my teeth and have needed fillings etc, the NHS fillings were done so poorly the BUPA dentist had to replace them all, he said the NHS fillings were actually causing more harm than if I didn't have them.

The private dental are a lot more thorough, I've had 3D scans of my jaws taken, they check for cancer, they advise on preventive work I can have done.

I decided to have my wisdom teeth extractions done on the NHS as the private cost was astronomical and the NHS dentist managed to cock it up and not be able to extract my tooth fully - I am still awaiting for this to be done by another NHS clinic that they passed me over to. It's only been 2 years...

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor yes, it's denplan care I have. I've been on it for years and don't have any teeth issues so my cost is pretty cheap

I went private during lockdown 2020 as I needed to see a dentist so I've stuck with them. I'm on Denplan and have a 6 monthly check up and hygienist every 3 months.
I've just had a check up and it took about 45 minutes, they were very thorough.

This is what I get, and what I pay
If it's something little like cosmetic bonding I don't pay. My night mouthguard is just the lab fee
Think the check up and hygienist alone is over £140 (together) so the cost of the direct debit covers that anyway twice a year

Wow that's pretty good going. Will check out denplan, thanks.

Myself and husband are on a joint denplan (so private). I was previously with NHS but had shocking treatment so made the jump. We pay £29.26 a month - but a bigger portion of that is my husband as he has far more issues with his teeth.

Denplan are great IMO, get two check ups a year, two lots of hygiene work and anything else that's required. X-rays done regularly just to check. One bank holiday and the husband chipped his tooth - still someone on the end of the phone and he was seen the next morning.

I switched to private a couple of years ago as my NHS dentist wouldn't do a fairly straightforward root canal, and I didnt want to lose the tooth. I've subsequently had some other work done, and I've been so glad I am at my current dentist as I know my old NHS dentist would have just wanted to pull the tooth. The main difference for me between NHS and private (apart from the cost) is that the private dentist will go to more effort to try and save a tooth whereas pulling it out seemed to be the default option at my old dentist.

I've moved my children there now as well because a lot of the problems I now have are from crap dentistry as a child, and I don't want them to have the same issues. Before I moved them, they were booked in for a ten minute appointment each, but both were in and out in 5 minutes. The dentist mentioned to dd1 that her brushing could do with some improvement, but didn't show her where or how. At their new dentist, they see a hygienist as well who gives their teeth a really good clean and there is more of a focus on preventative dentistry.

I’m on this plan too, spent maybe 1500 this year on top of the monthly fees. Declined one crown.

I was previously on Denplan (£33/month) but they cancelled my last two appointments; on switching dentists I was told by the new one that I needed lots done but Denplan are paid per person and always do as little as possible.

Ah right, so it's not everything included, you'd still have to pay for a crown. Will look into it though.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor yes, lab fees does bring it down a fair bit though
It works out cheaper paying denplan than paying for twice a year check up and hygienist which is why I took it
The hygienist is great too, it was a good 25 min appointment brutal