How do you pay for your dentist service?

[cobrainterpun]

Our dentist closed its NHS service earlier in the year and there are no NHS dentists in our town now. The whole county is shutting its NHS doors so that's that really.

Our dentist has a 'prepaid monthly charge' which gives you 2 x checkup / X-ray and 2 x hygienist visits. For our family of 4 this would be £62 per month. It's such a lot of money that we don't really have. You get 10% off treatment but that would still be over a hundred for a filling, £250 for an extraction etc. such a lot of money to find. Do you pay something similar? Do you think it's worth it?

Do you go less frequent but try and put the same money aside in case treatment is needed?

Do you have dental insurance? I can see simplyhealth gives you the opportunity to claim back around half of your check ups and treatment.

There are no denplan dentists locally. Although I think that's similar?

I find the whole thing quite exhausting to think about. None of us have been to the dentist this year so far as it's just so hard to find the money for. A check up for us all is around £300. Another £350 for hygienist.

What does everyone else do?

Dentistry ,opticians ,prescriptions were originally free but demand was vastly underestimated ,costs escalated and the financial deficit in 1951 prompted fees to be instigated .
NHS dentistry has only ever been funded for the 50% of the population who regularly attended.
It has now got to the state when the cost per person treated , including patient charge , per year is around £36 . It's why NHS dentistry is now dead in the water when it costs upwards of £120 an hour to run a room in a practice in a cheap area.

Is it the case they actually "shut down" the NHS services, or is it that the Dentists aren't willing to take on any new patients under their allocation of NHS appointments? Or even decide they are going to be a 100% private practice?

We had to beg / ring up a gazzilion times when our dentist left, and we were then facing no NHS coverage as the other dentists in this BUPA practice were maxed out on their NHS allocation and couldn't take on any new NHS patients. Thankfully they did recruit a replacement dentist after a year, but we were worried for a while. We are only allowed 1 check up per annum under the NHS

@daisychain01 most of the dentists in this area were NHS and private originally (and we were patients at one) but gradually they have all completely closed their NHS service down and are 100% private. There isn't a single NHS dentist in my middle size town now. I think this county is ahead of the curve by the sound of it but likely to be the norm in the future.

my dentist walking distance away said because i didnt go during covid i was now private!
i managed to find an nhs dentist, half an hour drive away, after a 6 month wait.

I do a Denplan type of thing. £25.50 per month.

It took me two months to find the kids a nhs place and me a year, I heard it’s because the government pay them pennies for nhs patients so they can’t afford to.
can you stay on privately but not pay the monthly fee just do a pay as you go.
it’s so expensive though if anything needs doing

in the nhs dentist i go to i still have to pay the hygienist £70

Wow am feeling like we are lucky where we are for private options now 🙈 (I mean, it should be NHS but clearly theres none!)

We pay £11.99 per adult for 2 x check up, 2 x hygienest a yr plus 20% off treatments, and the kids are free because we are on the payment plan 😬😬

I find it infuriating that people literally cannot afford to see a dentist or for their kids to, yet I see nothing about it from government 😡

We go twice a year. Kids are free. DH and myself pay about £25 per visit for check up and hygienist. It's NHS

No NHS dentists for adults where I live (London borough ). I pay as I go - £50 for a check up, twice a year and £40 for the hygienist, twice a year.

I had an issue with a wisdom tooth and had it taken out, which was £90.

Your dentist seems expensive!

I pay as I go but luckily haven't needed expensive treatments.
No NHS dentists here so no choice but to go private .

Do you have any options via your work to set up a plan? I've joined a salary sacrifice scheme, £20pm with options to add family, treatment up to £1000/hygienist and check ups included.

I've got access to a NHS dentist, but the way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if they went private. I paid for some private treatment last year (white filling) so felt it would be worth the money.

Very few people need two checks ups and two hygiene visits a year. Hygienists didn't exist a few years ago, personally I think they are a rip off .. but then I have good teeth. So we pay as we go and have done for many years. We all go once a year for a check up, and all of us have only had one hygiene visit, ever. I wish dentists would go back to giving you a scrape and clean as part of your check up like they did pre-Covid.

Dental hygienists have been in the U.K. since 1932!

If you brush and clean in between your teeth effectively you should never need to see a hygienist as tartar is just plaque that has been left undisturbed for 24 hours or more.

NHS dental treatment is there to secure health, not improve the cosmetic look of your teeth. If you have gum disease it should be treated but removing a bit of staining or tartar from behind your lower front teeth has no health benefits so if you want it done it will have to be outside of the NHS l

We are extremely lucky to still have an NHS dentist, so payment isn't a major issue.

But are HSA still in existence? We were members years ago, and could claim back 50% of any medical/dental expenses. And as we were both members, it meant that I could claim 50%, and so could my husband, so 100% between us.

If they are still around, and we lost our NHS dentist, I'd look into re-joining, as the private fees are eye-watering.

The dentist who treats my teeth does do NHS work but only for those on benefits and DC. Everyone else pays full prices. I think that's fair tbh. I pay as I go. I paid £60 for a check up and quick scale and polish by the dentist. Took about 7 minutes. DH paid the same and his took 6 minutes. Foster Son is 17 so his checkup and longer scale and polish was free. His took about 12 minutes. We were all 3 in and out in exactly 25 minutes. We all go twice a year. I think it's scandalous that DC are made to pay and think DC should be able to claim a voucher like with opticians.

The problem with a voucher is in the U.K. , including patient payments, per person treated per year around £36 is spent.

A room in a NHS surgery costs from £120 an hour to run and a private practice from £180 an hour .

This is how far from reality the NHS fees have sunk and why practices are closing all around the country.

MyC during covid ours did make appointments for Dec 2020 which we all took up as we did not want to get booted off the list. I think you have to go once a year otherwise your NHS dentist has a legal right to remove you from the list. We have the highest tax burden in 70 years at the moment with the few paying masses of taxes for many who pay very little tax including very little VAT or council tax so I feel that if anyone should get free NHS care it should be those who pay the most tax not the other way round! Also when everyone receives a service including the better off there tends to be better provision.

We have nhs. Have done all my life. 2 visits per year.
But it feels precarious

Can you share the practice you use please? Also London based and paid £225 for wisdom tooth removal 🙃 (don’t ask what a root canal and crown cost)!