NHS dentist - does yours scale & polish?

[Starrydream]

At a standard check-up appointment does your NHS dentist scale & polish your teeth?

According to the NHS website this is included in Band 1 treatment (£25.80), but my dentist literally checks my teeth for cavities and that’s it. He done absolutely nothing else whatsoever for the past 9 years.

I have always been told to see the hygienist if I want to but their price has gone from £45 pre-Covid to £87. This is for a 30-minute appointment but I am in/out in 8-10 mins as I only ever have superficial staining (from too much tea) on 3 front teeth, and a tiny bit of plaque sometimes.

It’s got me thinking following a conversation with two people today who say their dentist has always scraped and cleaned their teeth during a standard Band 1 appointment and they never see a hygienist (they have lovely white, clean-looking teeth too).

What are other people’s experiences please?

LOL same

Amazing how private dentistry didn't have the same restrictions. 🤔

I went the other week and my dentist asked if I saw the hygienist. I said that my last 3 appointments with the H had been cancelled so I had given up. She then proceeded to scale my teeth but no polish! Hygienist costs £60.

It used to happen at checkups, but not anymore. I book a separate appointment with hygienist. Recently, I decided to scrap checkups and just do the hygienist from then on. With no cleaning whatsoever going on, it seems pointless having checkups.

Can anyone give me a good reason to book checkups in addition to hygienist, who I see every 3 months. She said I could do less frequent now, every 4 months or even 6. Teeth are so important, tho, not just in terms of preventing decay, but aesthetically and looking good so I'd rather be cautious

Yes, this! Your hygienist will be giving your teeth a more thorough look than your dentist. If they spot any issues, then you can book to see your dentist.
The people I know who have an NHS dentist just get a brief 30 second look twice a year. Some know they have issues, but it was never brought up.

My NHS dentist does x-rays of my teeth every other year, as well as checking them, but I have to pay for the hygienist, which is £65.

Probably because NHS dental care is so poorly paid it would be financially unviable to do a scaling as part of an NHS exam fee. (Given the cost of PPE and how there had to be fallow time between patients). At a private rate the clinic is at least reasonably reimbursed for that.

Hygiene / therapists aren't able to treatment plan the way dentists can. They might spot some issues and refer you on to a dentist for a further review.

@catlovingdoctor that's fine(ish) for when there's a problem, but it wouldn't be anything like even once a year so that's a lot of money saved

No, whether private or NHS

I last had an NHS dentist 5 years ago, admittedly, but yes, they always did it then

Now I pay £24 a month for private which includes 2 dental checkups a year and 4 hygienist visits including scale and polish. I think that's a good price tbf

14 years ago when I was last registered with an NHS dentist they didn't do it then.

Yes, until very recently a S&P was included. At my last visit in October I was advised in future NHS fee would only cover the 'S' element, and not the 'P' element. My dentist indicated it was an insane directive and he intends to continue to spend the two minutes polishing as before at no additional cost to patients.

He's my hero - young, handsome, personable, very patient and kind. I've referred so many people to him who agree he is exactly as I described. At least two people who had phobias about dental treatment never stop thanking me for referring them to him.

Go, Ahmed!! 🙂

I went to my dentist about the heavy staining on my upper front teeth and about 5 of the teeth being cracked and chipped all along the bottom. I receive universal credit.
Last week my dentist drilled off all staining and filled the cracks and chips with colour matched composite to make the bottoms perfectly rounded. Next appt is to take impressions to make me gum shields to wear at night in case I’m grinding in my sleep. I've not paid a penny.
I used to be terrified of going to the dentists but my dentists have been unequivocally lovely. Before now, many fillings done to back teeth using composite, stain removal from back of lower front teeth, filling in gum erosion on lower front teeth with composite, even replacing older composite fillings that had stained.

After having my front teeth fixed, I feel like a new person. I’m not embarrassed to smile any more, it's made such a difference to my life.

I only pay £80 for my hygienist appointments privately and I’m in there for usually about 45 mins.

i can also get an appointment with them in about a month, which I could never have done with my NHS dentist. In fact, I never went to a hygienist on the NHS because I literally never managed to get an appointment with one. Discovered in my mid thirties I had been cleaning my teeth incorrectly.

Mine does. Well she did but she has left and I'm booked with a different dentist next week.

She also did an 'NHS deep clean' on one occasion.

It seems like there is a mix of whether a dentist does a S&P then.

When people are saying no S&P since Covid, who says this? It isn’t what is on the NHS website which is what the public use for guidelines and says a basic S&P is part of Band 1.

In the country I am from you have 15 minute appointments and the dentist checks, scrapes and cleans your teeth. No such thing as a hygienist.

In England it smacks of another way to rip off the public as no doubt the dental surgeries take a high percentage of the hygienists fees, while they also take the NHS funding and have you in and out of the dentists chair in mere minutes. I think it’s disgraceful how people are ripped off here and we all roll over and accept it.

My hygienist has gone from £40 to £80 since the pandemic and I’m in her chair no more than 10 mins (I’ve timed it as the first time it was so fast I was shocked).

Mine never has, has to be the hygienist separately, about £30 iirc

£24 to see the hygienist before Brexit, £60 now.

I used to keep my childhood dentist in the south coast until he retired - now go to a practice run by a chap a friend trained with in London - NHS - probably for the last 20 years - old dentist did scale and polish - current one never did/ does - I see the hygienist 3-4 times a year and also have teeth whitened ( an attempt to look younger ….. along with the hair dye and Botox )

At my dental practice in England I always had time see the hygienist for this service but I don't know if it was because my teeth were more stained so the process took longer than the average dentist appointment That was well over 10 years ago. In Scotland my nhs dentist does it but it's never took longer than 10 minutes so not sure if it's as thorough or my teeth are less stained/have less plaque build up than previously.

Under NHS dentists I never had more than a very basic scrape, had my teeth polished once in my life (I'm 44). To be fair I don't get that much tartar build up.

Recently our nhs dentist went private and there are no nhs dentists locally taking on new patients. So we moved to a private dentist in a cheaper part of town. They charge £40 for a check up and £80 for a full scale and polish. Had my first one yesterday and I was in the chair for nearly 30 minutes and they did a really thorough clean. I was laughing so hard through it my son asked if they'd given me laughing gas.

They also charge £15 for my children and were able to refer my son to the nhs dental hospital for an orthodontist as he's going to need some serious braces.

We didn't bother getting one of the payment plans as we are fortunate to have pretty good teeth. The dentist said I'm fine with a check up once a year and a clean once a year.

I was talking to an nhs patient in waiting room at hygienists and she was angry that she had to pay for scale polish ...i agree with her tbh..if on benefits you should get scale polish, tartar can cause big problems so its not just cosmetic..i work so pay full whack... before pandemic i paid 45 for scale polish..it is now...90 quid 😮

Mine does. I'm pretty strict about going every 6 months though and I think it doesn't build up that much, maybe they'd tell me to go to the hygienist if it were a bigger job.

Yes, my NHS dentist offers a scale and polish every time. I just went last week.