Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Dental fees & NHS entitlement

54 replies

Garlicked · 27/04/2024 20:20

My teeth are utterly fucked and I need jaw surgery, which can't be done until the teeth are fixed. I'm a State pensioner, so have very little money but I get PIP and, because of that, pension credit. This entitles me to NHS treatment. As we all know, however, dentists aren't doing NHS work.

My question is whether private dentists can claim back the portion of the fees which the NHS would cover? So, if I need something they charge at £500 and the NHS would pay £150, should they be able to charge me £350 and get the difference back?

I haven't been able to find out whether the NHS has a list of approved dentists but won't pay others? If I ask at a dental practice, they look as if I've asked for their firstborn in a tasty stew 🤨 and tell me to go to the Dental Access Centre - which isn't accepting new patients.

There are only a few practices here and I don't want to scare them all off, so am hoping somebody knows for sure! If there's some form I need or a particular wording, I could approach with more confidence. Or am I stuck with Poverty Teeth until they all fall out?

OP posts:
aodirjjd · 27/04/2024 20:24

Sorry to be bearer of bad news but the way it works is each dental place will take on as many nhs patients as they want and then after that everyone pays private. If you are an nhs dentist you can top up the nhs charge to cover extras like white fillings but you can get nhs funding without being registered as an nhs patient.

Bumblebeeinatree · 27/04/2024 20:26

Everyone is entitled to NHS dentistry, assuming you pay your taxes, although you still pay the NHS fees, or are you saying you should get NHS completely free? I think it's NHS or Private, if you can't get NHS you pay the full whack.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Dental health General health
goingdownfighting · 27/04/2024 20:27

You can claim back nhs costs after means testing. I think it's a HC1 form.

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 20:27

But what she's saying is that she can't get an appointment with an NHS dentist.

Where I am there are absolutely no NHS dentists. Not even for children. Not for emergencies.

Skiphopbump · 27/04/2024 20:27

You need to put your name on a waiting list for NHS treatment.

Im having private dental treatment costing around £2k. The dentist has payments plans.

Octavia64 · 27/04/2024 20:36

No private dentists cannot claim back the portion of the costs the NHS would pay.

There basically are no NHS dentists any more.

bows101 · 27/04/2024 20:38

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but a lot of people are entitled to NHS dental but sadly no one is getting it. Even children.
So no they/you won't be able to claim a proportion back.
Best thing you can do is wait for an NHS dentist 🤞🏼

OpusGiemuJavlo · 27/04/2024 20:44

It's not true that there are no nhs dentists. There aren't nearly enough, but there are some.

OP do you have a university city with a school of dentistry near you? Dentistry practices within reasonable commuting distances of such cities will often have some practices that do nhs work but they will often have long waiting lists for new patients.

Original poster
Garlicked · 27/04/2024 20:45

goingdownfighting · 27/04/2024 20:27

You can claim back nhs costs after means testing. I think it's a HC1 form.

Oh, that's interesting. Thank you! So it looks as though, if I can pay, I can claim back part of the cost?

I need to double-check this ... and save faster.

OP posts:
Skiphopbump · 27/04/2024 20:50

Garlicked · 27/04/2024 20:45

Oh, that's interesting. Thank you! So it looks as though, if I can pay, I can claim back part of the cost?

I need to double-check this ... and save faster.

Show quote history

Surepy this is only if you have an NHS dentist and have paid the band 1. 2 or 3 charge when you didn’t need too due to being entitled to free NHS treatment.

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 20:54

It's not true that there are no nhs dentists. There aren't nearly enough, but there are some.

There are none where I am. At all. We had two nhs dental practices and they have both become completely 100% private.

FiveTreeHill · 27/04/2024 20:55

No a private dentist cannot claim back what the NHS pays, that's essentially just NHS dentistry. A private dentist is just that private, you pay 100% of their fees and they get no money from the NHS for your treatment

What jaw surgery do you need that they won't do until your teeth are fixed?

Littlemissprosecco · 27/04/2024 20:58

No, you can’t get private dentures then claim back the nhs fee

FiveTreeHill · 27/04/2024 20:59

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 20:54

It's not true that there are no nhs dentists. There aren't nearly enough, but there are some.

There are none where I am. At all. We had two nhs dental practices and they have both become completely 100% private.

What do you mean where you are from? Plenty of towns won't have an NHS dentist, as they never have but that doesn't mean there's no NHS dentists available to you.

There are still plenty of NHS dentists, but they aren't often taking on new patients and spaces are definitely less than there were, but they do exist.

Original poster
Garlicked · 27/04/2024 21:02

FiveTreeHill · 27/04/2024 20:55

No a private dentist cannot claim back what the NHS pays, that's essentially just NHS dentistry. A private dentist is just that private, you pay 100% of their fees and they get no money from the NHS for your treatment

What jaw surgery do you need that they won't do until your teeth are fixed?

Shit. This needs more investigation! The govt website doesn't say you have to go to an NHS dentist, but neither does it say you can use any dentist Confused I'll try the helpline next week.

Large cyst in my jaw. I've had this before, the surgery's a bastard. All teeth have to be solidly fixed or out, no infections, and last time I had to have root canal filling beforehand.

OP posts:
FiveTreeHill · 27/04/2024 21:09

Garlicked · 27/04/2024 21:02

Shit. This needs more investigation! The govt website doesn't say you have to go to an NHS dentist, but neither does it say you can use any dentist Confused I'll try the helpline next week.

Large cyst in my jaw. I've had this before, the surgery's a bastard. All teeth have to be solidly fixed or out, no infections, and last time I had to have root canal filling beforehand.

Show quote history

It doesn't need further investigation, almost everyone on this thread has told you the answer.

You are either a private patient in which case you pay all fees or you are an NHS patient which is treatment subsidised by the NHS.

All dental practices are private businesses. The government awards an NHS contract which gives them x amount of work. You will either be an NHS patient, in which case all your treatment is subsidised by the NHS, or you will be a private patient. If you want NHS treatment you need to find a practice taking on NHS patients, which are few and far between

A cyst removal doesn't need to wait until all your teeth are healthy, teeth that are causing the cyst will need RCT or extraction.

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 21:11

Last Easter I had tooth pain. I tried to get an appointment with my nhs dentist,M there were no appointments. The pain got worse. I tried for a week and a half to get an emergency appointment at my nhs practice. I couldn't. Eventually they told me that it was because there were no dentists.

In the meantime I phoned every single NHS dentist within a two hour drive, starting with the ones that said that they were taking on new patients trying to get an emergency appointment. I was not successful.

I went to A&E because the pain was increasing. They told me to go to my dentist.

I phoned 101 and was triaged. They said they would call me back, they didn't.

The next day I did that again. They have me the address of a hospital in Sheffield, over an hour away, where I could go for a 'sit and wait' emergency service. I went, I waited six hours. I saw the dentist, she told me I needed a root canal with a week of antibiotics first.

However, this emergency service didn't do root canals.

I was very grateful for the antibiotics prescription as it made the pain so much better so quickly.

However, I was pretty much back to square one although not in pain and at least I knew what I needed.

Then, the tooth began to crumble.

I went to see a private dentist. The tooth couldn't be saved so I had to have it extracted.

Then I had an impact (£3,800).

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 21:13

What do you mean where you are from? Plenty of towns won't have an NHS dentist, as they never have but that doesn't mean there's no NHS dentists available to you.

That's what I mean by it.

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/04/2024 21:18

No, if you book a private treatment then everything deliver on that plan is private. You can't mix and match.

I had an implant done privately and all the work associated with it also had to be done privately (including going to Harley St and paying £150 for an Xray of my jaw)

FiveTreeHill · 27/04/2024 21:22

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 21:13

What do you mean where you are from? Plenty of towns won't have an NHS dentist, as they never have but that doesn't mean there's no NHS dentists available to you.

That's what I mean by it.

One town not having an NHS dentist does not make no NHS dentist. It's normal to have to travel for healthcare

Autumn1990 · 27/04/2024 21:23

If you can travel you’ll probably be able to find an nhs dentist. I’ve travelled 3 hours before.
recently people in our local town were moaning on Facebook that they couldn’t find an nhs dentist but there were practices taking on nhs patients 25 miles away.

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 21:25

One town not having an NHS dentist does not make no NHS dentist. It's normal to have to travel for healthcare

I couldn't get any NHS dentist within two hours of where I live. It even for an emergency appointment. I was willing to travel.

I did travel, for the hospital appointment.

Then, I would have travelled to get a root canal if I could have found a dentist to do it. But I couldn't.

FiveTreeHill · 27/04/2024 21:29

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 21:25

One town not having an NHS dentist does not make no NHS dentist. It's normal to have to travel for healthcare

I couldn't get any NHS dentist within two hours of where I live. It even for an emergency appointment. I was willing to travel.

I did travel, for the hospital appointment.

Then, I would have travelled to get a root canal if I could have found a dentist to do it. But I couldn't.

There will still be NHS dentists, just not taking on patients.

FeatheryStroker · 27/04/2024 21:31

Yes, and I was registered at a practice and they had no dentist. None.