Dental fees & NHS entitlement

[Garlicked]

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?

Yes, that's the case. We have a Dental Access Centre and it's good. They closed their lists during the pandemic and have not re-opened them. They told me that if I'm in pain, I can sit in reception all day to see if I'll be triaged. No promises. I'm not in pain because I've been 'managing' this for years. I've seen maxillofacial at the hospital, they showed me the cyst on an x-ray (it's huge) and told me to see a dentist for initial treatment and a referral back to them.

@FeatheryStroker £3,800?!!
[Sigh]

I'm going to try and get some clarity from the helpline next week, will report back 😓

Basically whatever the answer is ,the NHS dental services just don’t exist unless you are very lucky to still have a dentist that works for NHS ! Remember this when voting for the next PM !
I have 2 friends who have had major brutal surgery for oral cancer . Both had not had access to a dentist for years and they are now suffering in a way that was unimaginable 10 years ago …absolutely sickening! Both non smokers not that should be relevant but basically adds to how vulnerable people are now!! Dentists don’t just look at teeth,they look at your mouth,tongue etc !!

@FiveTreeHill

There are still plenty of NHS dentists, but they aren't often taking on new patients
Then there AREN'T plenty at all are there.
Just saying there are plenty is pointless if people can't access them.
It's like telling someone in Gaza that there is plenty of food. You just can't have any.

Three months ago I had two broken molars. One on each side at the bottom. The one on the left had shattered into four pieces down to the root. The one on the right had split into two pieces down to the root. The roots of both had grown into my jaw bone. Extremely painful. I couldn't eat. I went to my registered dentist. He said they needed to be extracted and done under sedation as would be nasty extraction. On the NHS as I am entitled to it was an 8 month wait list. Minimum. Or I could pay private and he would do it in two days. Fucker. He asked me what I wanted to do I said you've not left me with much choice have you? £380 later I had the work done. Took a credit card out to pay for it!

It's absolutely horrendous isn't it?
I don't understand how the government can justify the lack of accessible dental care.

How many oral cancers are being missed because of this? Good oral health is vital for overall wellbeing, surely this is costing the NHS more? Having to treat the issues that could have been prevented?

I live in Sheffield.

The dental hospital is struggling to cope with the huge amount of people turning up!

Who's doing the jaw surgery? Ive worked at a lot of dental hospitals and usually it's an internal referral to the dental department for any dental work you need doing prior to surgery.

It's awful. We're having to pay privately for our 3 yo.

Depends where you live. We have an NHS dentist (outer London). One of my adult children found one very close to home very recently and was able to register. I do wonder if a lot of dentists want to be in outer London I suppose because their university friends are in London and lots of families live out here. May be we are just very lucky. Despite that I encourage all my adult children to make sure they have their check up regularly otherwise they are allowed to be removed from NHS lists. NHS dentistry is not geographic like a GP so if you move you keep the same dentist. I wonder if someone who doesn't live in an area can register with a dentist in a completely different area like near me if they are prepared to travel?

*I live in Sheffield.

The dental hospital is struggling to cope with the huge amount of people turning up!*

I can imagine because if I lived in Sheffield and I knew it was there I would have gone much sooner.

Before all of this, I thought I had a dentist. I certainly thought I would have been able to go to the dentist in an emergency. I thought my children had dentists.

Yes - and there are strong links between poor oral health and heart disease, stroke, and dementia. Unclear whether there's a causative link, except in rare cases where bacteria have migrated from the gums to the bloodstream, but every health authority has documented the correlations. People with genetically poor dentition (yours truly) have an increased risk of heart & brain disease.

What dental department is that? How many hospitals do you know that have a dental department?

Well no. Because plenty of people do still have access to NHS care. Comparing it to Gaza and food is a bit distasteful

It is a terrible situation that's only going to get worse, but its not true there are no NHS dentists, and even in some of the worst areas in the UK there have been NHS dentists taking on patients.

This is a situation that has been going on for years and years and years

So how can you get one of these mythical nhs dentists miles away when the nhs list thing only lets you name two areas? I asked them if they could just put me down for anywhere in a 2 hour drive but the wouldn't do that so 7 years later i am still waiting.

You call the practice. The NHS list is a load of crap

Thanks. Sounds obvious but I always thought you. couldn't get a dentist like that as they would just refer you to the list.

The HC1 form is for NHS costs not private. It is an alternative way of getting free NHS optical and dental care if you are on a low income but don't qualify by being on Uc or pension credit.

Well no. Because plenty of people do still have access to NHS care.

I used to think that too until my nhs dentist sent everyone who was registered with them a letter saying that they were no longer offering an nhs service and we could either reregister as private patients or we could 'find another dentist'.

Of course, there was no nhs dentists accepting patient anywhere at all.

I'd just skipped merrily along thinking we had a dentist.

As a family of four we are all lucky to be hanging onto our local NHS dentist.
Last time I was in there, there was a sign on the wall saying one missed appointment and you are off the books.
We have never turned up so early for dental appointments since in our lives.

You need to go on a waiting list or go to your nearest dental hospital that runs a public clinic. Alternatively you call 111 at 8am sharp and say you need to urgently see a dentist, really play it up, and they ca. get an emergency appointment, now if you do this on a Saturday or even a Friday you might get sent to the dental access centre in my personal experience who were really good here.

I did subsequently get an nhs dentist btw, took 5 months on the waiting list

@Sunnnybunny72

I had to wait 3 years in total to get an nhs dentist, they closed the list during COVID when I moved here, then a 5 month wait when it reopened (they posted on the local facebook page the list had reopened). There's another dentist 20 mins away taking on patients too so it is possible if you hit the phones and call around

See its ill informed ideas like that that irritate me.

When I signed up for my NHS dentist I wasn't asked to provide proof of what taxes I pay was I? People do spout such utter nonsense.

I am very lucky as I have a good nhs dentist only 280 miles from my home.

I have an NHS dentist but for a wisdom tooth extraction he could not do I have had to go private.
There is a massive waiting list at the hospital like 18 months.
I think we should all start typing up invoices for our private dental work and send them to your MP.
If this is the way it is going then at least take a small % off our NI payments and tell everyone they need private dentist plan.
The private dentist I have gone to has a fair plan about £12 per month for basic visits and routine work.

As far as I understand it now there is technically no such thing as "NHS dentists" but NHS treatments and dentists decide whether to offer them or not.

My dentist offers NHS treatments and I pay NHS fees for check ups. But have gone private for most other stuff with them - mainly cos they was not offered on the NHS ( hygienist appointments, an implant, adult orthodontics).

Op doesn't need an emergency appointment though. She needs restorative treatment which isn't available at an emergency appointment

She's not in pain, and she will get any extractions she needs with her jaw cyst surgery (although I'm suprised that any maxfacs surgeon is sending her back to a non existent dentist for all restorative work and asking for a rereferal before treating a massive cyst in her jaw) . An emergency appointment will do nothing and will prevent someone in actual pain getting treatment. Completely immoral.