If you have no access to NHS dentistry, what do you do?

[applegatebanana]

I live in a region with no NHS dentistry. There's no waiting lists to sit on etc. no dental hospitals. No NHS input for children etc. there just isn't any NHS dentists any more - you can get emergency input if you fit the criteria but it's just a patch up job until you see a proper dentist. We were kicked off the books around a year ago as they went totally private and thats the general theme for all here.

I need some dental work doing. I'm just trying to figure out what non NHS folk do?

Prices are around:
Appointment - £100
Hygienist - £85
X-rays - £75
Extraction - £325
Crown - £850
Filling £150-250

How do you pay for it? Is there something I'm missing? Dental insurance doesn't seem to be much of a thing and paying in instalments relies on good credit as it's a finance agreement which isn't something to take on easily.

They have a monthly cost you can pay but that just covers the check up / hygienist and for the 4 of us is over £100 per month and we'd still have to pay for all treatments as needed.

What do you do for private dental input?

I would double check that , cancer does not entitle you to free dental care , unfortunately .
Here is list of exemptions for dental fees https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/

Denplan

I’m the manager of a dental practice, we see nhs and private. We are absolutely at full capacity for nhs, our UDA’s are way over. And dentists going private has absolutely NOTHING to do with greed, it’s all down to government funding. Everyone thinks they understand how it works and they really do not.

when I have a new patient call up in pain I’ll do everything in my power to get them seen under the nhs but the number one killer of nhs dentistry is patients just not turning up for appointments. We have on average 6 hours of failed to attend appointments a week, that’s 18 check ups. We have a policy to terminate clinical care for repeat offenders but it’s incredibly difficult to enforce. We get so many emergency pain patients who come in once for an abscess, then fail to attend any follow up’s, disappear off the face of the earth for 5 years and then wonder why their nhs status is lapsed. Are we supposed to keep the seat warm for when you wake up with toothache? When there are families waiting for an nhs spot, who want and will actually attend regular appointments?

If you have an nhs dentist, go every 6 months whether you need to or not to keep your place.

Op, if you’re anywhere near London message me and I will help.

I have a private dentist and I pay for Denplan- £12 per month for two check ups a year, a clean and 20% off treatment.
My dc get free nhs care through my practice which has been excellent including a referral to the orthodontist (Bupa) for braces.

There are dentists local to me now taking nhs patients though I really like mine so not going to move. It's shit that other people can't access dental care.

I have had to go private since moving areas, recently paid £580 for a crown. Interesting that private fees vary so much. Hygienist is £69 a time, which I find particularly steep for about 15 mins work, as there's not much for them to do given I've always flossed, used interdental brushes etc.

I have read people using it to rinse teeth like a mouthwash which feels strange as it feels and looks like sugar.
Going to tell my adult children to do this.

Can be bought in Asda with the sweeteners, called total sweet. I have been adding to coffee for the last few weeks. Shame not more widely known about.

Go private. Get a credit card to pay for serious work. Get a job with dental insurance as well as medical.

We have that. But. When DD age 6 required a huge amount of work incl surgery, it was not all covered by the insurance.

Still cost us thousands. Which went on credit card.

gosh I didn't realise the check-ups were free. I must have been paying for something else then. It was only a small amount like £8.50 or something. I just assumed it was for the check-up. They were definately NHS till about a year ago, now private.

Oh well you learn something new every day!!

My dad just pulled a couple of his teeth out himself

@mummymissessunshine you know you can not get a credit card without a decent income? I got turned down for one as my income was too low.

Suck it up and pay for it?

Your teeth are important. I see it as an essential cost, same as food and heating.

@MidnightMeltdown I can not believe you said that. You think people are just refusing to pay?

@NotebookAndPen the tools I bought are by Hokin and I bought them on Amazon for about a fiver.

I moved house last year - 40 miles away. I can't even find a private dentist to register with. I travel back to the town I lived in to my dentist there.

I was going to say the same. I've been quoted £200 for a small white filling as an NHS patient....it is a filling that has fallen out and there is no decay or any bad signs at the moment, so not urgent. I'll have it done in August when I go to Spain, it will be around half the price

Denplan, covers checkups, hygienist, xrays, fillings etc except lab work for crowns or dentures. Starts around £20 pm depending on assessment.

Use dental floss.

@WeylandYutani Not true, I recently had a root canal and filling via the 111 emergency appointment route as I can’t find an nhs dentist. I did have to wait almost a week in pain, and expected to have my teeth pulled but apparently it’s at each dentists discretion (I feel like they just don’t advertise the fact that they might help to put people off relying on it!)

They also did fillings on some of my other teeth too, they said they get you to the point of no decay in your mouth, so this would include fillings etc

There are two types of service ....
Emergency which is a one off emergency appointment designed to get you out of pain. They cannot and will not do root treatments and permanent fillings it is not at a dentists discretion , there is not the equipment, time or appointments for anything other than emergency treatment.

Some areas have commissioned urgent care sessions where for patients who have not seen a dentist recently they will do a one off course of treatment to get you dentally fit.

Everywhere will have emergency treatment, only a very few areas have commissioned urgent care sessions.

That’s very sad- a good dentist might have saved them. To me, extractions are the very last solution. So much can be done to save teeth nowadays. I would be prepared to make sacrifices, eg holiday, to pay for treatment.

I pay privately, and always have. Tried NHS once and soon went back (rude staff). I also have BUPA health insurance, which also now covers dental to a certain amount.

@Bignanna the people who are pulling their own teeth out aren't likely to have a holiday to sacrifice, there is no other option
If it was that easy to find the mo ey I'm sure they would

Loans, payment plans?

Bad credit, no reliable income, absolutely no spare money to do a plan?
I have approx £10 after paying my bills and food, thankfully I have denplan
My dad is retired and can't afford a dentist