To think there is no such thing as NHS dentistry?

[ButWhyIsTheGinGone]

I earn ok money, I know. But I also have a lot of outgoings, and certainly don't have the couple of hundred quid I need to sort out my teeth.

Just feeling a bit sad as someone's put a picture of me on FB and while I'm grinning away happily, my cap on my front top tooth looks so so ugly. Yellow/brown despite me brushing twice a day. :-( Sorry - more of Am I Wollowing In Self Pity?!

*Wallowing, dammit!

bung it on a credit card? can you not get it re-done, i had one for about £200

The withdrawal of free dental care from the NHS is a scandal IMO. None of it is free, only subsidised, and even then you get very patchy and perfunctory care unless you go private. IF you can find an NHS dentist at all.

I am not well-off at all, but private dentistry is one of the things I reckon is worth springing for.

Hmm, YABU. there IS such a thing as NHS dentistry, but many people don't realise that the primary purpose of it in 2011 is to relieve pain in the most cost-effective and quickest way possible. No more no less.

I am shocked by the state of British dentistry. Seems to be a very hit or miss affair whether you get good treatment or not. It should be affordable and about preventing/ foreseeing problems. Scandinavian countries apparently do the preventative thing much better than us- so I have heard.
I need to choose a new dentist after mine 'closed' - would rather have no dentist than a crap/ don't care one so am asking around people I know. Will probably go private and because of cost only go every 12-18 months.

Agree with Huge. Whether you like it or not, if you have anything other than generally healthy, problem-free teeth private dentistry is not a luxury, it is becoming a necessity. My private dentist is worth every penny.

Many private dentists run denplan or similar schemes that cover your routine care (6 monthly checks and hygienist) and provide insurance against expensive treatment. You pay monthly by direct debit. It really works DH had over £2000 worth of treatment the other year and we still just pay £20 per month for the two of us.

YABU. Why should the NHS be paying for a cosmetic procedure like that?

In my dentist a clean and polish is paid for at £45. Its not a necessity and if you brushed properly you wouldn't need a scale.

I agree and disagree, yes I think that essential care should be free, but I dont feel that having a cap replaced is essential care, in the way that fillings and tooth removals are (and I write this as someone who needs one done myself)

I think you're lucky if you can choose to access private dentistry, not everyone can.

I am grateful for NHS dentistry, but you try getting e.g. a root canal redone when private endodonists wont see you.

Thanks Lizcat, that's useful to look into!
Fabby - I don't need a scale (as far as I know!)
Pinguwings - I see your point, but I had to have this cap through no fault of my own (front tooth knocked out during mugging when I was 15 - face hit wall!) It just looks so unhealthy, vile and brown - every time I meet new people I see them glance down at it and it makes me fee shit.

Not claiming by any stretch of the imagination this is the most urgent of problems, but it does upset me.

I understand why you want it done op. Actually worked out I probably go to dentist every 18months to 2 years because of cost.

Do need to find good NHS dentist though because of children.

can get just as good nhs dentists as private ones, a bit luck of the draw im afraid. ask around, word of mouth is always a good idea. Do you live near a dental hospital, sometimes they look for patients to let the students work on for free, they are very well supervised, treatment is good, worth a phone call.

I do feel your pain over a discoloured tooth. Mine are all dark due to ab's as a child and all crooked (overcrowded), plus front upper one badly chipped by a bitch girl at school, so I've lived with a mouthful of ugly teeth since a very young age. I've never stopped smiling because of it though.

What does upset me though, is that Ds's teeth have started to splay at the front top and I can't get his sorted on the NHS and can't possibly afford to pay out privately ~ even with insurance and I know that his otherwise perfect teeth will cause him to feel less than confident and spoil an otherwise handsome face. Dd on the other hand? well, should she suffer in the same way, her father will pay for her to have a perfect smile.

It shouldn't be luck of the draw though, should it?
We shouldn't be worried whether we are going to get reliable, honest treatment.

Here in Gloucestershire we have several NHS dentists taking new patients. The one I go to is lovely and I have two bridges replaced and a crown for (I think) £365 a couple of years back.

I think it's really sneaky how gradually it has been more and more difficult to find NHS dental care whilst the govt still crows on about it being available. The reality is more and more people are forced to go on Denplan because they can't get on a bloody list for a NHS dentist. As a result, there is less demand for NHS dentists and the govt can therefore cut funding even more until we are all on private healthcare for our teeth.

There you have it- the NHS dentist system wiped out by stealth over a few gradual years. Bingo.

YANBU dentistry has become a russian roulette of used car salesmen.

you'd have to travel a long way to find an NHS dentist from here.

The same thing is starting to/will happen with other NHS services I feel.

What does upset me though, is that Ds's teeth have started to splay at the front top and I can't get his sorted on the NHS

Can't you? DDs NHS dentist is anticipating she'll need orthodontic work and has her on the list waiting for a referral (they do it strictly by age order of who's on the list, apparently). I don't know what it will and wont cover - I thought they more or less did sort out kids teeth?

For adults - I agree with rocking. Essential work should be covered, cosmetic shouldn't - same as for the rest of healthcare. If you can't find an NHS dentist to do the essentials, that is indeed wrong. A couple of hundred quid for a cap - can you save it over a period somehow? Ask for it for xmas/birthday maybe (odd...I've only just remembered I meant to do something like this a few years ago but DH was ill and I never got round to it)

My dentist NHS and she is bloody brilliant.

Kids are totally free. I think our check ups (and asked for polishes) are £11. Fillings/and courses of work are standard NHS pricing.

I had an NHS dentist put in a crown (badly, as it turned out) then refuse to do anything about it when it was painful because he said it was fine and anything else I'd need to go private. Being a teenage student I didn't. Nearly ten years down the line I find out he never did the job properly and no NHS dentist I could find would touch the repair work except to say I could go to A&E (!) if it was swelling up really badly and they could remove teeth in an emergency.

I didn't, I went private and I am so lucky I had the money at the time because it was not cheap.

I really think that is appalling - if there's NHS care it should be proper care, not substandard then having no after-care. I think it just gives charlatans the opportunity to know they can get away with a bad job.

UANBU
Add opticians bills for me and DD2 and my credit card looks less than well.
(ok I give her free range of the frames because if she likes them she wears them. The free kids ones are 1000x better than when I was 10)