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?!

I registered DD with a private practice, they didn't have NHS spaces but took children (I have no idea why). Then when they expanded and took on some NHS patients I was top of the waiting list.

Honestly, I feel all I do is try to 'cheat' the system some days. It's very depressing.

My dad is an NHS dentist. He's a very good one and hates that he now has to charge people for work that he does. He charges the minimum that he can for procedures, sometimes ending up out of pocket. The government fuck the dentists over too. They now have targets (UDAs) to meet to get paid their salaries which is the biggest cause of some dentists refusing to do more than is absolutely necessary. My dad had 8 weeks off for a hip replacement, missed his UDAs by something pathetic like 3 and was forced to pay back a huge amount of his salary as a penalty while still having to pay for the running of his surgery while he was off. That's why so few dentists are working for the NHS - the whole system is totally screwed.

YANBU.

I work fulltime, and I can just about afford to go to the dentist, and every time I go, I hope and pray there's nothing important to be done.

I seem to have really very bad teeth, despite taking care of them quite well (I have dietry needs which mean I have no choice but to treat my teeth well as a sort of good sife effect!).

I have discoloured teeth, a couple of fillings (silver), and very crooked teeth. I have NEVER missed a 6 month checkup, and have always go ahead with treatment if medically neccesary. I also have a bit of an overbite, apparently.

But my teeth is actually one of the things I genuinely wish I could fix - I'm not vain, I wouldn't consider plastic surgery, I just wish, for example, that I could eat an apple without spending 40 minutes trying to pick the pieces out of the two worst areas of my mouth - chronic overcrowding on the lower right, and on the top right side.

I also know that the crooked edge of my teeth makes them look quite bad (small chips, basically).

I do notice when I meet people for the first time that they "register" my bad teeth, and yes I have cried about it in the past.

I'm actually saving up to do something about them long term, I opened a saving account last month for this purpose. Not to make them white and perfect, but just to make them less hideous (and get rid of the worst of the crooked issue which makes eating a problem).

.. hit post too sooon.

I meant to add in something about how the saving account i opened last month probably won't get much added into it over the coming years - between bills, childcare, and stuff like that, i KNOW i need to think about starting a pension at some point.

So I'm not entirely sure where the money to fix my teeth is going to come from. It's more a vain hope / aim than a realistic plan.

My dentist is great. Private for adults but NHS for children. I have a dental plan, but am considering just putting the money into a savings account.

I have 3 dc, so am very glad of the NHS treatment for children.

Like LRD I had an NHS crown/veneers put in badly after an accident I had where my front teeth were damaged. The fitting resulted in an infection which has caused abscesses/bone loss and my teeth do not look great. To put it all right and make my teeth look 'ok' would cost me the best part of 2K. I can't afford that.

DP has an ongoing gum issue and despite us both working we can just about afford for him to get that treated on the NHS. Hygienist appointments have to be paid for privately (and his NHS dentist won't treat him if he doesn't see the private hygienist as recommended)

Fifteen, totally know how you feel about thinking that people might be checking out your teeth. It's awful. I could almost handle it if my dental problems were down to my own lack of care, but I have always taken care of my teeth and one accident has ruined my dental health.

There are no NHS dentists in my area, i pay Denplan for the DC but cannot afford it for me, add to that the fact that i'd now have to pay loads, just to get up to the level where Denplan would even take me on..I am very conscious of my teeth, to the point that i cover my mouth when i laugh.

DS2 is only 13, and as a skint single mum i do resent having to pay, purely because free dentistry for kids is supposed to be available to all. What a load of crap.

It does exists but god you have to look for it.

First NHS dentists according to locals only one - was just awful they barely looked at our teeth and when it came to it would only put DCs as NHS and DH and I would have to pay their plan fees.

I contacted every dentist in area we could possibly get to and found a few others that would take the DCs as NHS but we would have to become private patients.

We selected nearest one and when we got there they took us all on as NHS. They are fantastic dentists as well and on rare occasions DH and I have had to visit hygienists - that is also NHS. something my Dad found out to his cost isn't always the case.

I am so glad as DH was prepared to just not go and leave it for the DC till older or problems arose - purely as money was so tight. So glad we didn't as DC have inherited our problematic teeth and I know we, DH and I, are not storing up problems for the future.

Still have to try and save up though for the bridge work that will be needed for me- as even NHS prices will be tough - that's not my fault but genetics still have baby teeth which have lasted surprisingly long but will go eventually.

Here in south London I have at least 50 NHS dentists taking new patients within a couple miles. No exaggeration. Mostly family businesses.
I have a large number of friends around the country who come visit me and the dentist at the same time.

Just as well I moved here as in Surrey couldn't find one for years.

my cap on my front top tooth looks so so ugly. Yellow/brown despite me brushing twice a day

YABU as it seems to be that you want a new cap for cosmetic reasons and nothing else.

Totally understand OP, it's hard to find the money.
Finally managed to find a good NHS dentist, he is the first dentist i've ever seen who actually seems like he knows what he's doing/cares and is fantastic with the DC's too. Am expecting a baby at present so hoping to have plenty of visits whilst not paying...
The denplan thing interests me though as will need a fair amount of expensive work done over the next few years (horrendous teeth/gum probs)

I really envy those people with lovely straight white teeth

We managed to register the DCs with an NHS dentist, but the day our 2 oldest each turned 16, they were "struck off" the lists and haven't been since. I haven't seen a dentist since I was pregnant with no2 son and he is 18 in July. My teeth are in a terrible state in spite of my best efforts and I just know that the two front ones at the bottom are going to fall out one day and leave me with a vile gap :( We just about manage to pay for DH, but the last work he had done was frankly botched and left a perfectly good tooth damaged and giving him pain and has ended up in 3 visits so far, and there is a 6 week waiting list even for a routine checkup, let alone anything else. It's just ridiculous. The "service" might as well not exist for all the good it does round here.

Not really an answer to your question, more some trivial information but my dp was telling me just last week how one of his workmates went home (he was from Poland) for a week's holiday and came back with a full hollywood smile. Apparently it only cost him £300 for his whole mouth of veneers, and everything was obviously carried out within the week. I have since been at dp to get the name of the clinic dps workmate went to because I really really really want that :)

My kids have had and have fantastic NHS treatment.

Me - fuck all.

If any of you are on ESA, IS or JSA, have working or disabled tax credits and a household income of under about £16000 pa (so you get the free prescriptions and eyecare too) or some other things, you can get it completely for free. Same for pregnant women and mothers of children under one, and of course children.

It should be free for everyone though. That is the point of the NHS. Universal health care, free at the point of delivery. Dentistry is healthcare. End of.

How many people have a British born NHS dentist?

This is a genuine question, not foreign worker bashing or anything, I promise.
I just find it odd that I've never had a British dentist since I was a kid. Do they all choose to go private?

Never known a poor dentist!!!

I think once you get over a certain age you just HAVE to have check ups every 6 months. Your teeth start to go downhill much more quickly in your late 30s, early 40s. Don't skimp while you're younger, keep them as good as you can.

I use an NHS dentist and it's very no-frills but she seems thorough. It's cheap. Is it another Scotland/England thing? When I lived in England, I could only get private dentistry as no places available for NHS, and though I only ever used one dental practice, every single bit of work they did failed within 6 months to 2 years and had to be replaced. One dentist there was unashamedly out for the dosh. Yes I could get a white filling and everything looked great, but at the standards of work.

I have a british born NHS dentist - my Dad. Everything Cother says is right. Being an NHS dentist sucks atm. Gone are the days of dentists rolling around in their money. NHS dentistry barely covers costs. My Dad is a real believer in the NHS and free dental care but even he is struggling to work within the system.

Red I bet you've also never known a poor doctor but you don't seem to worry about that. Dentists train long and hard so should be rewarded for that, like doctors, lawyers, vets etc. But please believe me that the NHS is working very hard to make dentists poor.

Compared to other countries eg Australia comes to mind - our dentist system is something we should be ashamed of. Australia for example is not 'free' but even private is cheaper than Britain and I understand they have a non interventionist approach. Heard good things about Scandinavian countries too. Why are we so shit? Shocking.

Partly we are shit because we don't look after our teeth well.
In general we see a dentist less frequently than in other countries (It's every 4 months in S Korea for example, though that seems a bit excessive), we clean our teeth less, flossing seems quite outré to most people. And as a nation we eat a shedload of sweets and crisps as snacks as the norm without thinking to rinse or clean afterwards.

I think British dentists probably have a lot more boring cavity-filling/extraction work to do than in other countries, where they can get on with selling you cosmetic dentistry and making money hand over fist as they upgrade your almost cavity-free and functional teeth.

If one has a Tax Credit exemption card, does that mean that NHS dental care is free or subsidised? For a root canal issue, say?

I see the dentist less often than I should as:

• due to drill and fill treatment in past I don't trust British dentistry.
• Costly.
• If like other countries British NHS dentists took preventative approach/ non interventionist as dental culture of country I would be be more inclined to trust dentists,

If we have problems with going to dentist in this country in my opinion it is because there is something rotten in our dental culture. Obviously this mean people will be scared/ not go to dentist and a bad teeth cycle over generations spirals...

What is the preventative approach, non-interventionist treatment? (Genuinely interested not sarcastic!)