to wonder why you have to pay for NHS dental treatment

[anerta]

I went to the dentist yesterday for a check up and had my teeth cleaned, for this I had to pay £18.50.Whilst I'm not particulary opposed to this, why do you have to pay for NHS dental treatment but not for other services on the NHS?

To repeat, there seems to be confusion here, in Scotland only the examination of the teeth is free and everything else is chargeable, including the scale and polish usually done at the exam, unless you are in an exempt category (am a dental receptionist, for my sins)

I have changed from an nhs dentist to a private dentist and its actually working out cheaper. The fillings are made of decent material and don't fall out. Doing oral hygiene actually saves money in the long run as you get less tooth decay. Much to my surprise the new private dentist is recommending less work than my old nhs dentist.

My new dentist takes her time and the experience is less stressful. The old NHS dentist left my son with post traumatic stress.

NHS dentistry has a culture of drill and fill. There is no prevention work done which I think is really sad. My son had a dental hygienist spend forty minutes with him to teach him how to brush his teeth better and show him which areas he was missing. The lady also had a discussion with him on how to eat sweets and minimise damage to his teeth. My son is also having fizzure sealents to protect his back teeth. There are new technologies like ozone which can be used to treat early decay without the need for drilling.

I think that NHS dentistry is in radical need of reform. I feel that prevention should be pushed harder. We are in a sad situation where the rich actually pay less for treatment on their teeth than the poor.

The NHS dentists I work for apply fissure sealants and give toothbrushing, I wouldn't judge all dentists based on yours

*toothbrushing instruction

They put a large amount of effort into prevention in fact

In scotland the check up is free but you pay for treatment Up to a certain amount they wont do things that are seen as cosmetic , I paid £19 for 2 fillings on friday , and i havnt been to the dentist in a long time and im sure it used to be more expensive than that ,

My dentist did loads of prevention work when my children were smaller reallytired thats such a shame your son was distressed I must admit i do feel for him as im terrified , But the dentist was always great with my kids , I dont think all are drill and fill , my girls have sealants on their teeth ,

Auntiestablishment yes, charges for dentistry (i.e. the actual work) were brought in, in the 1950s.

But free check-ups were got rid of by Thatcher in the 1980s.

Along with free check-ups at the opticians if my memory serves me correctly (although I haven't googled that bit).

Lucky for us we have SN denist

I would give anything to be back with the NHS for dental treatments (although admittedly it was all free for me as my dad was my dentist). I live in France now and I need a crown on my front tooth. The dentist pulled the old venir off (which was a tiny bit loose), then informed me that to have it glued back on would cost 40?. I had to pay 27? for the x-ray I had no choice in having (although that will be reimbursed at a later date) and was then handed a quote for the crown. 745? . Admittedly, 161? will be reimbursed but still, that's a fuck lot of money for a lump of metal with a bit of white plastic stuck on the front. Dad said he could do a full white crown for £150-£200.

Embrace the NHS and love it!

actually , u can clean your own teeth if u listen 2 the dental hygienist , he/she usually explains it and hopes you get it , some obviously dont. further , i was not shouting ,i wondered who would pick up on that thou, WELL DONE U !dentists are very professional people , pole ;how many send their dentist a christmas card ?

I have never had to pay to see the hygienist, just the initial £18-odd charge. I believe the hygienist is seen as a follow-on from the initial check up and comes under the one bill. Well, it is in my practice anyway (I go religiously to all check-ups lest they strike me off!)

ReallyTired, my DD1 had sealants applied to her back teeth to help keep them clean, with no hesitation from my dentist. Just booked and done, on the NHS. Actually I dread the day she retires and we are passed off to someone else!

Prehaps NHS care is a postcode lottery. In my area fissure sealents aren't offered and the fillings fall out.

NHS charges are not that much less than private and the results are so much better with a good private dentist.

The truth is that the NHS is not a bottomless pit of money, governments want to get rid of dentistry on the NHS but nobody has the guts to actually do it. Instead, they keep changing the way patients pay, what can/cannot be offered, make it harder for us to do the job we were trained to do properly. What frustrates me more than anything is the failure of patients to take the advice I give which would mean they wouldn't need to keep forking out for treatment. As Grumpy says, 90% of dental problems are preventable, so people need to start taking responsibility for their own dental health and stop whining about having to pay towards the cost of treatment.

I'm spending a few months abroad and the EHIC card does not cover dental treatment in my 'home' country as there is a very sparse public dental plan. I currently have an impacted wisdom tooth which I believe will need a fairly hefty removal...

Here I've been quoted a figure of at least ?200, plus a bunch of faffing around between three or four clinics to get x-rays done (my clinic doesn't even have internet... I need to visit two other clinics to first arrange the x-ray and then have it done). This is only the initial stage, before they tell me how much it'll really cost and when I can get it done.

Now seriously considering flying back to get treated by my nice dentist back home. I for one am thankful of the minimal dentistry charges on the NHS. Swings and roundabouts. It's much more accessible to be asked to pay £47 for treatment for teeth than £40,000 for cancer treatment, innit?