To think that this private dentist should have made me aware! Bit long Sorry

[cuteboots]

Ok so over the weekend massive amounts of pain with my back tooth to the point where I had to go to the dentist today. This particular dentist I used to go to about 3 years ago but had a denplan scheme. So anyway in I trot they asked me to fill out a form as I havent been for awhile. No further questions asked about payment and before I know it 2 of them are carrying out the and root canal filling. Upon strolling down to reception I get hit with a bill for £417!! Part of me thinks I should have asked but was in so much pain it just didnt enter my head and part of me thinks they should have done the bloody work without checking!! Your thoughts please?

they should have informed you of the cost before you agreed to the treatment IMO

Don't quite know what you do about it now though, sorry :(

Im going to phone them and have a word

Dentists are the devil work!

It really infuriates me the way they sit you down, and just perform treatments like x rays or cleaning without telling/asking you what is going on and how much it is going to cost until you stroll down to reception with a numb mouth and get hit with a bill often £100+.

Jesus - what did they do?!
I thought my dentist was bad at £72 for check up and hygienist

The way i see it is that you wouldn't buy a service from say, a decorator without knowing the cost. Why would it be any different when you are buying a service from a dentist?

Let me know what they say as I find dentist costs particlularly irksome!!

Cost should have been made clear to you of whatever treatment options there were.
Can you pay in instalments? If you cannot afford full cost now, the fact you were not informed of charge is relevant I think.

bighthair- Huge root canal filling! The pain I was in was unbearable.

adoptionrukesok- I probably would have put up with the pain being honest

Sunflowerssmile-Im going to call them and ask about instalments as I cant afford that in one hit. I just feel like ive been robbed

Good luck cuteboots. Let us know how you get on.

I hate dentists (totally irrational).

I agree that they should tell you before, however I suspect they will point to a notice on the wall and say "its all displayed here" as this happened to me once too!

Good luck cuteboots

Problem is when in pain/ fear not really aware of signs! Guess legally covered though.

Is there a code of practice re private work costs eg standard cost of say a root canal/ maximum. Or can a private dentist charge what they like?

Bloody hell. You poor woman.
I am NHS, but he does private work too. I went in last Christmas for a filling. The dentist, without asking me , extracted my tooth, and then said "You have a big gap there now, it's quite noticeable, isn't it? You can't get it done on the NHS but I'll put a false in for you for a grand"

Good grief!!
I feel for you - what an awful thing to happen. Knowing me I would have fainted, cracked my jaw and ended with even more dental bills!!!

Please let us know how you get on and NO YANBU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goodluck

we are NHllS and it still costs loads, DS1 19 went with us for family check up last week, went in on his own, was in there ages. came out and said 'ah they did a filling' his very first! BUT we paid around £80 for it and DH and my check up's. can you imagine NHS at a hospital saying 'we can sort out you gammy leg, but it will cost you £80 to get your gammy arm sorted' I cannot get my head round why if it is NHS treatment it costa when other NHs is free

We have a really lovely dentist on the NHS if we require any treatment other than a check up he always explains to us exactly how much it is going to cost.

My DS has just registered with a dentist where he has moved to he had a check up and his first filling at age 36 and a session with the hygenist and it cost him £43. I thought that was very reasonable as last time I went 5 months ago check ups are about £15 and you can have a number of fillings for £42 or thereabouts.

But £417 for root canal treatment even private is an awful lot of money especially as they didn't explain any charges to you I would certainly query the cost.

Costs should have been made clear and they should certainly have suggested cheaper options like putting in some antiseptic material beneath a filling on the tooth (though that amount for a root canal is astounding anyway). Best idea would be to change dentist immediately.

there is no standard charge for private dentistry it is upto the dentist for companies to standardise charges is called price fixing and is illegal and can lead to heavy fines as many organisations suh as airlines etc have found out

whether NHS or private you should have a treatment plan and estimate, however when someone is in pain the prioroty is treating pain and so there is aimplied consent... my back tooth is hurting... it has a big hole .... can you fix it.... yes we can....... today? yes i'll do it now.... that is consent

yuo should have been told cost though as extraction may have been cheaper option not that i would advise an extraction

I would say in UK that 500-600 was about right for a complete root treatment on a molar/back tooth inlcuding re filling but not if it needs crown. according to latest figures that is about average charge, but that is for completed root filling not an emergency get you out of pain appointment as root fillings often take 2or more hours

NHS charges in England are in bands. in scotland still previous system where each item cost a certain fee , on maternity leave now but root filling s on back teeth were approx £100-150 with all xrays and new filling on top 3 years ago

But I agree there is a considerable breakdown in communication about finance and other things so OP does have grounds for complaining, write to practice first, you can take it further later if response inadequate but keep it polite and factual ; you obviously knew it was not NHS as you were on denplan before and denplan tends to lapse if you do not attend regularly

Good luck and hope toothache gone

speak to the practice manager, explain you were not given a written estimate that you then signed, see what they say.
If you get no joy contact the GDC and see what they say
good luck

you can as first stage put in written complaint to practice it has to be answered formally also every practive must have a complaint procedure so ask for a copy

there is a separate organisation for complaints to private practice as you can not use local HA details on GDC website

only if responses fail contact GDC

I'll have a moan about my Dentist then if we are having a go (I'm living in California for now). I love the office and all the staff, Dentist included. Dd (age 7) just had two small filling done. My share of the cost $200 and some change, the insurance picked up the rest. I can't wait to get back to UK and pay under £50 for a check up and cleaning.
But to be fair, they give me a work up of the cost before even doing the work and I have to sign it. So I knew before we went in it was going to cost a lot.

I had an extraction and I think a check up on the NHS -cost 48 pounds.

I can remember being a student and paying over 8O quid for an x ray and a filling-that doesn't include the antibiotics I had to get.

The bad system seems a lot fairer.

Band system sorry...

Plus my dentist,as standard, gives you a treatment plan/breakdown of costs that you sign and that they give you an unsigned copy of.

They also sell antibiotics so you save around two quid on the NHS prescription service!

You have my sympathy OP. A few years ago i had to have a root canal (i've always been NHS and made sure this procedure was too) and during this it became clear to the dentist the tooth had to actually come out. So he said as much and proceeded.

After i trundled down to reception, dazed and in pain and they said blah blah for the procedure and then £300+ for the stitches. I said but i'm NHS and they said that stitches were considered surgical and therefore private. Apparently you could have the tooth out on the NHS but if you wanted to have the hole sewn up you had to be private.

To make matters worse, they would only take cash . So i said i didn't have it on me and they said i could go to the cash point across the road. I said i couldn't take that amount out in one go even if i had it in there and this is the type of thing i would need to pay on credit card or installments.

I made a big fuss about how they should have told me and i would have refused, got up from the chair, bleeding profusely, walked thru reception in front of all the patients and gone to a&e. They waived the fee in the end.