to think private dentists just think of a number

[glasgowsteven]

I have porcelian veneers - have had for 25 years since early teens - when I smashed my front teeth.

never any bother - ever, one fell off, and I found it in bed.

A reverse tooth fairy.

so went to my local (sounds like) loopa - dentist - as I am not registered with an nhs one.

Check up first - 25 quid..no problem.

after the check up sales pitch.

Do you have toothache - nope.....

strange because you need --

root treatment, fillings, caps and also both veneers replaced.

Total cost - 2250...........

How much to recement my current veneer

£65 quid...

That will do nicely thank you verymuch..

By 2k ++

for some fillings and root canal

(800 quid of that was two new veneers - nothing wrong with ones i got)

so.....thoughts....

Yep, I hear ya!

Depends on how greedy the dentist is.

My local one, first checkups/consultations are free. Absolutely no sales pitch. Free checkups always for children. Will recommend children to actually go on the NHS system, as orthodontics are free for the under 16s.

And I've been such a regular customer (well not that regular- two teeth out in the last year), but he still waived the Xray fee last time. When my daughter went in for a yearly check-up, he also threw in a freebie- the OralB brush heads. They cost a tenner in Tesco.

Lost my NHS dentist. Went private - £400 for two replacement fillings. Have just managed to find a new NHS dentist.

I should have realised it was going to be expensive when they only had Tatler magazine in reception. My new dentists supplies nice old copies of Take a Break and the like.

DH saw a private dentist recently and was told he needed - couple of thousand pounds worth of treatment. He booked an appointment with the NHS dentist at the same practice and hey presto his dental problems disappeared!

Not mine. He's been fab, doesn't charge for repeat appointments if needed.

You are under no obligation to have the treatment and they outlined the price for you.

I'm sure if you ask them for a full breakdown of costs then phone round and compare other private dentists , you'll find it's similar.

I had treatment done last year privately (I chose to) and it was £360 whereas NHS would've cost £240.
But I'm happier with the result.

Mine is amazing, had him for last 16 years, he remembers so much about me, asks me how my holiday was - I am sure he makes notes about this stuff hehe

And he has looked after my teeth so well and given me very good advice on when to go for cheap options (back teeth) and when to spend the little bit extra.

my private dentist is great , have got denplan 20 quid a month covers check up , hygenist, fillings,root canal and 20,000 worth of implants if i need them . nhs is not that cheap from what i remember and the work is shoddy.

Its a business. You dont want to pay the cost go and register with an NHS one.

All the dentists I know have children in independent schools.

So what?

They are businessmen if doing private work and not under some moral obligation to make no profit.

I am not a dentist..it just baffles me that people think non NHS dentists somehow owe them cheap treatment.

YANBU

Not cheap treatment but an honest assessment. This is an acknowledged problem by the GDC.

It is a problem which exists in all businesses

There will always be unscrupulous traders.

Yet everyone assumes all dentists are, I find.

When one dentist says work needs doing and one dentist says it doesn't, people automatically assume the second one is right. Then they get toothache IME.
An NHS dentist saying you need little or no treatment may increase their profit margin dramatically, does that mean they are right or just gaming their remuneration system?

I'm a dentist, I know lots of dentists but I don't know any who have their children in independent schools. But it's ok sleepy you can make judgemental generalised comments like that about dentists (or thin people or intelligent people) it's only poor people (or fat people and stupid people) you're not allowed to make judgements about.

metella can you elaborate on this acknowledged problem please? I've not seen it in any gdc information I have read recently...

I have just life my lifelong dental practice which went private a few years ago and swapped to an NHS one. I thought it would traumatic as I have a lot of dental hassles but I couldn't afford the quote for replacing my 3 crowns (necessitated due to an accident in childhood).

However, my new extremely thorough and slightly scary new dentist has quoted me less than half the cost from my old practice to replace all 3 PLUS 3 fillings, a scale, polish and a root canal which is long overdue.

Now I'm wondering why I didn't change years ago and save myself a fortune .

Just *left

The point I was making was that 2k seemed awfully high..

as it is, with no toothache I will thankhim for his time....

Not independent schools! The bastards.

I've had some shoddy treatment on the NHS, including a very poorly executed filling that fell out in its entirety two days later. Switched to a private dentist who has been absolutely wonderful in helping me overcome dental phobia and has carried out excellent work.

I've no complaints about the cost - dental training is expensive and is a long course of study; my dentist also has postgrad qualifications. The cost of buying and maintaining equipment must also be huge.

I had a root canal (anterior tooth, so suspect cheaper than a molar) done privately and it cost £780 or so, plus an extra £200 to bleach the interior.

So assume your veneers plus root canal will be £1600.

I have no com[plaints about my private dentist either. She's lovely & has got me back into going on a regular basis (bit of a scardey cat, me).

Having just seen £400 for two fillings - mine, today, were half that. And I still think it's a lot of money, but they have premises, equipment, training etc.

I shudder to think how much their insurance is. MrsMorton are you allowed to give us an indication of insurance costs for dentists?

It's about £2000 for normal general practice, gdc membership just under £600. Tax deductible expenses but still a fair whack before even speaking to a patient!!