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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think £790 for a crown and 2 fillings is a ridiculous amount of money?

27 replies

HoHa · 23/04/2015 17:41

I need one of my back teeth crowned (multiple cracks and bits falling off) and the teeth either side filled. I see a private dentist and pay monthly into a dental plan, so this quote includes a 20% reduction for being part of the plan.
My family have been seeing this dentist for around 5 years after several disastrous years seeing an NHS dentist (who has now been struck off I believe) He seems excellent and I know that private is more expensive than NHS - but nearly £800! I'm in shock.

OP posts:
lemonyone · 23/04/2015 17:42

No. It is reasonable. You are paying for two custom made things, the technicians time, the dentists time and materials.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 23/04/2015 17:43

Sounds standard if it's for a private root canal plus a crown and 2 fillings I'm afraid :(

chickenfuckingpox · 23/04/2015 17:43

should you be paying anything if your on the plan i thought the point of the plan is that you dont pay anything? (apart from the monthly cost obviously)

GemmaTeller · 23/04/2015 17:43

Its probably about right - I paid £400 for an extraction with full anaesthetic

Mrsmorton · 23/04/2015 17:43

Sounds about right where I practise. Depends on the size of the fillings though.

Do you know what's involved in a crown? Might help you understand why it's so expensive.

sooperdooper · 23/04/2015 17:45

What does your plan actually cover if the cost is still that high?

Original poster
HoHa · 23/04/2015 17:49

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I've had a few fillings and they were around £100 each, so this feels like a lot more. From what I understand the tooth will be filed down and replaced with a crown which will be made specifically for me. I know that it is very specialised work - it is just a bit of a shock! There are so many things I would prefer to spend this money on that don't involve injections and a drill!

OP posts:
Original poster
HoHa · 23/04/2015 17:55

I don't need any root canal work - just the crown and the 2 fillings. They are three back teeth, so big molars.
The plan I pay into is around £21 per month for myself and DH (children get free treatment as under 16) This entitles us to 2 check-ups and 2 (very thorough!) hygienist visits a year each, plus 20% off any treatment needed. I like the dentist and he is brilliant with DS and DD so I don't think he is trying to rip me off - I just wondered whether his charges were pretty standard.

OP posts:
WaywardOn3 · 23/04/2015 18:01

£350 for a crown on the nhs and about £50 per filling so that's quite a bit more than I'd pay. Not sure what the standard prices are for private

DidgeDoolittle · 23/04/2015 18:02

I'm on Denplan and pay about £20 a month. I get fillings etc free and only have to pay technician costs (approx £60) for a crown. It's worth every penny.

sooperdooper · 23/04/2015 18:03

I think your plan could be better, mine is through work and costs about £7 a month and covers check ups and dental work up to a certain level, think it's one or two fillings a year

WyrdSmyth · 23/04/2015 18:18

Standard prices for where we are.

My friend works in a private dental clinic and explained that the dentist's 'time' needs to cost out at about roughly £250 an hour over the course of the week. So the fees for treatments reflect that hourly rate, give or take a bit either way.

viva100 · 23/04/2015 18:24

My DP just paid 850 pounds for root canal + crown. I paid 350 pounds for two fillings at the beginning of this year (no crown, standard filling). It's just the way it is when you go private.
Because of our work we can't make appointments way in advance and we are very restricted on times we can go. I found that with NHS dentists they were always fully booked etc. So in my view this is the price we pay for the flexibility.

fridayfreedom · 23/04/2015 18:26

Its about the same for my dentist, horribly expensive. However he is a superb dentist and has done some excellent work when I think an nhs dentist would have gone for an extraction.
he has also been great with my dc who have needed a lot of work due to how their teeth formed.
Just hope I can stay in a position where I can afford him.

Lulu1083 · 23/04/2015 19:00

Wayward it's £222.50 for band 3 treatment (crowns) and the fillings would be included in that on the NHS as your dentist should do you a care plan.

LoganMountstuart · 23/04/2015 19:02

Sounds about right and not unreasonable when you think of how much training they've done, overheads, equipment, their time, dental nurse to attend etc. It's annoying but essential, like having work done to the house or car.

Chottie · 23/04/2015 19:03

You are quoting the standard rate for around here too (SE London)

watchingthedetectives · 23/04/2015 19:13

Agree seems OK - plus you generally get a better crown from the cosmetic point of view privately

Musicaltheatremum · 23/04/2015 19:42

Ouch, I paid 150£ for a crown last year and pay about £25 for fillings. Wonderful NHS dentist in Scotland. Paid similar for root canal treatment in January.

ItBoilsMyPiss · 23/04/2015 20:02

I'm having two old NHS fillings replaced and two new ones done, I'm paying £70 per filling and thats a white cosmetic filling. Thats not including the 15% off with DenPlan.

I think £780 is extortionate. Are you in London? (I'm also not entirely sure what a crown consists of so I may be wrong in thinking it's expensive)

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 23/04/2015 20:12

A crown is about £400

Original poster
HoHa · 23/04/2015 20:17

I'm in East Anglia, so not as expensive as London prices. I think we might try to find a local NHS dentist again as we can't afford to regularly be finding this sort of money, and my most recent x-rays show several teeth have cracks forming in them. I'm sure there are some decent NHS dentists in the area, but our last one was so awful that we just bolted to this particular dentist as he was recommended by a couple of friends (both of whom have a higher income than we do now I come to think of it) All has been fine for smaller treatments but maybe not now my teeth are becoming a bit more crumbly.

OP posts:
Fairylea · 23/04/2015 20:22

I may just be extremely tight but if it's a back tooth and the others are reasonably good I'd go for an extraction over spending £800. I have two gaps in my teeth right at the back which no one ever sees or knows about and they cause me no issues whatsoever (had them removed at 20 ish I'm now late 30s).

There's no way I could even begin to afford to pay £800 for dental work.

Original poster
HoHa · 23/04/2015 20:28

I am tempted by an extraction too, but worried that it's the thin end of a wedge. If other teeth are cracked too I can't have them all removed!

OP posts:
VelvetRose · 23/04/2015 20:31

That sounds about right op. I've had 2 crowns replaced and 2 fillings and it's cost me a fortune. I do have Bupa but had to pay around half and it was expensive.