NHS Dentistry takes the piss

[gobbin]

AIBU to wonder why the Receptionist at my dental surgery gets pissy when I haven’t been for 2.5 years (because my teeth aren’t giving me any bother, I just thought I’d have a check up) and arsily suggests that ‘I’ll have to ask the dentist if he’s prepared to put you back on his books’.

Fuck me, my hospital consultant only sees me once a year for my well-managed, life-threatening chronic illness, my tits and fanny get seen every 3 years...what the fuck is so different about teeth that the dentist NEEDS to see a patient every six months. Apart from the kerching they get from the NHS, that is. Christ, if we all went to the GP every six months for a check up the system would be beyond breaking point.

And six quid for each child's examination?! She sees me and my two children within 5 minutes, not a bad hourly rate! I think that will probably cover the building costs and receptionist given that there 3-4 dentist's in at any time in a building the size of a small bungalow.

I used to be someone who only went to the dentist when there was a problem. Then I had our son who has a heart condition. His consultant said six monthly dental checks for life. Because bacteria can enter the blood stream through decay in the teeth that you wouldn't even know about for a good few months. When the bacteria hits the heart it causes endocarditis which is an inflammation of the lining of the heart. Antibiotics can help if it's caught in time but sometimes it's not. Our DS's consultant's view (and that of our GP) is prevention is better than cure so six monthly check ups it is.

Two months after he was born my friend's MIL was diagnosed with mouth cancer. She'd had no pain. The dentist had picked up the subtle change in her gums. Saved her life - she had to have part of the arm muscle stitched in to replace the gum but she lived.

So I'm afraid I'm now a yearly check up person - I go privately (DS is NHS in the same practice until he's 18 years old). My dentist says a yearly check is fine for me.

I do agree that six months is often too much but only going when there's a problem could, potentially, be very dangerous. There are a lot of diseases that can start with decay in the teeth or damage to the gums. Not worth the risk in my opinion. It's a bit like saying I'll only go for a smear if I detect changes or only have a mammogram if I think there's a problem. You hope you'll come out all clear but it's reassuring to know someone is making those checks that you just physically can't.

Why should the precious few spaces be saved for people who don't seem to use the facilities? It's nothing personal, but it's a waste having people on the books who don't seem to want to use it

Private dentists do the same. My son and I were due hygienists appointments (and my son needs a check-up, it's coming up to 9 months at the very outside since he went). I have had soooo many reminders. The reason I didn't go sooner was because I was working, and now I'm not, so I thought I'd wait until I'd given up work to do my "life admin". I am going today and will make an appointment for ds today while I am there. But there have been texts, emails and letters. I agree it's over the top, whether private or NHS.

I go every six months as a precautionary measure. If a filing is required, the dentist won't have to drill as deep, meaning the experience will be far less invasive and won't lead to way more expensive procedures such as implants, root canal, etc. As pp have mentioned, the dentist can check for more sinister issues such as cancer.

Untreated tooth decay can be deadly, take your teeth for granted at your peril

Dentists are not paid for each person on the list. My OH laughed at this thread. It would make no sense to him to chuck someone off his list. A previous post has described the payment system. Many people only need an annual check up but if you have any gum issues 6 month scale or even 3 month in some cases would be better. There isnt a truly NHS dental service, it is simply part subsidised. much like opticians. The job is very stressful in that nervous patients transmit their stress. They are very time pressured , much like GPs. Please stop all this kerching stuff. We have colleagues who have gone bankrupt, given up from work related stress, or gone private to have the time to work to the standard they want to. Patient see only what is in front of them in the surgery, as they do also at the Vets. Walk a day in their shoes. I would never encourage any of my children to follow in their fathers career

My NHS dentist recommends check up between 6 and 12 months depending on the state of my teeth at check up.
He is no longer accepting NHS patients so happy to pay 20 quid to stay with the NHS and keep an on my teeth and mouth. A friends mum recently died from or so cancer so it is worthwhile imo.

They have waiting lists, if you don't go for two years they delist you / unlike drs they don't get informed when you register at another dentist so they have a time limit instead. I go every six months, better to be safe!

Mine is frustrating. I have an appt and if I need something doing then they can’t fit me in for the next 3 months... and then you go for your filling 3 months after your checkup only to get booked in for another checkup 3 months later. I don’t get it. Why can’t they call you 6 months after the filling?

I don’t pay for check ups. I work full time, no children, no benefits. I paid last night because I got a scale and polish and an x-ray as there was a dark mark on a rear tooth. For all that it cost £16.40z

I'm on 6 monthly check up cycles at the moment as I have couple of areas of old decay that are on watch, and one just had to be filled (sob sob).

I also go to the hygienist every 4 months.

And I have excellent oral hygiene with electric toothbrush, flossing and inter dental brushes being done 2x a day.

My dentist is bloody amazing. Has done some seriously fab work on my mouth. Expensive though!

Check ups are 12 monthly here. If you can get an NHS dentist. We live on an island, and after 3 years of quite literally no spaces, anywhere on the Island, we got one nearby. Amazing! Until they were taken over 6 months later and we are now back to square one. No NHS dental spaces anywhere on the Island.

Joined my local private dental practice yesterday. Their charges are only a few quid more than the NHS one I was registered with (decided to leave that one, as dentist was grumpy and never seemed to even touch my teeth during check ups, which only lasted about 3 minutes!). The private one I've just joined costs about £10 more for a check up and both my children will have free check ups until the age of 18. Their fees for stuff like fillings etc are only a few quid more than the NHS one too. And they'll refer under the NHS for orthodontics should either of my children require braces in future. Plus it's 5 min walk from my house. I'd never thought about joining before as I knew it was private and assumed it would be really expensive.

Confusedbeetle oh no! My niece is very interested in doing dentistry as her dad has many friends who are dentists and are rolling in it with million pound houses and fabulous holidays and amazing cars! They are very busy but definitely don't look seemed stressed!

@TeaTop Advise your niece that there are much more important reasons to choose a career than potential earning. If her Dad's friends are not stressed are they in full NHS practices? She needs to think very carefully about how she will be spending her day. Perhaps get some work experience somewhere. It's a long university course to complete and then find you don't enjoy the work. 9-5 for 40 years even if you can afford a nice car. It was nice to hear some posters who appreciate their dentist. Many do not. On a daily basis he would say to a patient "Good morning. how are you?" and the answer would be " I'll be a lot better when I get out of here" So funny

arethereanyleftatall Tue 12-Feb-19 23:48:16
Sausageroll. I agree £20 is a lot of money to some people. That wasn't the point I was making. My point was that the op has implied several times that it's some kind of massive money making venture, but I don't think dentists will make much from check ups.

Its not about the cost, its also their ridiculous opening hours. They provide a service that we have to pay for, they should offer evening and Saturday appointments to everyone, not just private patients.

Taking a day off or half day just to go for a 10 min check up is fucking ridiculous.

@mummarosie1 Wed 13-Feb-19 01:30:48
Why should the precious few spaces be saved for people who don't seem to use the facilities?
It's nothing personal, but it's a waste having people on the books who don't seem to want to use it.

Maybe if they just let people attend once a year and then as & when they needed it they wouldn't need to limit their books so much and restrict how many people can be registered to a practice.

Surely if you went every 6 months they'd actually be saving you money long term as they'd pick up on any issues quickly and it could be dealt with sooner & hopefully cost less money than if you had an issue that lasted 2.5 years?

I always thought 6 months was the norm.

Bloody hell. Going by some of the attitudes here towards NHS dentists, no wonder there is a crisis in recruitment.

The thing is though, PrincessConsuelaBananahamm0ck NHS dentists have a ceiling on what they charge for a course of treatment. Private dentistry can get very expensive very quickly if you need something more than a filling etc.

I had a severe dental phobia for many years but started going again recently. I would happily pay my NHS dentist double what I am actually charged, she has been a miracle worker. I couldn't get on the books of anyone locally so I do have to travel but it is so, so worth it.

Thanks for the link @omarlarge, that's interesting. It shows the original rationalisation, but it still doesn't seem right to me that, even now, you can have a severely painful infection in your arm, foot, stomach, kidney etc and the NHS will pay for it all for you - yet if that infection happens to be in your mouth, you're given a massive bill to meet yourself.

Especially considering the many things that are covered by the NHS, which are very important to many people's wellbeing, but aren't actually causing constant pain and which most people would give a lower priority to than dental work.

There seems to be quite a big difference between the costs of private dentists too. Ours was originally "independent" rather than "private" and pegged some of their prices to NHS prices (not any more though).

But about 10 years ago I had some treatment done privately by another dentist and I nearly fell over when they said how much it would cost Even the check-up was £120.

There are no dentist in pour entire city taking on NHS patients - we keep being directed to three different lists which have three different dental surgeries supposedly taking on new people - but when I’ve contact they haven't taken on any NHS patients for years.

We consider it lucky we found one willing to take us as private and as long as we stay the children as NHS. We pay into a insurance scheme monthy which so far has covered any work and checkup we've needed.

Incidentally gum disease has apparently been linked to various other diseases - latest one I saw in New Scientist was dementia they think it's to do with inflammation, pretty sure I’ve read about links to heart issues.

NHS dentists get paid a fixed amount of "units" for the patients they see. Once that number of units is reached, they don't get compensated at all. Therefore they can't take on unlimited patients on the NHS. It's the government's way of keeping down the cost of paying for NHS dentistry. The amount the dentist makes from seeing each NHS patient for a checkup is hardly "ker-ching" either. If you don't go very often why not register as a private patient & just pay for what you need?

i go every three months for a scale and polish because it builds up quick. My breath would probably not be minty fresh without it.