PPE charge at dentists?

[stayingaliveisawayoflife]

I was going to go for my check up which was booked before all the crazy happened. I have been told that there is a £20 surcharge for PPE. Looking at the info I will be given two squirts of anti bac and a pair of gloves I have to throw away before I leave. It is a private dentist.

I think it grates because I pay for extra PPE and anti bac products to keep my classroom clean and now I suspect I am being charged to pay for PPE for the practice staff.

Has anyone heard of this happening elsewhere? Is it just common practice now and I need to suck it up?

Ours is charging £35 for the extra PPE required.

@arethereanyleftatall - spot on well I’m grateful my surgery is now open

My husband's dentist are charging also and saying they are not making a profit out of it !

Jeez, just be glad you've got a dentist that is open and doing routine treatments. There are people in pain who have been waiting months for treatment and their dentists still aren't open for anything but prescribing antibiotics etc.

I'd gladly pay another 25 quid to have mine working and sorting my discomfort and lost filling out.

@arethereanyleftatall

I do agree with you. And the Government has left them out to dry with little information and help. My dentist kept in touch throughout, rang me on my mobile a few times(I had just started some treatment and along came lockdown)
And my hygienist cannot use the whatever it's called electric tool to treat my teeth, so she did everything manually. When she does go back to the electric tool, they have to block out one hour after so that they can clean the room from top to bottom because the spray from these machines are the most dangerous to use... more dangerous than anything because it's aerosol

It's weird. Dentists always get a bad rap on MN.

The guidelines have been out for almost 3 weeks now, they’ve had time to sort this out.

I’ve bought my own polish kit because I had waited a year for my scale appointment.
A box of ten masks is £35, they are fleecing patients, many who are struggling anyway.

But the masks aren't for the patients, it's for the dentists and hygienists for the invasive aerosol procedures... full PPE. I'm not sure why people don't get that.

It simply isn’t true that dentists are ‘fleecing’ patients. There is absolutely not a penny to be made in dentistry in the current climate. The ppe charges may allow a practice to just about be able to pay staff but nothing more.
Ffp3 masks which dentists and their nurses are required to wear at the moment are not £35 for 10!!! They need to be professionally fit tested and are very difficult to acquire at any cost. Ppe for the dentist and nurse for an aerosol procedure at current prices will cost at least £100. You then have to consider that the surgery has to be vacated for an hour before cleaning even starts. Many practices won’t be able to sustain this and there will be closures. If you think you’ve waited a long time for an appointment now you’re going to be in for a shock over the next year.

I am on three month checks because of neuralgia, so have missed one and will presumably miss the next one (July) while they clear the backlog. My teeth are clinically sound, but I get really anxious about the nerve pain, and am desperate to go in - I will gladly pay a surcharge. (Also, my dentist is lovely, and was so kind and patient while I traipsed back and forth with mysterious toothache in loads of different teeth for months, while she was completely baffled and eventually referred me to hospital for an MRI.)

I have 3 monthly private treatments (privately but at NHS dentist - everything else is done under nhs care) due to serious jaw and teeth problems in the past. I pay £72 each time for this treatment and received an email yesterday saying it'll now be an additional £35 for ppe each time. I've also had my July appointment cancelled until September.

I struggled to find the £72 every 3 months and really don't think I'll be able to find the additional £35.00 if it continues to be added after my next appointment.

There are some bitter people here. I'm grateful my dentist is open as my teeth are important.

Sounds like the government needs to stop the suppliers price gouging. Why has the price gone up for something as essential as this? It doesn't magically cost more to produce because of coronavirus, the manufacturers are just trying it on and it needs to stop.

my hygienist cannot use the whatever it's called electric tool to treat my teeth, so she did everything manually

I prefer it when they do it manually anyway, the sonic wotsit cleaner isn't very pleasant. Even before this the cost of my hygienist appointment had gone up sharply (I think I paid over £50 for about 20 minutes in February) so dread to think how much it will be now.

There’s a big difference in the charges according to this thread. I wonder why they can’t be standardised.

@cologne4711
I agree but I need a deep clean (gum disease) and only the machine can do that. I often have injections when I visit the hygienist because of what she does with the deep pockets.
However, her manual clean was so pain free this week compared to what I normally have!
Until they have the go ahead to use this, it will only be done manually.

(p.s. your name makes me think of my dear old Mum who used to use 4711 !)

Nhs charges are standardised and there will be no ppe charge allowed by nhs.
Difference in charges from private practices can be accounted for because the wholesale cost of ppe varies hugely due to the surge in demand and also how much professional fit testing costs in their area.
The huge cost increases in ppe wholesale relates to a worldwide shortage of ppe. Countries that we usually import from require the ppe for their own population.

I don't see how the dentists are going to win out of this if people stop going unless it is absolutely necessary because of the increased cost - which is what I would do.

I don’t think it’s about ‘winning’ it’s about being able to provide a healthcare service for patients and preventing a business from going under.

There are some daft comments on this thread. I'm just so bloody grateful dentists are re-opening. It's scandalous how many people have been denied urgent dental care because the Govt couldn't organise PPE.

Dentist's already take the p' - this is outrageous, how are people on low incomes expected to cope? Single use PPE does NOT cost £20 a pop. they've be wearing an apron, gloves ( my dentist does anyway) and a visor -mine does anyway.

I'm seeing my dentist next week for a check up - they're not charging anything extra.

@Buttonorbows - RTFT where the situation has been explained. Don't choose to make yourself sound dim.

I do think some dentists may be taking advantage of the situation....
I had a small filling fall out of a molar early in lockdown. Phoned local dentist this morning and was told an appointment for filling would cost £300. They were classifying it as an 'emergency' appointment even though I explained it's not an emergency and I can easily wait another couple of weeks. Still £300. Our local NHS dentist still isn't seeing patience because they have a 'shortage of PPE'. So I'm really stuck.

Patients