Covid profiteering dentist.

[RipOffForNothing]

NC for this.

I'm pissed off at my dentist, I called today to make an appointment because my filling dropped out 3 weeks ago and now I'm in bloody pain, both top and bottom gums hurt.

I called up and got told, I've got to pay 7 pound for fuckin PPE. Nevermind the fact they are not the cheapest dentist anyway.

AIBU to think they are just profiteering?

I mean really a fuckin apron does not cost 7 pound. It's total bullshit. I did disagree down the phone but the short and sweet is, it's tough shit.

The dentist always wears an apron and mask anyway.

They are a private dentist as well as NHS. I'm private. I'm not saying that to sound stuck up, but to point out I do not pay NHS prices as is. I just think it's shady as fuck to be marking a apron up so much. I will be leaving them after this.

Same here, mine is charging £10 per patient for PPE. Bloody cheek, I say.

Depending on the treatment they need to put proper PPE on not just a regular mask and apron. The risks of passing on covid in dentistry are HUGE!! That must be the NHS price cos at ours it was about £7 NHS but private was around the £30 mark lol

It's not just the apron though is it?

Think about it.

All the additional cleaning they have to do around each appointment, the higher time and resources they use, but with a reduced number of clients.

I am private too, only because I could not get on NHS dentist's books.

How weird, I watched a news segment on bbc a few weeks back with dentists complaining they weren't able to fully reopen despite the fact they always already wore full and probably more than necessary PPE as standard and had such strict cleaning regiments.

Can you sign up as a NHS patient?

Not just a fucking apron for a dentist. Not unless they fancy getting Covid19. A lot of dental work is aerosol generating procedures. That's full on PPE. Which costs rather more.

You are paying for private health-care, and complaining about £7? There are lots of additional costs to cover your safety at the moment - increased cleaning, higher grade PPE etc. I really think there are more critical things to complain about. A small and transparent charge is one of them. He could have just increased his charges and you'd have never realised. Which is what a lot of dentists are doing. You're going to pay for this one way or another, wherever you go.

Our dentist still isn't fully reopened. They're only seeing urgent cases. My poor mum lost a huge filling months ago now but they won't see her because she's not in terrible pain. It's ridiculous.

@SquirtleSquad

How weird, I watched a news segment on bbc a few weeks back with dentists complaining they weren't able to fully reopen despite the fact they always already wore full and probably more than necessary PPE as standard and had such strict cleaning regiments.

Can you sign up as a NHS patient?

That was before they realized how expensive it was to replace the stock they had. PPE has gone up considerably due to cost

I have private dental insurance with denplan. £25 a month and all the dental care I can eat (metaphorically).

Worth the investment if you don't want to go to the NHS or pay additional fees.

I’ve done my own filling using something called micron , this was about 2 months ago and still in place.

My Dentist is only open to private patients, which I don't think should be allowed.

I will be leaving them after this

Good luck with finding one who doesn’t charge for PPE.

Good luck finding a dentist that doesn't charge for the extra cleaning, additional PPE and time taken to do procedures in a covid secure manner. £7 for the extra time alone won't go far.

Or finding an NHS dentist. I live on an Island, there are none with any spaces at all! I managed to get the kids into one and have decided that's the priority for now.

I have just had 3 gruelling sessions with my dentist (first session was nearly 2 hours).I was able to wear my own mask when I arrived which I obviously removed once in the chair. My dentist wore something which looked like something out of Dr Who on his face, as did the nurse. It looked like a modern day gas mask which apparently they have to have specially fitted to their faces. He then wore an apron and of course gloves. How the poor soul managed to work in it I don't know. I certainly didn't have to wear an apron or anything and I certainly didn't have any extra charges.

Forgot to say in my previous post that my dentist is private.

If I were you, I’d count myself lucky. If it’s an aerosol generating procedure, which this could be if they have to drill out any old filling; they have to leave the surgery empty for an hour afterwards - which costs £120 at my practice. If we are lucky, they will do it before lunch - when the room is empty anyway.

However, they will still have to clean the room and time is money! Everything you touched will have to be cleaned!

£7 is an absolute bargain!

I work with PPE and know how much it retails for and I can tell you that the dentist is almost definitely paying more than £7 for the additional PPE they need to treat you. If there are 2 people in the room, which there usually are, then they're making a loss/ less profit in order to treat you. And after several months of no income.

My private dentist isn’t passing on the cost of PPE, and returned to work promptly.

Iirc, the cleaning and PPE at my practice is £40.

YABU
I'm not a dentist and have no family members who are but know that as soon as drilling is involved (aerosol) the dentist has to be fully kitted in something akin to a respirator suit. V unpleasant to work in and expensive I should imagine.
In addition (and I'm not entirely sure why) many self employed dentists fell through the Covid cracks and received no financial relief, and now, because of obvious hygiene measures can only take a fraction of the patients they usually would.

My dentist is charging £80 for PPE! Charge is being waved if you have Denplan as a ‘thankyou’ gesture apparently 🙄

Dentists are having to wear different masks to the surgical ones that they would usually use, because pretty much all of their procedures are "aerosol generating" and have a high risk of spreading covid. They won't need just a normal mask and apron, they will need:

A ffp3 face mask
A face shield
A long sleeved fluid resistant gown
Gloves

...both the dentist and the dental nurse will need to wear this. An ffp3 mask is much more expensive than a surgical mask. I work in the NHS and have been told that the ffp3 masks cost £3 each and that's whole sale. So if that's true then £7 seems reasonable for them to charge you, covers the two ffp3 masks and the two gowns. The face shields will probably be reusable. They will also have to leave the room for a certain amount of time in between patients, depending on how many "air changes" the room has per hour this could be 5 minutes or an hour, but they won't be able to see as many patients as usual.

NHS dentists will have PPE provided to them, but private dentists are having to source their own PPE, which means they have to pass the cost onto the customer to keep making a profit.

£7 sounds like a bargain
my hairdresser is charging £4