What happens at dentist if you have treatment but no money to pay after?

[HighlyOptimistic]

Need emergency dental treatment wisdom tooth acute pain.

Furloughed on about £200 month absolutely zero money in bank until next pay day. Nobody to borrow from, work won’t sub me, don’t have credit for loans, not eligible for free dental.

If I just have the appointment and afterwards present my debit card for payment, it will be declined as there’s about £3 in my bank, what happens next?

Will dentist just invoice me? Keep my bank card as security? Call police?
I have no way of paying but the pain is making me nearly faint and I’m already at the limit of how many paracetamols I can take in this 24 hour period.

I’m not trying to defraud or steal, I just genuinely have no money in my bank until pay day in 2 weeks time (work pays early at Christmas so it will be Christmas Eve , too late to wait).

Is there a dental receptionist or dentist/assistant on here that can advise?

I don’t want to risk saying before my appointment I can’t afford to pay as they won’t take me in. My whole face is throbbing. I’m not wasting A&E time as 111 said only go if you’re having breathing difficulties. I am but that’s me trying to keep a panic attack away because of the pain (I’m managing the panic attack).

I pay afterwards but agreed the hospital will treat you without charge anyway so no need to worry

OP I have lived with a financial abuser. I know what it's like. It's humiliating to tell someone you don't have access to money because of someone like that. I would start with A and E and explain what you told us. They will hopefully help get you care. Once the immediate pain is dealt with call women's aid. Or citizens advice. Or put in your own claim for UC separate to him.

I've never had to pay before treatment, and if I need a course of treatment I can pay at the end of all the appointments

@NeurologicallySpeaking

I pay afterwards but agreed the hospital will treat you without charge anyway so no need to worry

A&E does not provide dental treatments on demand.

Why are so many posters advising she goes there especially in the midst of a pandemic when the last place anyone should be is in hospital unless it's a matter of life and death?

The best A&E will do is give her some painkillers then tell her to find a dentist.

My private dentist charges at the end of the appt, before you leave, but for ongoing treatment - ie an inspection then a return visit- they devise a treatment plan with the fee being paid at the end of treatment.

It's also likely for the op that if she needs an inspection first, any extraction will be done later, not on the day because they will want to look and assess the tooth and then she will make another appt for later for treatment.

on another note ive never understood why we have to pay for pain oour teeth its hardly a luxury is it

i br4eak my foot i go to a and e i break my tooth i have to pay for it

i would just ring round and ask for payment plans dont try and sneak in when you know you can t pay

You are planning on stealing OP. You are planning on using the dentists time, practice resources without paying. Who do you think pays?

A&E do not treat dental pain. At best you might get some temporary pain relief, but you cannot get dental treatment in ED.

If a long standing patient couldnt pay for their treatment we would invoice them, however a new emergency patient you are relying on a lot of trust from someone you dont know. To be quite frank a lot of people try to avoid paying on access sessions and the pratice just couldnt afford it. OP doenst have access to dental treatment because she is in an abusive marriage, not becauae there isnt access to free treatment

Your best bet is to contact a dentist who has seen you before, they are much more likely to set up a payment plan or invoice. They might give you a free consultation or prescription if you need it. Or be able to offer you advise. But its simply not fair to just take treatment you havent paid for

You are planning on stealing OP.

Would you say to someone who was starving that they shouldn’t steal a loaf of bread?

OP is at the point of passing out from pain, presumably cannot sleep either, so needs to get the physical problem sorted ASAP.

@DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon the woman is in agony. And getting out of an abusive marriage is not simple.
And btw my dgs dentist cancelled his appt 3 times and finally told my ds they wouldn't take NHS anymore.
They found a private dentist who tried to charge full price for dgs and my ds queried it when I told him the dentist would definitely be claiming full rate for a child off the NHS. The dentist suddenly reduced the charge by more than half!
Dental services in the UK are a disgrace.

Yes I would. There is a reason OP has done it but it is still stealing. Thats why its much better to go back to a dentist OP has seen before and explain, and see what they can do rather than get someone to do work you know you arent going to pay for. Im not expecting OP to get out of her abusive marriage overnight but it is her husband who is obstructing her care, and allowing his wife to remain in agony not dentists.

@Oreservoir thats completely irrelevent. If they found a private dentist obviously they will only see you dgs privately? They are a private dentist? Most of that is your own paranoia, Ive never heard of a single dentist charge someone privately and then use their NHS UDAs, its very heavily regulated and you would get struck off.

Sorry, haven't RTFT, so don't know if this has been suggested...

OP, there are a few things you can do at home to ease the pain of infection while this is sorted. Two things that have always worked for me:
1) Rinsing with very warm (almost hot) water and salt. Add 2-3 spoonfuls to your mug BEFORE you add the water so the salt dissolves. Then rinse out your mouth, swishing it around the painful area. When you spit, spit onto the sink so if you can see if any little bits of food come out. (I know, gross.) Keep doing this until ALL the water is gone, even though it's a bore. Every little bit helps.

2) Holding vinegar over the painful area also helps to cleanse it. I used red wine vinegar because it's what I had, but I'm sure the other types work too. Hold the vinegar in your mouth over the infected bit for about 20 seconds before spitting. Do this at least 3-5 times.

Also, while you're doing this, don't laugh at something on telly and accidentally swallow some. Hope your tooth feels better soon, OP!

on another note ive never understood why we have to pay for pain oour teeth its hardly a luxury is iti br4eak my foot i go to a and e i break my tooth i have to pay for it

Most dental pain is self inflicted- poor sugary diets, poor oral hygiene... A little more effort and awareness from the outset, combined with better education would definitely reduce the costs.
Back when the NHS was first established post war, dental treatment was free at the point of delivery. However very quickly, within a couple of years, NHS patient charges were introduced as it was clear that the costs were immense.
Dentistry is extremely expensive. Think of all the things you need for a simple filling that costs @ £17- room hire, chair maintenance, service and insurance, dentist indemnity, nurse, water, electricity, personal insurance, cost of local anaesthetic cartridge, disposable suction tips and water spray tip, cotton wool, lining material, amalgam, mouthwash, not to mention to vastly overinflated cost of post COVID PPE.
We are t covering our costs at the moment. Our private work supplements the NHS work we do. Difficult times.
As a dentist, I wouldn't like to see anyone suffer, but we are a business with bills and staff to pay

@wonderfulscience but by your logic most illnesses are self inflicted too . A lot of them by poor diets and lifestyles.

@wonderfulscience I’m sure a lot of what the NHS and hospitals deal with is self inflicted though.

Sporting injuries, cancers from smoking/drinking, health issues from poor diet.

@DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon

I'm glad someone else pointed this out. Putting aside that OP is in an abusive marriage, it would still be fraud and her best bet is to get painkillers from A&E (they won't do dental work) and head over to a dental hospital as soon as she can.

Dental pain is the absolute worst, but fraud is not the way to get treatment.

Update.
Haven’t read all replies since beginning although noticed MNHQ said there’s been ‘lots of reports’ that this isn’t genuine. Nowhere have I asked for money and I would have thought it was obvious from the fact Im prepared to endure pain rather than ask anyone for help that this isn’t a begging session.

Anyway...was invoiced afterwards. I just said didn’t have the money right there and then as Id turned up on doorstep and they saw me as an emergency patient. I’m already registered there always paid on time for previous treatments.
They took the tooth out.
Thankyou for advice everyone.

Hope you're feeling instantly better OP

I would ring them and tell them your situation I have paid for dental treatment in instalments before.

Glad you managed to have the tooth taken out. Hope you have good pain relief if you need it. Take care of yourself. 💐

Most dental pain is self inflicted- poor sugary diets, poor oral hygiene... A little more effort and awareness from the outset, combined with better education would definitely reduce the cost

A lot of health conditions are self inflicted but we don't make people pay for that kind of treatment. Dentistry is insanely expensive and it's crazy that in Britain it's not free at the point of access. I'd happily pay a tiny bit more tax to cover it, and because if its free at the point of access people would be far far more likely to go for a 6 monthly checkup and probably need less treatment as a result.

Great update, hopefully the pain will go now.
I don't think I've ever paid up front for the dentist? (And I've been to several different dentists/practices).

Just wanted to echo what TheDivineMsRusso said about warm water salt rinses. They sound foul but really do work for infections in the mouth. I use them if I get gum pain (gingivitis), mouth ulcers or any aches and pains in my mouth. I find that if I use a salt rinse last thing at night, the pain is often gone completely by morning.

@wonderfulscience you can't say that on MN. No matter how true it is. You just can't say it. From an ex dentist...

OP glad you've had the tooth out. Was it top or bottom? Hope you're feeling better anyway. Lucky to get a dentist to take a tooth out in an emergency appointment. Good work.

@TrustTheGeneGenie

Most dental pain is self inflicted- poor sugary diets, poor oral hygiene... A little more effort and awareness from the outset, combined with better education would definitely reduce the cost

A lot of health conditions are self inflicted but we don't make people pay for that kind of treatment. Dentistry is insanely expensive and it's crazy that in Britain it's not free at the point of access. I'd happily pay a tiny bit more tax to cover it, and because if its free at the point of access people would be far far more likely to go for a 6 monthly checkup and probably need less treatment as a result.

exactly not everything is natural causes so thats like sayting lets charge people who smoke for their cancer treatment

i wold pay more tax aswell if it meant you didnt have to be in agony like the op

glad you got treatment anyway

I’m another who would pay more tax to fund dental treatment it’s inhumane that people are made to suffer incredible pain as they don’t have the money to pay for expensive treatments. It’s disgusting actually