to think private dentists have us over a barrel?

[ginghamstarfish]

Just moved area and no NHS dentists in the whole county. DH just went for a checkup with a private dentist. No problems, but over 2 years since last checkup due to pandemic etc. Lo and behold he's come home with a 'treatment plan' which will cost £400. I had similar a few years back, went to a private dentist who was offering free checkups, told me I could set up a payment plan for all the treatment I needed (had no problems, x rays fine). Then went to a NHS dentist who said there was no problem, and there hasn't been since then. I find it hard to trust what private dentists say .... as clearly you'd have to pay another one a further £100 for a 'new patient' checkup to see if they said the same.

I think so too...but at the same time isnt it essential, how can we have things that are essential but out of reach for most people?

yes😬 I'm very careful with mine now, water flosser 3 x per day (use salt water)

YABU - sorry.

It’s basically time the UK population wised up to how expensive all the stuff is that they take for granted. Of course dental treatment is expensive.

I live in Lincolnshire and its a battle to find private dentists with availability these days. I don't know how people pay for treatment who have limited income.

My husband had a problem right one of his molars.
Severe pain.

The NHS dentist gave him some antibiotics,.but it kept coming back. He did a procedure but the severe pain was still there. This was affecting my husband so badly. Taking pain relief not helping. Couldn't think because the pain was so bad.

In the end he changed to my private dentist. Who said he would need a root canal. Paid about £400 and not had any issues since then. I appreciate not everyone can afford the expense but for us it was worth it, because of how badly it was affecting his quality of life and health.

what's the answer then?
my grandparents generation couldnt afford dental care and ( as I understand it) it became customary for the 18th birthday present to be full extraction of all teeth and then dentures....will be go back to that?

You could apply the “they could tell you something needs doing when it doesn’t to make more money” logic to any service though, couldn’t you? It doesn’t mean that solicitors, electricians, surveyors or therapists should be nationalised and made to survive on government subsidised pittance wages just to ensure they never have any motive to do more than absolutely necessary. There will be unscrupulous people in every industry, but most dentists, like most other professionals, do not just make up shit.

The basic reality is that everyone wants better services but few people are willing to pay more tax for them.

I don't agree that we should just accept it's ridiculously expensive. Some countries have their citizens fooled for sure. Dentists are trained, have skills, a room with a chair and an assistant. Much like many, many other skilled practical and workers. They are not making luxury items like jewellery or watches out of rare materials. They are drilling and filling teeth with white clay. Hygienists are scraping and polishing them.
I am very grateful for what they do, it's actually a disgusting job. But £100 for a 10 minute review? That's £600 an hour / £4200 for a 7 hr day. It's taking the piss.

Who's charging £100 for 10 minutes?

I had a review and it cost me £97. I was in there for 7 minutes - I timed it.

I've been private for over a decade and I've never paid anything close to £97.

Yes. And primary school teachers just count the beanbags for sports day all day long, and care workers just wipe shitty bottoms, and builders are just sticking rows of pieces of baked clay in a straight line.

The dentist isn’t pocketing £100 for ten minutes of work. They have to pay the rent for their building, the utilities, pay the dental nurses, the reception staff, pay for insurances, equipment, sterilisation procedures, so on and so on. And the training takes years, it’s a bit more than drilling holes in teeth and shoving some filler in.

Are private dentists more vigilant/preventative and NHS more overwhelmed/firefighting? Genuine question. We pay privately (not the kids) and haven’t had such high bills - think it’s £60 for a 6 monthly check up. I’d rather intercept brewing issues rather than wait til they properly become a problem ?

White filling materials
‘White dental fillings are made from plastic and glass or quartz particles mixed with a synthetic resin—a soft, sticky substance that helps in molding the filling perfectly to the shape of your tooth. Then a special curing light is used to harden the filling and bond it to your tooth on a microscopic level’

Not clay - that would surely need firing in a kiln to make it hard enough to crack next time you ate a peanut 😭

There are 8 dentists and 2 hygienists operating in my practice. They bought the building 25 years ago. There are 2 receptionists.

I went to a private dentist and asked for two damaged teeth extracting - I feel they were too broken to fix. They insisted on extensive fillings. It cost £800. I ended up in agony, within weeks, and going to an emergency NHS dentist for extraction of those teeth.

I had similar a few years back, went to a private dentist who was offering free checkups, told me I could set up a payment plan for all the treatment I needed

That's exactly what I have from my private dentist. Its effectively, private dental insurance. It costs £37 per month and covers all the dental treatment I need and 2 routine annual checkups and 2 hygeinist appts. If I need anything looked at/done between checkups I can get an appt within a day and the service is wonderful.

Payment plans are far far cheaper than paying the same dentist for every individual treatment, check up, item and xray etc.

Here's the price list. The top price is 'review" (apologies £92 not £97), the bottom price is a filling - in between are kids prices. I had a filling, it took 20 minutes.

I'll try that again . . . top amount is the review - bottom of the list is a filling

YANBU it's a total rip off. I've had dental treatment in the US, Ireland, China and the UK. While the actual cost of treatment is identical, some countries are a lot more prone to doing unnecessary work and as you can see from this thread, there are enough people who doggedly refuse to question the costs that these cowboys manage to stay in business. People just blindly trust that they need four fillings despite only actually needing one, or that a certain treatment is necessary when it actually hasn't been proven effective for the problem.

It doesn't affect the people who have made their money, benefitted from cheap housing and abundant opportunities, and benefitted from a lifetime of almost everything free on the NHS and who registered with a dentist before about 2008 when NHS dentists seemed to just dry up overnight. So they'll keep voting Tory and telling you to be grateful for a kick in the face from the "emergensey dentisst" in a back alley somewhere.

Just wait until our generation all have to have false teeth like in bygone decades.

There is a saying ‘you can tell how well off someone is by the condition of their teeth’ and it’s so true. What do people think is the solution so? All the people saying’of course it’s expensive’, does that mean it should be out of reach for the majority of people? You’re in pain with your tooth and they offer a root canal at hundreds to a grand, or get it taken out and oh you’ll never be able to afford a new tooth there. How is it fair to people?

So my private dentist charges £58 for a check up including a scale and polish (and X-rays if needed), and this includes a free check up for the children too. She’s never asked me to have further treatment and I don’t have any fillings.

On the other hand my husband has multiple issues with his teeth and last visit needed 4 fillings (amalgam fillings at £150 each). But I trust he needed them given she has always said that I don’t need any further treatment.

Surely certain things, like education, healthcare, policeforce etc are essential for modern society to function and need to be funded collectively?

This is the case with anything though. You have to trust professionals

Dentists are qualified professionals, with years of training. Most fees are set so the dentist earn x amount per hour, so it doesnt really matter if they spend their time doing check ups or root canals. It's a pretty easy life if you just do check ups on your patients. Yes you can sell cosmetic treatments like whitening but ultimately that's the patients choice

Turkey teeth cause a raft of issues that UK dentists then have to deal with. If you show me an OPG of someone who's had their teeth done in Turkey and there's no teeth with apical infection, or secondary decay or perio disease I would be amazed. And very thankful.

Dentists can't win, they are accused of ignoring problems if they are salaried, or making things up if they are paid. Healthcare unfortunately costs money. It's frustrating to read time and time again misinformation and distrust about the dental profession. "Dentists are just out to make money" is the oldest trope in the book. Most dentists are not doing unnecessary work. If anything I would say there is the opposite right now with dental neglect amongst NHS dentistry

I just paid £210 for an emergency appointment and treatment - took all of 30 minutes.