To think that dental care is now only for the wealthy in the UK

[Tygertiger]

I would love to be considered U here and if I am, please explain it to me.

I have been in the privileged position until now of having an NHS dentist. Obviously I still pay a fee for every visit (not entitled to free healthcare) but it’s still cheaper than private dental fees. We’ve now been told that our practice is going private as of next year and will offer monthly payment plans, the cheapest of which is £19 a month. I’ve been on the NHS site and there are no other NHS dentists in the local area, at all.

So how do poor people afford to go to the dentist? If they can’t afford a monthly insurance plan?

Considering the huge amount that the treatment of cancers costs the NHS - not to mention disability benefits and reduced income tax-take that may follow as a direct result, you'd think the government would actually be keen to promote free methods to encourage prevention and early detection - as is frequently the case with dentists as gatekeepers sounding the alarm on a whole raft of serious conditions at a very early stage.

If we agree with the concept of free provision of smear tests, mammograms, prostate checks, asthma and diabetes checkups etc. as a way of forestalling serious problems or catching them very early, why would a sensible joined-up system not automatically do the same with teeth? Even if that system were only bothered about the bottom line and not interested in people's well-being, comfort, longevity and freedom from pain.

Only if you can find a dentist who will take NHS patients. I was with a dentist who accepted me as an NHS patient and was with them for nearly ten years. I tried to make a check-up appointment and they let me know that I'd have to wait until April because they'd used their full quota of NHS patients until the next tax year - no, I don't understand it either, but obviously, it's a thing. That was three years ago. I got back in touch with them every couple of months to be told "maybe in a couple of months" until I gave up because it was clear I had fallen through the cracks and I was never going to get another appointment. I've just moved so have been looking for a new dentist where I am now. Most are not taking NHS patients. Those who do take NHS patients have their full quota and aren't taking on any more patients.

As a poor person, I have been without a dentist for three years and can't see that changing anytime soon. I'm not alone. There are people poorer than me and people better off than me in similar situations. It's a disgrace. Everyone should be able to see an NHS dentist and the fact that so few of us can seems to be ignored by the media. Dentistry is the first part of the NHS that is heading toward complete privatisation.

There's 2 denplan ones, care and essentials

Link
https://www.denplan.co.uk/patient-plans

I have care which covers pretty much everything except lab fees

Where? What area of the UK are you in where this is still the case? I've moved around the UK a lot over the past 15 years, and I don't know of anywhere that has this provision.

Well I can't say it's much better in Australia, except that I'm earning more here than I could in the UK.

Extras health insurance (covers everything except hospital stays) cost $2,000 a year for me and my 2 DSs. Braces for both of them cost me $15,000, I get back $4,500 in total so as a single parent I have to pay the $10,500 gap. Fortunately the orthodontist spreads it out over 3 years. Dental checks up are covered by my health insurance as are a lot of other things, including ambulance trips which are not covered under Medicare)

Oops, posted too soon. Health insurance only covers a proportion of medical costs and some things have a lifetime cap.

If I didn't have health insurance, I am almost over the income threshold to have to pay an additional levy of 1% if my income.

My glasses from specsavers cost me $80 after I get my health insurance rebate. Only 1 rebate per year so if I damage them I have to pay full price. Etc, etc.

Can't even visit a GP for free as most of them have stopped bulk billing (where they just charge Medicare and you pay no extra) and now a visit costs me $70+.

I'll pay the £19 a month if my NHS dentist does the same. The worst pain I've ever felt has been dental, and I would go into thousands of pounds worth of debt to avoid that pain again.

Having said that, this is totally fucking wrong if it is true.

I pay £15 per month but that’s just for 2 checkups per year. I don’t go to them because every single time I do, my dentist ‘finds’ at least 2 cavities that ‘need’ filling and I end up shelling out hundreds more. I have to say I’m afraid I don’t trust him, I think he’s lining his pocket carrying out unnecessary work. I’m only going back if I’m in pain.
Mum thinks I’m stupid and dental care should be preventative, but I was paying £200+ per visit, it wasn’t sustainable.

Both of my grandfathers had all their teeth removed for their 21st birthday gift. It cost a lot of money to have done, but yes, it was normal. I've seen photos of them when they were young and they had very nice teeth, but there was no NHS then and dentistry was very expensive and painful and keeping your own teeth could cause a lifetime of problems.

Next week my DH' s cousin's husband is giving a presentation to some MPs on why NHS dentists are essential to the nation's health.

Haven't had NHS dental care for a long time, as we've had to relocate for DH's job often. I have a mouth full of crowns and have fallen victim to cowboy dentists doing poor, unnecessary work. I'm paying for my youngest atm too and she is entitled to free care.

We have Simply Health insurance, which is a help, but we still pay on top of this.

I haven’t able to get an NHS dentist since 2003 and I moved back to Wales. Sometimes Dentists open up their NHS list but I have never made onto one. Miss my London dentist.

I've been on the waiting list for an NHS dentist for about 2.5 years now.

I couldn't even get an appointment when I found a lump growing in my mouth - how was anyone NHS to know it wasn't cancer? I certainly didn't know that.

GP said it was a dentist job and wouldn't see me. Health board said there were no NHS dentists taking on clients in the entire health board area, but put me on the central waiting list.

If I was poor and it had turned out to be cancer I'd have been terminally ill or dead by now.

I use my local university dental school.
The dental students do the work under the direction of the qualified dentist who is their tutor.
It costs me nothing and I've never had any problems.

I'm with an NHS dentist and get free dental care as I get UC. I joined this dentist 8 years ago, it didn't have a great reputation which was probably why I got a place but I've never had any issues.

It's still the case everywhere. You get an exemption certificate, it used to be a card but now it's just a paper certificate. I've got one. Free prescriptions and NHS dental care.

I had a wisdom tooth extracted yesterday, an eye watering €350 euro in Dublin!

Only certain ( limited) benefits. Definitely not everyone receiving benefits..

That Denplan site seems very reluctant to tell you what the cost is without you having to go through one of their dentists to ask - and then potentially opening yourself up to their persistent marketing attempts if you hesitate or decline.

I always assume that companies who are not upfront with their prices - unless they are genuinely all very different for bespoke services/products for everybody - are looking to rip you off and/or know that their prices will be more than you expected/want to/can pay; like those scum companies that prey on old folk in their own homes with exorbitantly-priced beds and armchairs. Aldi never tell you that you have to email them to find out how much their own-brand beans cost, do they?

Both of my grandfathers had all their teeth removed for their 21st birthday gift. It cost a lot of money to have done, but yes, it was normal. I've seen photos of them when they were young and they had very nice teeth, but there was no NHS then and dentistry was very expensive and painful and keeping your own teeth could cause a lifetime of problems.

I'm sure they made a very practical, reasoned decision that suited them and their circumstances; but how heartbreaking to think that we could be headed back there in these times.

Call me a cynic, but I can see this being used (whether deliberately or just 'conveniently' capitalised on) as a test case to other personal health needs that currently are looked after by the NHS. Imagine if some bright spark came up with the idea that, if all women routinely had (self-funded, of course) double mastectomies on their 18th birthday, we could make breast cancer almost a thing of the past.

Horrifying and so defeatist: a health equivalent of 'luckily' never being at risk of burglars breaking in, because you can't afford to live in a house in the first place.

I think how things are with dentists now is how the Conservatives plan for the NHS to be.

Some people will get some things for free.

And if you can't. You'll have to pay.

Only it will be tens of thousands instead of a few hundred.

My dentist’s plan is £20 a month for two check ups and two hygienist visits a year. The hygienist is lovely, but not very effective.

The dentist would like me to have implants. Probably about £8000. That won’t be possible.

Good on him! It would be wonderful if they listened but I don't hold out much hope.

I agree, it's a big problem. I do still have an NHS dentist (as does my husband - a different one) but I think they are not taking on any more patients.

More and more dentists are giving up NHS practice. I think it can't be financially viable.