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AIBU?

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Original poster

Have I just been ripped off?

42 replies

Ilovebountybars · 23/05/2023 22:53

i went to see a dentist in Poland to have a wisdom tooth removed and the bill was 900 pln which is around 200 euros. Is this expensive or normal for Poland? I hate to think I’ve been ripped off it just seems expensive. Does that price seem correct?

OP posts:
Kpcs · 23/05/2023 22:54

It’s 50£ in the UK at dental hospital…

Original poster
Ilovebountybars · 23/05/2023 22:58

Kpcs · 23/05/2023 22:54

It’s 50£ in the UK at dental hospital…

Wow I had no idea. Are the waiting lists long for a dental hospital? He said it was a difficult tooth to remove but even so I think that was expensive.

OP posts:
GrazingSheep · 23/05/2023 22:59

Why did you go to Poland?

Original poster
Ilovebountybars · 23/05/2023 23:01

GrazingSheep · 23/05/2023 22:59

Why did you go to Poland?

I’m living there at the moment

OP posts:
Newspeaker · 23/05/2023 23:01

Free if you go to a UK teaching hospital.

SiegeOfBees · 23/05/2023 23:02

It’s £180 at the private dentist near us.

RaininSummer · 23/05/2023 23:04

You can't just rock up at a teaching hospital though can you? When I checked ours they weren't allowing anyone to sign up with them.

Original poster
Ilovebountybars · 23/05/2023 23:05

Newspeaker · 23/05/2023 23:01

Free if you go to a UK teaching hospital.

I considered going to a teaching hospital in Poland but the waiting lists were long and I was worried they would make a mistake

OP posts:
CC4712 · 23/05/2023 23:10

Isn't there anyone who lives in Poland you could ask? Work colleague? Neighbour? Friends?

Equalitea · 24/05/2023 08:43

My dentist couldn’t do it so I was referred to the local general hospital. It was done by their maxillofacial department,free, NHS, under sedation as an outpatient.

Hoppinggreen · 24/05/2023 08:45

With the best will in the world I am not sure how you think MN will have a better idea of the cost of dental treatment in Poland than people in Poland do.
Or we’re you wondering whether it would have been better to have it done in The UK?

Original poster
Ilovebountybars · 24/05/2023 08:49

Hoppinggreen · 24/05/2023 08:45

With the best will in the world I am not sure how you think MN will have a better idea of the cost of dental treatment in Poland than people in Poland do.
Or we’re you wondering whether it would have been better to have it done in The UK?

Yes that’s what I was wondering. It was an impacted wisdom tooth so he said it would be more expensive. Has anyone had an impacted wisdom tooth removed in the uk? How much was it? I asked some Polish people as they said it seems expensive

OP posts:
Speermint · 24/05/2023 08:50

Yes maybe a teaching hospital would have done it for fifty quid, but even in the UK most people don’t have access to one. I mean if we were all going to the teaching hospital there’d be no work for the qualified dentists, would there? So the price at a teaching hospital is somewhat irrelevant. What OP has paid is about the going rate for having an extraction at a good private dentist in the UK.

Evaka · 24/05/2023 08:58

It would have been up to eur500 in Ireland, depending on the complexity of the removal. I find UK costs have warped my sense of what procedures and care cost but Ireland is always a reality check. Perhaps similar in Poland? Anyway, it's done - move on and feel better OP!

LovedFedAndNoonesDead · 24/05/2023 09:04

I would say, compared to UK based private dental treatment prices, it’s a very reasonable charge.

DH was quoted £180 for removal of a rotten tooth as well as another £180 for an emergency appointment as a non registered patient at the practice (this was the nearest practice offering emergency appointments for non registered patients) and his was just a back molar not a wisdom tooth and a straightforward extraction with local anaesthetic. This is in the West Country - but, 9 months on, we’re still waiting for them to have an available appointment!!

cocksstrideintheevening · 24/05/2023 09:04

Free under the nhs when I had it done, I was referred to the hospital by my private dentist because it was impacted and had to be done under sedation.

This was pre covid, can hardly even get a private appointment now.

Youcancallmeirrelevant · 24/05/2023 09:07

Ilovebountybars · 24/05/2023 08:49

Yes that’s what I was wondering. It was an impacted wisdom tooth so he said it would be more expensive. Has anyone had an impacted wisdom tooth removed in the uk? How much was it? I asked some Polish people as they said it seems expensive

Show quote history

I've had 2 removed for free under the NHS at a dental hospital

MayBeee · 24/05/2023 09:09

I had all mine taken out under anesetic at my local nhs hospital didn't cost me anything.

Roselilly36 · 24/05/2023 09:13

Around what DH paid, private dentist.

Original poster
Ilovebountybars · 24/05/2023 09:21

cocksstrideintheevening · 24/05/2023 09:04

Free under the nhs when I had it done, I was referred to the hospital by my private dentist because it was impacted and had to be done under sedation.

This was pre covid, can hardly even get a private appointment now.

Wow that surprises me I was told multiple times that I would just need anesthetic on my gum and he could remove the tooth. I had no idea that you could go to a hospital to get them removed

OP posts:
LovedFedAndNoonesDead · 24/05/2023 09:48

Ilovebountybars · 24/05/2023 09:21

Wow that surprises me I was told multiple times that I would just need anesthetic on my gum and he could remove the tooth. I had no idea that you could go to a hospital to get them removed

Show quote history

You have to be referred by a dentist (I was but it was back in the mid 1990’s, had all 4 out and given an overnight stay as no one at home to stay with me overnight). More recently, about 7 years ago I broke a tooth and the dentist tried for well over 1/2 hour to extract it but it had a hooked root and wasn’t budging; she referred me and I was seen 4 months later in outpatients and then booked in 4 weeks later for extraction under sedation in clinic. So while it is doable it’s not easy or quick to be done - and that’s without all the delays Covid has caused!!

lanthanum · 24/05/2023 10:08

Wisdom teeth vary massively in how hard they are to remove.
I had one jacked out at the dentist with local anaesthetic, then the same with the two on the other side.
The last one was impacted and had to be done under general anaesthetic, so although I wasn't paying, I think it's safe to say it would have cost a lot more.

biedrona · 24/05/2023 10:11

Hi, I am Polish. I am assuming this was a private dentist. Wisdom tooth removal is a complex surgical procedure and 900 PLN is reasonable to pay for a private dentist. You were not ripped off.

knobheeeeed · 24/05/2023 11:34

If it's a private dentist in Poland it sounds like a reasonable price for an impacted wisdom tooth. The costs vary depending on how difficult the tooth is to remove.
It's similar to the prices quoted by my private dentist in Hungary.

Eastern European dentistry is not as cheap as it was. You do save a lot if you have implants there, but not really if it's just routine stuff like fillings, extractions and so on.

TheApplianceofScience · 24/05/2023 11:37

This is a very strange thread, if you are in Poland and needed dental care, then surely that is what you do.

Can’t see the logic of comparing apples with turnips.