To think paying £300 for tooth extraction is a joke

[Tiredjoanna]

So, have had toothache for couple of years in 1 specific broken tooth. Always got by with strong painkillers and oragel. However for the past week the pain was immense so ended up having to go to an emergency dentist who I had to pay £50 just to look and do quick x-ray. So, he told me it's an infected root of tooth and I'd need an extraction but not a basic one as there isn't enough tooth to pull on to get it out. So scrape it to the root basically, a 10 minute job he said. And then proceeded to tell me it would cost £300!! Now i know they're doing a specialised job but really? I cannot find an NHS dentist by me anywhere so can only go private. Is this a normal price for an extraction or am I being completely unreasonable. Fwiw I seriously don't have £300 so am at a loss. Sorry for the long post

Do you want the number for my dentist in Tirana? A fraction of UK prices & far better service.

Your dentist spend 5-6 years at dental school, has done a load of postgraduate study, has to pay to heat, light and insure the building, salary for the nurse and receptionist, public liability, buildings, contents and professional insurance and you think £300 is unreasonable? try doing all that study and carrying all those expenses and risk and see what you want to charge.

Dentists are just the same as vets, in that they are independent business people. None of their costs are paid by the government.
NHS no longer pays enough to cover costs so dentists are rightly opting out.

I think the NHS has cushioned people to know what medical activities cost- which is no bad thing as when you need medical treatment you should not need to worry about cost.

I live in Aus, and a basic check up and 5 minute clean costs about 130 pounds (250AUD). I had a wisdom tooth out in the chair- it cost AUD 600 (so 310GBP).
My husband had 2 fillings last week at a cost of about 380quid. Nothing exceptional- just 2 bog standard fillings.

Dentistry is eye watering. We now only visit annually. Oh and private health insurance often covers none of the cost or just a small part

You're absolutely right, access to NHS dentistry in this country is a joke. Blame the government, they have been chronically underfunding it for years just like the rest of the NHS. £300 for a surgical extraction is fair, considering the costs involved and level of experience required and as PP have said there's little profit in it even at that. Dentists aren't going to work at what is actually a very skilled and stressful job for peanuts out of the goodness of their hearts. If the government won't subsidise our treatments properly, we as a nation are just going to have to learn to take better care of our teeth.

I have a private dental plan and paid £300 2 years ago to include molar extraction plus root canal on a crown. The plan carries 20 % discount. Approx £16 pcm which includes check ups and hygienist twice yearly.

What is unreasonable is not properly funding dentistry. It seems so short sighted to me as people may well end up needing expensive emergency care as they haven’t been able to afford to access preventative care. Insurance (even for someone with no issues) may well amount to £2-300 a year and won’t always cover the full cost of treatment if they need a procedure like a filling/crown/extraction etc. It’s not unreasonable dentists are properly paid but it seems ridiculous they can’t be properly paid via the NHS model so everyone can be treated.

Yep. My DD had just been quoted to have her 4 wisdom teeth removed. £400 each per bottom tooth (both growing in vertically) and £350 per top tooth. Also £300 for the sedation needed as the bottom teeth removal will be complex, so £1800 in total.

Wait until out of hours and go to an emergency clinic!
it will be much cheaper!

Good luck finding one.

That’s not a thing anymore?

£300-400 is about right, it won’t be 10 minutes for a surgical extraction.

If its Newcastle you can self refer.

I paid £160 recently for a standard extraction so the price sounds pretty standard for private dentistry.

It’s criminal the state the government has let NHS dentistry sink to and my anger is very much with them not the dentists who simply cannot make their business work with offering NHS treatments. All textbook Tory of course.

My infected wisdom tooth took about 15 to 20 minutes to remove (time on the chair). Once the injections are done it's super quick.

At my dentist an extraction is from £300 too

That is steep. I had both lower wisdom teeth surgically removed. It was free, I paid £180 as I wanted sedation.

Have you tried calling 111? I did when I had an awful toothache and told them I don't have an NHS dentist, they had me an appointment later that day.

Mine could just be pulled and I cant remember if I paid nothing or £60, but I think it was nothing!

😮 that is so expensive! I had my wisdom tooth removed at local dentist as it was giving me pain and was cracked. I think it was about £20-£30 I had to pack and get it packed too as had dry socket. I wasn't charged any extra.

Even for private that does seem ridiculously expensive. I'm getting a filling soon and asked for a white one which is counted as she a private treatment and it's £70. Seems very cheap now!

@Tiredjoanna you will soon spend 300 on continually having to treat it.. I speak from experience. I’d try to do what it takes to pay for the extraction. I agree dental treatment costs are a joke, I never have check ups anymore, last quote for one was 75!

I paid £263 for a complicated extraction, with a surgical dentist at the practice, because the regular one doesn’t do the complex ones. That was with a 10% discount as patients with a monthly payment plan get that off treatment.

My dentist would like me to have a specialist implant. It costs at least £6000. It won’t be happening.

The government really needs to do something about this. If you can't pay you can't pay but people are having their health put at risk and are suffering in agony with dental problems.

I'm getting on a bit and my teeth need more and more attention so I go to a private dentist. Bills are eye watering (£800 for a crown, £300 to check the pocket depth on my gums ... horrendous!). But I'm very fortunate in that I can afford it. The irony is that I had to have an impacted wisdom tooth out last year. My dentist said it had to be done at hospital because of the position. Took them over an hour to get it out. But because it was done in hospital - no charge 🤷‍♀️.

I hope you manage to sort something out soon op

Actually its more expensive out of hours, that's what I went to. Dentist I'd normally see, extraction I'd need £200

You probably paid twice that for your phone.

Get your priorities right.

The actual extraction may take 10 minutes but the whole appointment will take much longer. He was probably saying 10 mins so as not to scare you. But really, they will have to get you in the chair, use local anaesthetic which usually takes up to 10 mins to work properly, get informed consent for the treatment, do it, make sure the bleeding stops, give you post operative instructions, check the wound, clean and disinfect the chair and instrument, there will be a nurse present for your safety and comfort. It’s not just some guy on the street using dirty instruments to whip your tooth out in 10 minutes. When I was working NHS I would book about 40 minute appointments for extractions so if it’s private they will give you more time