To be annoyed with dentist upselling

[GingerBeverage]

Private dentist (no NHS in area). And I didn’t ask to be his patient, I just got told the old dentist was trimming his books and I was being moved.
Fine, I said.
So next time I needed the dentist they duly charged me the full new patient fee with a whole new set of x-rays. Even though they’re in the same damn building.
And now every time I see this guy he is UPSELLING UPSELLING UPSELLING.
Today I had booked a check and polish.
He casually mentions that it’s better to do an air polish and it’s only £39 more.
I DO NOT SAY YES. I don’t think I even said anything.
Then he spends the rest of the time hinting I need braces, I need xrays, I need another filling next year.
The bill arrives, fucking £39 extra for air polishing on it.
That’s it, I’m moving dentists but what a shag.
Old dentist never did this, he just sighed and complained about his back.
*And another thing, registered DC because they made a big deal about “we’re private but we can do kids on NHS” and then with no warning at the next appointment charged full private. “Oh, no we don’t do kids on NHS anymore.”
Please tell me most dentists don’t do this?

I DO NOT SAY YES. I don’t think I even said anything. why didn't you say "No thanks"

Mine is the same. I have no faith in their clinical judgement at the moment, so I ask for time to think about it and then just go back for my next check up.

Mine is the same, I went for a check up as a new patient and they started trying to sell me £7,000 implants they know was wayyy out of my budget as I'm a NHS patient!
Like way to make people feel awkward.

DC about to knock over stool.
Good to see that active consent is yet to be applied to dentistry.
I actually though he was informing about an option, not telling me he would do it if I didn’t say no.

Oh they did offer me a payment plan, three thousand pound down payment which was so kind of them. 😂

My old one was the same, literally made me feel like my teeth would fall out at any second!

Managed to secure an NHS spot when I was pregnant and have been there for three year. Always say my teeth are great

I’ve had this at another dentist. Started telling me I needed a referral to an orthodontist and the work would be about £3000.
I walked out trembling as was only on minimum wage back then and bf said to get second opinion, which I did, they said it was ridiculous, my teeth were completely and obviously fine.
So are dentists actually being taught HOW to rip off customers?

My NHS dentist closed down . We went for a private check up . Adult DS has fabulous teeth that he really looks after . They wanted to charge him £270 for a “special” clean. They know they have a captive market!

I had this when I tried a new dentist a couple of years ago (my regular one is near my work so in COVID WFH era I went locally). I was fuming - they tried to upsell various aesthetic stuff, which I really really do not need. I had braces as a teenager and my teeth are great; they are one of the aspects of my appearance I'm most confident about and didn't appreciate their 'suggestions' for improvement (and not sure how someone with lower self esteem would have taken it). Plus yes x-rays, mouthguard etc. You trust someone doing something semi medical to have your best interests at heart and it's totally disheartening when you realise it's a cash grab.

My recommendation is to change dentist - I went back to my regular guy and he's so much better!

I'm finding this. Also once my DC were off our kids' dental benefits (income cutoff) & onto our private cover, they charged a massive gap payment. Kids were in chair maybe 10 minutes each!!

New dentist was upselling me on an expensive mouthguard. I'd chipped a tooth so it must be night grinding so we can make you a night guard that's costs two weeks wages. I said no!!! Also telling me constantly to bring my kids in.

I am sad that wereat the point health professionals are more interested in selling than your health. It erodes trust.

Oh wow, me too! Really pushy dentist constantly trying to refer me to the orthodontist and telling me I need implants and all of my fillings need replacing - just constant up sell, making it it out like don't have a choice. So pushy. I have been thinking about moving dentists but it now seems that they are all the same! She thinks I'm going to say yeah to ££££'s of work! I keep saying that I don't have the funds for that at the moment but she just doesn't listen. Needless to say, I won't be having that done.

My private dental practice has recently changed hands. Previous dentist tried to convince me at every appointment to have my (completely healthy) bottom set of wisdom teeth removed and have a brace to push back a single tooth on the bottom row that is slightly wonky. When I said I have never thought of it as a problem, she said ‘without making you paranoid, you sometimes look like you have a missing tooth when you speak.’ Multiple friends and family members confirmed they’ve never thought this or even noticed this slightly wonky tooth. My mum pointed out that her bottom set look exactly the same - so it’s hereditary - and I had never before noticed this about her! Saw new dentist for the first time last month who read my previous notes, asked to see which tooth the other dentist had said needed to be straightened and then said he was baffled that any dentist would recommend removing unproblematic wisdom teeth just for that ….

I used to have one of those. Not any more!

It’s pure luck but managed to register for NHS dentist practice. Strangely it’s a very swanky offering lots of treatments but owned by a large family of dentists and seem to have achieved a balance of cosmetic for those who want them and healthcare for those, like me, with no desire for cosmetic treatments. Solidarity OP as I hated the endless upselling at the old place.

Ours doesn’t offer air cleaning. I wish they did, it’s much more effective than a traditional scale and polish.

I briefly had a similar dentist who had a side line in all manner of upsells.

He asked whether I wanted a retinol face cream for my 'menopausal' skin and advised that he also did whitening and botox! I pointed out that I was in my 30's, not menopausal and was soon to start IVF. So NO- I didn't want any of his stuff! I wrote a complaint to the manager and never went back.

My private dentist is the same and after paying £500 for unnecessary treatment, and being advised to have ceramic veneers at £1k a tooth, I’ve learned to say no thanks. My hygienist told me that my teeth and gums are healthy and that’s good enough for me.

My dentist has just cancelled their NHS contract and for various reasons I am not staying.

I am therefore looking elsewhere. The majority (including my current one) are all "Smile Centres" with it seeming that actual dentistry is just a little inconvenience on the side. There obviously is no money in just routine checkups (prices so far are £50 up to £80) so everything else is up for the sell.

I have teeth that are ripe for up-selling (large gap at the front) but I hope they don't try it on me (would be shut down very quickly if it was)

My NHS dentist tried to upsell a modern brace to me. It would only be about £2k with a payment plan. And I'm on tax credits.
I used to really love my dentists surgery but these days they do my head in. One of them freaks out as I have sugary food and I get a lecture about that. I'm 50 and have never had a filling and I floss.

He casually mentions that it’s better to do an air polish and it’s only £39 more
I DO NOT SAY YES. I don’t think I even said anything

But you need to say no, very clearly, even if your child is about to knock over a stool. You'll have to get used to saying no if you are going to continue going to that dentist.
The upselling sounds really annoying. Fortunately mine doesn't do that (private dentist not in the UK).
I think some of the examples people have quoted on your thread are awful such as the one saying you look like a tooth is missing. Awful thing to do and say. They know full well people are very self-conscious about their teeth.
All of this stuff isn't necessary as long as teeth are healthy. If teeth aren't completely straight it's usually ok, as long as you can get floss in between and they aren't too crowded (that's what my dentist says at least).

She also says that even though everyone is very self-conscious about teeth people don't really notice minor cosmetic issues with them and "if they do and don't like it they can fuck off" (she's a bit of a special kind of dentist really!)

It's all about making as much money as possible and preying on people's insecurities and I feel said that it's got to this stage.
See all those young people going and getting Turkey Teeth. That's horrendous. Healthy teeth being ruined because of all this propaganda about having a perfect Hollywood smile.

My dentist is nothing like this, he just cares about the health of my teeth.
I wouldn’t trust their judgment, I would be thinking is this work necessary or going to cause harm in the future. How can you need a new filling next year? You either need one now or you don’t need one.

Move to an NHS dentist as soon as you’re able to even if it means being added to a wait list.

No you don't need to say no. Active and informed consent is the bedrock of modern clinical practice.

My NHS dentist tried this once when they started doing private stuff....ii laughed and told her not to be so silly.
She's never done it again

I'm in North Wales and apart from an emergency dental clinic on Sundays in Rhyl (that you have to prebook for via 111) there is no NHS dentistry available.
My current dentist has halitosis and calls me honeybun, which makes me cringe inside out. I dread going for my routine check ups (although I pay a monthly direct debit in order to do so) because I just know he will find something that needs doing, or recommend some kind of cosmetic treatment. I have schooled myself to say no thanks, or I need to think about that, or I can't afford that.

I had this with a private doctor once. He charged me £100 for an extra procedure without telling me about the charge.

I fought it and was accidentally copied into an email from a manager berating the doctor for doing this again. I didn’t have to pay.

I work in the nhs and always assess capacity to consent and informed consent. So I have high standards of expectations from others.

It sounds annoying. My dentist is very chilled out, no pressure, if he ever suggests or offers something it's because it's free or medically required. In fact he gave me a tooth whitening syringe for free last time without me asking.
So they are not all like that. Definitely change.