Did anyone else see a big difference between NHS and private dental care?

[deedee99]

I haven't had an NHS dentist for a while, but have had so many bad experiences. Rushed appointments, huge fillings that don't fit my teeth properly, pain during my NHS appointments but none in my recent private ones etc.

I appreciate I may have just been unlucky in the past and happen to have found a very good private dentist, and without a doubt there are some exceptional NHS dentists out there. However I've recently had my fillings changed and they are amazing, they not fit my teeth properly and they are so small. The scale and polish for the first time in my life didn't wreck my gums, they actually waited properly for the anaesthetic to kick in and the drilling wasn't painful (I always thought fillings were supposed to be painful as they always have been!). They said my fillings had been terribly done, and I can tell as I can actually bite my teeth together properly now.

I totally appreciate that when you're paying a lot of money for something, bedside manner may be slightly better as they want you to come back and spend more money, and of course they have funds to offer people drinks and a fancy waiting room, but I'm amazed at the difference in actual treatment.

No I haven't found this. I am now paying a lot more for a worse service (the dentist surgery I am at seem very complacent and know that there are no NHS dentists available and that people will have to book privately). Appointments are not the length they state and anything like a clean is now a separate appointment, even if the dentist does it, for an additional charge.

Totally agree - the NHS dentist barely looks at your teeth at our surgery and doesn’t suggest any potential treatments for gums etc - private one was thorough and excellent and sorted bleeding gums out (admittedly with a big cost)

That's interesting. I may be completely wrong as I'm working on a tiny sample size here, and have never been able to afford private dentistry previously, so happy to be proven wrong (I hope I am!). Sorry you're having these issues, I hate what's happened to NHS dentistry.

Having never had private care I can't say but my NHS dentists have been great. I've never had any of the experiences you mention especially with anaesthesia, and I've always had treatment when I've needed it.

Touch wood that my current lovely lady dentist doesn't leave to have a family (if course I'd be happy for her, just being selfish!).

My NHS dentist left me with a filling after a root canal, I didn't realise it needed a crown. Had many more appointments with them after. Current private dentist immediately said it needed a crown and soon. Maybe I just had runnish dentists before!

I've been back with a NHS dentist for years after going private for a while. The private dentist did a crown, charged the earth and I ended up with root canal treatment as there was an infection under the crown which cost me another large bill to sort out. This was around 2009.

I've since had two crowns with the NHS dentist and no problems with them at all, look identical to the one done by the private dentist and cost me £250 if I remember correctly for each crown.

The private dentist cost me £800 for the crown and another £400 odd for the root canal.

My current NHS dentist is really excellent but the practice is gradually going private so it's only a matter of time before he does too. 😫

Personally, yes. My NHS dentist check ups are, and I’m not exaggerating, less than 20 seconds of me being in the chair.

I moved to a private practice to remove a wisdom tooth (it was only partially erupted and was continually getting very sore and inflamed, but because it hadn’t actually been infected more than once, I couldn’t be referred to have it out in the NHS). It’s so much better.

Now I see both. I have my NHS checkup once a year so that I stay registered there in case I need something particularly expensive done. And then I go for an actual proper check up at the private place once a year as well. So every 6 months I have one or the other.

I have had a private and nhs dentist. Years ago my NHS dentist was really good that when I went private for the 1st time the dentist commented on my teeth and said that my fillings were high quality ones and looked like they'd been done privately.

There are good and bad dentists in both sectors. I have a private dentist now and she is brilliant.

Yes, sadly so. Never had such poor treatment before! Had to pay for the privilege too. A filling that they put in, crumbled within a year. Absolute cowboys. So thankful to have been able to get back with an NHS dentist.

My NHS dentist is very good but I don’t think I’ve had a single appointment that has not been rescheduled in the last decade or so.

TBH I can’t see NHS dentistry as an concept existing a decade from now.

Hmm, it's tricky.
I've had the same extremely competent ( though lacking a bedside manner) NHS dentist for 2 decades.
Always does what is necessary, as far as I can tell. I'm 60 and maybe I've just been lucky with my teeth. But my DH has been with a private dentist and has paid out so much in 3 years, that it would have paid for a holiday, abroad; to no discernable benefit, as far as he can see, anyway.
It's difficult to be sure though, our teeth are different, obviously, so hard to compare like with like.
I feel lucky, though, with my dentist.

I have found a big difference between NHS dentists and private. I now use a private BUPA dental practice and I have found them more caring, they don't rush you, you get time to make the decision on the treatment and they don't proceed until you are ready. I used to be petrified of going to the dentist, I would start worrying at least a week in advance. Now, I am fine, no worries, I know it'll be at my pace and I feel more in control (e.g. if I want her to stop I just raise my hand). I've taken out insurance so I can stay private (enum dental) and that seems to have worked out well too.

My sons used to go to an NHS dentist. Who ignored the big cavity and just filled it. 4 year's on my eldest son developed an abscess under the tooth. 3 lots of antibiotics he finally had two teeth out at a private dentist. Why didn't we go back to the NHS one?? They dropped us off the list in COVID but didn't tell us. Only found out when i tried getting him an appointment for the abscess. Many frantic phone calls and I got a private dentist. Who are absolutely lovely. Yes we have to pay but the improvement is unbelievable. This happened to both my sons with the same NHS dentist.

Our dentist moved from NHS to private years ago so we've got the same dentist as we had under NHS. We've had no issues with him under either guise. I think it just depends on the dentist. OH has some old amalgam fillings which the dentist wants to remove and replace with white fillings but they'll be done on an as needed basis as he doesn't like doing unnecessary work and they don't need changing just now.

I had to go private over 20 years ago when my dentist decided to take private patients only and it was impossible to find an NHS dentist at the time, so I have the same dentist I had before.

I am on a dental plan which means I pay a monthly sum... the amount paid is based on the state of your teeth and how well you look after them. I get 3 appointments a year, a dental check up every 8 months and a hygienist appointment every 8 months. I don't have to pay for those, I don't pay for fillings, I had root canal treatment a few months ago and I didn't have to pay any more for that, and I pay a vastly reduced fee for dental prostheses, crowns etc. For instance, I have just had a crown fitted, it cost me £182. If I had paid the whole amount of the private fee that would have been around £900, the NHS fee is now £326.70. My temporary crown came off and I was able to get an appointment to have it restuck the same day.

I'm waiting for the roots of 2 baby teeth to be removed at hospital on the NHS, (I am on some medication which presents a risk to dental surgery) and then I'm going to have a bridge fitted, and although there will be a significant cost, I am not so worried about it that it would put me off having it.

My husband has a very good NHS dentist. He has extremely bad teeth due to having had a very bad dental phobia before he met me and has needed a lot of work. He definitely had to pay more than me in dental fees in an average year than I did in dental insurance (mine will be more this year). It is usually easier for me to get an emergency appointment than for him. Conversely, I have to arrange my regular appointments at least 4 months in advance, quite often more than that, and he doesn't usually need to arrange his quite as far in advance. We both get excellent care, with local anaesthetic injections if wanted or needed, respect, kindness etc.

My dentist does try to upsell additional services (his practice also has a nutritionist, a sleep service etc) but is never pushy. His dentist has no additional services to upsell.

All in all, I am very happy with my private dentist and with the amount I pay for the service, but I think I would also be quite happy to go to his dentist. I do think he's lucky with his dentist though, NHS dentists are in such demand it is easy for the less 'good' dentists to stay in practice.

Thing is, nhs dentists will never be out of job (unless something major happens). So what's the incentive to go above and beyond? Whereas a private dentist has to hustle for custom.

I have found that some private dentists are very keen to find work to do.
There are no nhs dentists in my area but plenty of private ones so I have recently changed.
I always thought the NHS dentists I previously went to were good.

I haven’t found this. I actually had a similar conversation with a colleague last week. My last two NHS dentists have become private. I’ve paid more for an identical service, from the same dentist!

My dentist is NHS and they are brilliant.

An NHS dentist put a crown on one of my front teeth for me around 1993 when I fell over & broke the tooth.

The crown is still going strong over 30 years later.

I think private dentists just have more time. I’ve for a relative who is a dentist that does private and NHS work and she is quite open that the care she can provide for check-ups is better for private due to the time pressure.

I moved to private after a bodged NHS dentist caused thousands of pounds of rectifying with multiple treatments. It costs a lot but I know as and when things go wrong I’ll get the best treatment. Sure there are some good NHS dentists, but I think my problems were caused by work being done by very inexperienced dental students that had not long graduated. Also minimal time spend and lack of consistent dentist too. Much less focus on maintenance. I see the hygienist 4 times a year and the dentist twice for example now, and my dentist also talks to me about maintenance and treatment options in detail, planning for the long term.

I think you were unlucky were your NHS dentist tbh.
I've experienced 2 practices, one NHS who went private (so same dentist, same care!) and another NHS when i moved area. Both have done a good job.
The new dentist looks after my whole family and the treatment they've done for DH has been excellent (my DH needs more work than I do). Now, I get that we wouldn't know if we'd get the same/better in private, but it was definitely cheaper!
Appreciate we are lucky, it really does depend on the actual dentist.

You feel very rushed on the NHS. They also didn't want to fix my composite that fell off. It was basically more than half my tooth. But they said it was cosmetic?! They begrudging did a bodge job which was akin to sticking a bit of chewing gum in there. It took under a minute.

The private dentist would fully prep you and it would take about 30 mins plus to fix the same tooth properly using the correct composite material and matching it precisely.

I really do love my private dentist, they helped me get over my dental phobia. But I could never have afforded it without family help.

The NHS needs to incentivise towards dentists to get them back. As everyone deserves to have healthy teeth, rich or poor.

I think some dentists are better than others and it seems unrelated to whether they're NHS or private! The worst one I've been to was private.