Cost of dental treatment is painful ...

[Daisydoodlepoo]

Having moved house and unable to get signed up with an NHS dentist, I registered with a private practice just over 12 months ago as I was experiencing pain with back tooth which had had root canal treatment about 10 years ago. The cost of the treatment including extraction was £1800. Today I have been for a routine check up and x ray identified issues with 2 front teeth which apparently are likely to result in both failing 2/3 years down the line. The cause is linked to undue pressure on the teeth as a result of overbite. My dentist said we need a plan to address these issues including work to build up the back teeth to reduce the impact of the overbite, potential loss of teeth etc. I understand that the treatment cost would be around 10k which is significant in addition to the £1800 spent relatively recently. My first reaction was that I said I simply could not justify that amount of spend at present to which she asked me directly if I was in financial difficulty and I should be honest if that is the case. Also if I did not go down this route, what would be my plan when teeth failed as was likely. I just felt really uncomfortable with these questions as thankfully I am not in financial difficulty, but on the other hand, being suddenly presented with unplanned expenditure of 10k was a shock and asking anyone directly if they are struggling financially seems insensitive and unreasonable given the amount involved is not insignificant. Maybe I am being too sensitive? but the whole experience made me feel a bit emotional and incredibly frustrated like everyone else is with the state of NHS dentistry. 😟

Yes, private treatment, although most is very good, is extremely painful with the bank account.😳

Privatised health care of any kind is rubbish for most people

and you might not be in financial difficulty if it wasn’t for the dentist bill

Well I suppose it’s like everything else. If you can afford £10k on your teeth that’s great but if you can’t, as most of us can’t, then you just have to wait and see what happens and if you’re lucky enough to have NHS dentistry they’d eventually remove the teeth and you’d have a bridge (cheap option).

I know ....I just felt my dentist expected me to say that's fine as though 10k is not a significant spend if planned or otherwise ...

I'd want a second opinion, that sounds extortionate for the amount of work you had on one tooth so I wouldn't trust the quote of £10k. I've had quite a bit of dental problems lately and looked at private dental prices locally and an extraction was on average less than a couple of hundred pounds.

Thanks I will do, the reality is that any private enterprise is focused on profit but if it is a health related service, you tend to assume your interests come first which is naive I know. Today's appointment was not exactly 'hard sell', it wouldn't be fair to describe it in those terms, but I did leave feeling if I didn't go down the 10k planned route, then any emergency treatment might end up costing more. I will get another opinion though.

Exactly ! 😂

Our dentist has a sort of pay in instalments option so maybe she was going to offer you something like that?

A friend is just about to go to Portugal to get dental work done for about one third of the price she was quoted by her UK private dentist. I’m watching with interest. Has anyone else gone abroad for regular treatment (not veneers)?

Hey OP,

I am having similar problems, failing teeth due to an underbite. What exactly are you getting for 10k?

That seems really steep. I am having a full course of orthodontic treatment, an implant and two crowns for that money (not in the UK, but similar prices). Additionally I am also having jaw surgery because without it I have been told any implants will fail.

I always tell them I’m skint otherwise they’d flog you everything even if you’re just there for a hygiene visit or a check up, you’d walk out with Invisalign! Do not feel bad for saying you can’t afford it. I’ve just switched dentists after they tried to charge me £95 for an emergency appt (that wasn’t an emergency I just wanted an appt, any day/time) and then an extra £400 for tooth extraction. Dental plan 10% discount doesn’t cover it because it’s ’specialised treatment’. They have tried to sell me an implant for two years for the same tooth, 3k! NHS dentistry needs to be fixed. My son was on private for 8 years before he got on the nhs but so many children are on private or not at all and they will suffer so much financially and health wise in the future.

Hello, I'm not sure yet what the treatment programme would entail, but 10k was given as an estimate and I have another appointment in 3 months to discuss in more detail what would be covered should I want to proceed. In the meantime I plan to get a second opinion. I hope your treatment goes well.

I live in Spain & virtually all dentists here are private. That said it’s so much cheaper than in the U.K. Friends who come to stay with us regularly book in for check ups/treatment & are always delighted with the results & the price.

Get more opinions, you can go to any private dentist and pay the £50 check up fee and see what happens, we also go to spain, excellent treatment and lots cheaper.

We had to pay privately for some work for DH as our NHS dentist wasn’t able to carry it out. We got a couple of quotes before choosing who to use. Maybe try that?

I live in Spain and I’m not convinced dentists here are much cheaper than England! My partner is having 3 implants for a cost of €6k (not including extractions as they were already done). A root canal here is about €500 - not sure how that compares to the UK.

I've been given 3 different options for some dental work involving 2 extractions,temporary denture and then either another denture,or a fixed bridge or implants. Prices range from 3 to 8K. At the moment its going on an interest free credit card but its just more and more debt. As it involves my front teeth,I can't just leave a gap or I would.

I'm a dentist and I find her questioning you if you're in financial difficulty really odd. Go see another dentist and get another opinion

Definitely get a second opinion, and a third too if you want. It’s worth it to get an honest opinion without the sales pitch, a decent price that you can afford, and a dentist that you’re comfortable with.

@Daisydoodlepoo I’m surprised that the dentist couldn’t do you a quote straight away, or give you something in writing to outline what procedures she’s suggesting. If you can’t afford it then you can’t afford it. That was the case recently for my DH and some dental work. When it was suggested that he might need three implants to replace three teeth we had to say no. $6000 per implant. We just can’t afford that. It was potentially going to be $3500/tooth to try to save them but after an endodontist appointment to get a specialist opinion he said that the teeth were beyond saving. The $6k/tooth implants were then mentioned. Instead we paid about $500/tooth to have them extracted by a dental surgeon because they were too tricky for our dentist. Next step will be checking out partial dentures to replace the teeth. Much cheaper.

Thanks very much for all your messages. I will definitely get some further quotes and will make it work. One day you can feel comfortable, the next you are told you may lose your teeth unless you spend 10k ..., or your house needs a new roof/has subsidence. That is life, but it is so sad that basic healthcare has broken down so badly in the UK.

Thank you I wondered if was being over sensitive, but I thought that was an odd question put so directly. I have already spent about £2500 at this practice over 12 months with treatment, check ups and hygiene and I am not in financial difficulty but like most people would need to consider how to prioritise this significant amount. I wasn't comfortable and glad to get out of the door tbh.

Fuck me! That’s extortionate! I work in a mixed (nhs and private) practice. A private extraction is £120. Shop around, have a look at some other private practices price lists online. We’re the cheapest in our area. 2 of our dentists have over 40 years experience and probably could charge a fortune but they don’t.

I'm having a root canal done later this month in Germany and already got a bit annoyed at the 500 Euros I've been quoted. My public health insurance won't cover it because of the procedure they are using and my private dental plan won't cover it because the tooth had been identified as a problem about three years ago, before my cover started. DS has a private dental plan as well, as do most of the kids I know. It won't help with the current issue, but might that be a way to avoid such high costs in the future?

Sounds a lot.
I've just come back from the dentist, a private dentist.
I've had 3 appointments with him, to sort and fit a crown (white) and cleaning. It's cost me about £500, and I could have gone for a cheaper crown.

I spend a lot of time in Barcelona, small suburb...lots of dentists there , seems to be one on every corner and prices do vary. a clean can be 50 euros or 90 euros so i visit several before going ahead. implants are cheaper than uk, one would be about £2500 to £3000 here.