Can anyone else not afford the dentist anymore?

[ithinkiveseenthisfilm]

Just looked into my dentists pricing as I’m well overdue a check up.

A check up is £250, with 4 x-rays once a year charged at £60 each. That makes it £490 for a check up.

A hygienist appointment (which you must book together) is a further £120 for half an hour.

I think I need a filling, I was told that would be a minimum of £600. So one visit could end up costing me well over £1,000.

All of the NHS dentists within a 100 mile radius are closed to new patients. I check regularly but what the NHS website says is very different to the actual reality.

It’s an absolute travesty. When did something as basic as dental care become a sheer luxury?

That makes more sense. I got an implant as my dentist advised against a bridge as he felt it would damage the teeth either side in the long term.

Indeed. My private dentist is even cheaper than yours.

The OP seems to be going to a very expensive one.

That's crazy. I pay £20 a month which covers a check up with a clean incl xrays every 6 months. If I need anything more done there's finance options which are 0% interest for first 3 months. It's really a false economy to not go as a dental emergency can be in thousands & is likely if you get older with no check ups.

Absolutely not!

I have denplan care but used another dentist for a root canal and crown yesterday. Nearly £2000 which is my monthly wage

Wow no way should a filling cost £600! I go to a private dentist and a filling is more like £150-200 depending on what the filling size and composition is. I would refuse X-rays if you don't have any particular issues, no need for them every visit!

Those prices are wild!!
where I work a private check up is £40. We take x rays on average every 2 years (it’s different if you have a high decay rate) we don’t charge extra for them. Our hygienist is £90 for half an hour. Our maximum price for a composite filling in a back tooth is £220 but that’s for a huge filling!! Most people pay between £110 and £150 for your small to average size filling!

Floss twice a day and teach the kids!

I’ve got an NHS dentist (and the DC’s who have both had orthodontic work). She usually says she’ll do an X-ray but I tend to decline and maybe have every 2 years.

i pay separately for a hygienist twice a year which I think is about £80

We don’t have one available in our county, I’ve not seen one in over 10 years! I need around £12k of treatment. Luckily it’s not really noticeable at the moment.

Shop around and find a cheaper dentist - you may have to travel out of town. Most of the private practices round us are more expensive than NHS (but not as wild as that) so around £50 -£75 for a check up, basic fillings and "band 2 treatments" around £90 -£150 and root canals or "band 3 treatments' are around £400+ depending on what you are having. I know dentures/ braces/ implants are a more. We are in a dental desert so private practices can get away with charging more.

A lot of private practices have their own payment plan schemes or take dental plans like denplan.

Does you dentist take insurance plans (Bupa ect)? I know the ones that take insurance plans round us are more expensive. The cheaper ones seem to have their own plan schemes.

You can use a dentist in another town.

I have a NHS dentist im very lucky my sister got one last year by chance.
Just keep looking.

My cousin is a partner in a longstanding family-owned dental practice in Harley Street and they don’t charge their patients as much as £250 for a check up! That is eye-watering. My dentist charges similar to others here for a check up (c£60) and the hygienist is about the same. My DH had to have root canal work and that was four figures. I live in fear of that and try to keep on top of check ups and hygienist appointments in the hope of warding off the big bills.

Where I live in the south east there really is no NHS service at all. Adults can join some private practices who will then see their children on the NHS but I don’t know what people who can’t afford a private practice do and what it means for a generation of children and their dental health. I can also see it from a dentist’s perspective too as the reimbursement rate from the NHS wasn’t covering costs from what I understand. I hope you find a more reasonable alternative.

My private dentist's prices from the website:

Routine exam: £44.50
X rays: £10 each
Scale and polish: £44.50
Veneer: £60
Extraction: £120-170
White filling: £80-175
Crown: £590
Tooth whitening: £375

Just to add to my dentist prices:

Children 0-5: Routine checkup - free
Age 6-12: £15
Age 12-17: £20

DS and I have been on BUPA Smile plan for a little over 2 years now…everything has been covered (so far!) so no unexpected or additional costs.

I am in denial - havent been since before covid - but I simply cant afford it, I can’t even afford to pay off my debts, I dont want to add more debt 😫😫😫

Mine is £27 a month

You get 2 checkups a year and they clean your teeth at the appointment. This also includes any emergency appointments needed in between.

And if you go regularly less likely to need the more costly treatments.

Well that’s hardly normal… I go to a very nice private dentist in Pimlico and a check up is £95.

Treatment would be a lot more debt

You can get an implant and bone work done at the Brighton implant centre for around £1500. Ive had 4 done there. I drive 4 hours to get there. They do excellent affordable work. PM me if you want contact details.

Up until a few months ago I was on denplan and having hygienist every 4 months and 2 checkups per year. I started to feel like it was all a bit pointless and the hygienist sessions were becoming frankly quite traumatic.

I've decided to just keep my teeth scrupilously clean and cut right down on sugar and all acidic/fizzy/sugary drinks. If I lose a tooth every few years so be it.

My granma only had 7 teeth left when she died and it gave her character 😄

Edited to add: my dad (78) says he's never had a filling or a tooth out. When I ask him his secret he says 'I've never been to the dentist'. 😁

Wow thanks, you actually think I don’t already know that? Obviously I want to go. But my credit card is maxed out, bank account empty, loan interest piling up, income too low to get another loan, no family to ask for help, outgoings already cut to the bone. Maybe try to be more sensitive to other people’s situations before you make glib comments.

I pay £20 a month for 2 yearly check up and hygienist appts. Every 2 years this includes x rays too.