Are you still having regular dental check ups

[Pippalongstocking70]

Has anyone else given up on going to the dentist in this col crisis? Seems like visits to the dentist are a luxury for most people these days.
Private dentists are expensive & getting an nhs dentist is like trying to get blood out of a stone. Even if you do find one you still have to pay something.
I can imagine lots of people with bad teeth in the future

We both still go regularly.

I am NHS (although my dentist gives me the option to go private when the materials are better) but since we moved, I have to travel 40-miles to see him. That said, he is excellent and I have been with him for 20yrs so have no intention of moving anytime soon.

My OH is with Denplan and been with the same dentist for decades (again, 40-miles away) but when the dentist retires next year, he will find one closer to home.

Teeth are too important to neglect.😁

I'd imagine you're correct OP, but if the typical mumsnetter is more middle class then the answers you'll get = no, everything's fine, I go for check-ups religiously

Back in the real world: NHS dentists are not easy to find and if you don't have one and you're feeling the COL pinch, then you're unlikely to be able fork out the £££s for 6 monthly check-ups+hygienists

We’re lucky to have an NHS dentist. We go every 6 months. Only costs £27 or so, including a clean and polish. I’ve not had to have anything done to my teeth in 40 odd years but the cost of anything under a private dentist seems crazy.

Zero NHS dentists where I am so I pay £22 per month for twice yearly checkups and cleaning. So anyone in my town entitled to free dental they can't get it.

I go every 6 months. I have a private dentist and a check up is £29 which is very reasonable. Any treatment can be expensive though.

We are absolutely fastidious about attending our twice yearly appointments.
NHS dentist and incredibly grateful for it. We all go together (all 5 of us!) and get it done with in one fell swoop. Older 2 are adults now but know it’s important to maintain good oral hygiene - we even co ordinate around uni timings.
Very much a priority for us and not something that’s going to slide.

Haven’t been able to afford to go for a few years now- last few appointments cost between one hundred and two hundred euro (for check ups and one filling). They told me I needed the hygienist but was going to cost 250 so I said no thank you. If I won the lottery tomorrow I’d be back!!!

eta the kids all go, I’d never let them get out of the habit!

£60 once a year for a check up and clean is hardly unaffordable for most people so yes, I still go regularly.

Every 12 months as that's when my dentist says I need to go. I am lucky enough to have an NHS dentist though so no way am I skipping out on those visits and risking getting taken off the list.

I've had 9 monthly check ups for years and years.
Sometimes it 6 months and other times he'll say he doesn't need to see me for 9.

I don't really want to spend the money on it, and I absolutely loathe going to the hygienist. I find it excruciatingly painful and always gagging and choking.

They recommend going every six months, but I have decided I'm happy with dentist once a year and hygienist once a year but separated by six months if that makes sense.

So I do go every six months, but alternate whether it's to see the dentist or hygienist.

It's NHS.

And only if you can get an NHS dentist. In the last 3 years our NHS dentist did a failed routine canal, snapped my molar in half trying extract then left dangling g nerves which had a 'temporary' patch - for 9months. Cracked Ds tooth whilst doing a shallow filling & sealed in decay underneath. Put my ASD Ds 'off list' after we complained rhat he was in the chair under 4mins for a check & refused a scale for plaque (as a heart patient). Bloody awful in South Scotland.

I am lucky to still have an NHS dentist so yes I go every 6 months.

I have noticed though that years ago the dentist would do a scour and polish if necessary at the same time. These days they always say to make a hygienist appointment which is another £70.

I have/ had an NHS dentist. I had a phone call last week cancelling my appointment in August as the dentist is leaving the practise with no replacement. I’m now on a waiting list with my child for a new dentist who is willing to see NHS patients. They will still see me in an emergency. I hate going to the dentists but make myself after a number of problems so I’m not happy about this new situation. The dentist is also monitoring my child’s teeth and thankfully we still have his appointment in May but who knows after that. My child has lost baby teeth but new teeth haven’t come through yet.

I would probably shoplift my weekly shop before I cut going to the dentist. Oral health is super important for overall health but also dental pain is genuinely unbearable. My grandad scarred me for life when I was a kid telling me about his dental treatments in Russia when I told him I didn’t want to floss one night… his English was never the best but he really knew how to scare us 😭

Yes

Live abroad and it's covered by private insurance

Cannot praise it enough

No but I can see why people would not go. Someone said to me “what’s the point in going for a check-up, if you can’t afford the treatment if you need any?” and whilst that particular person could have actually made some adjustments so that they could afford it if they needed to, I can understand that some people honestly can’t afford it.

I go for a yearly check-up. It's a private dentist as there are so few NHS ones round here and those that there are are never accepting new patients.

I'll go again during the year if I get a problem.

I don't go to the hygienist as I am so sensitive I have to be fully numbed before they can touch my teeth. If it becomes really necessary I have to have the dentist do it.

However, my dentist says that there is hardly any plaque build-up on my teeth. I clean them thoroughly with a water flosser and an electric toothbrush twice daily. It seems to work.

Same happened to me and now my teeth are fucked. I was having a condition 'monitored' before everything shut. They've not taken new/returning patients since then!

I've been moved to annually. The kids still go every 6 months, with DH. I have better teeth than DH, hence why I think he's still on 6 monthly checks.

As long as we only need check ups it's essentially free for us as I have Simply Health cover through work which pays £75 a year each. I'd still go even if I wasn't getting it refunded though.

The more I hear about the perks in Scotland the more I want to live there! Is University education still free as well?

I pay about £37 per month. This includes two check ups and four hygienist visits. I probably spend more on my hair per year so I feel it’s good value.

Nope, I was booted out of my NHS dentist over an innocent misunderstanding about an appointment and haven't been able to afford it since. I've only gone in emergencies.

Every 6 months its a priority. Its the hairdressers I cut back on to save money

We pay 30 a month for us both on denplan