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

No

Yes, they would say it's not necessary.

Thenaybd it wasn't lol.

Obviously not. Why?

You know dentists don’t actually just“count” the teeth? Each tooth has a number. But they don’t just count from 1 to 28/32 or however many teeth you have.

I do know this. I don't really understand why all the NHS dentist seemed to do was establish which teeth I had (the same as the previous visit) and absolutely nothing else.

I am much happier paying less than £30 more for a much better check up

Teeth are a non negotiable as any problems with them are expensive and painful.

I still have an NHS dentist. In the town I moved from 5 years ago. I have a check up every six months and regularly need treatment.

It takes almost two hours to get there by public transport but I like my dentist and have been a patient there for around 25 years and don't want to change.

I am! It's private but only £30 every six months for a check up. DS is free with the same dentist.

(I'm in the South West!)

I'm prone to cavities and fillings (no idea why!) so I have dentist bill anxiety ☹️

Seems sensible. I go once a year even with NHS, so do young adult DC who I’m now paying for their checkups.

I have a yearly check up and the kids every 6 months. I got a nhs dentist when pregnant with my first child and they kept me on after that.

Our dentist remove you from the nhs list if you dont use them for 2 years (dh found out the hard way when he was removed) so I always do a yearly check now

Thanks to this thread I have just looked and found a local dentist that is taking NHS patients so I have registered with them. It will be interesting to see how frequently they want to see me though because if they insist on 6 monthly checkups it’ll be more than my annual private although other treatments are much cheaper.

I have a NHS dentist, and yes i have regular checkups every year now,not 6 monthly

Personally I think dentists are a rip off right up there with vets.

I've been once in 35 years (when it was free because i was pregnant). I clean my teeth twice a day for 2 minutes with an electric tooth brush and have had no issues. I'm not going to pay someone to look at my teeth unless there's a problem, just like i don't go to the doctors unless there's a problem.

I appreciate others think differently. My mum goes twice a year and gets told every time that they need to clean her teeth using their hygienist and then she always complains her teeth are more sensitive. She has no problems with her teeth so she pays to basically have them made more sensitive it seems to me.

No way would i give up with my dentist.

It's impossible to register with an NHS dentist in my local area, just outside Edinburgh

I don't understand this. I live in Scotland. Used to have NHS dentist and there was still a small charge for check-ups.
Now my dentist has gone private and so I pay £35 per month for dental insurance which covers most things.
Are you on benefits or something that you get it for free?

Same here although they want you to go for check up etc before they can register you fully and the first appointment is end of July

NHS check ups in Scotland have been free for about twenty years or so, possibly longer.

Dentists also carry out an oral cancer screening during the check up. It really is worth going.

I have not had a dental checkup since I left home 2000 ish. I had a filling in November last year. That is my entire dental history. My teeth are fine.

And your gums?

Fine also.
I am not against checkups its just that I fell off the list of my childhood dentist, didn't register at a new one and a quarter of a century passed just like that. I am not advocating for it but it hasn't done me any harm either.

No, no benefits. It's just government policy?

Edit - you genuinely made me wonder if it's because I have EDS (though I don't get ADP) but no, my husband doesn't pay for checkups either. X-rays are like three quid and the hygienist is something like £18.

https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/nhs-services/dental/receiving-nhs-dental-treatment-in-scotland/

I've never had any trouble finding an NHS dentist near me so yes, I get regular check-ups.