to think NHS Dentists should offer NHSb treatment without trying to shame the patient into buying private treatment??

[quinne]

I've just come back from the dentist where I asked three times for NHS treatment but the dentist and receptionist just avoided my request and tried to sell me their private services instead. I had to refuse three times before the dentist would even admit their was an NHS option but when I asked again for it, he decided that I didn't need the treatment now after all, but that it could wait six months.

As i was paying at reception I asked for a NHS appointment for my DH, but had a similar conversation about their private offering. In the end I left without the appointment but did get a little lecture about how people should look after their teeth and so he should have a check up.

It was all very nice and polite but it was a little like trying to discuss bible inconsistences with a Jehova's Witness!

What exactly do you have to say to get a NHS appointment these days??!

Also I felt like a scrounger when asking for NHS treatment, but we've already paid for it many times over through our NI contributions... or haven't we?

I live in Scotland. My NHS dentist is in London. It works out much cheaper to travel than to go private. I never have a problem getting an appointment, I do find my dentist annoying though because he constantly tries to convert me to a private patient. I just keep telling him - I can't afford it!!

sounds like your dentist migth be trying to get rid of NHS services.
keep an eye out: one of ours down here did that: all the patients got a letter saying we're now private, liike it or lump it.

So do dentists have to offer all things as NHS if you are an NHS patient? I had a wisdom tooth out with my old dentist and he charged me nhs rates. My new dentist said it could only be done prvately. Am I being screwed?
Also, while I am here, why is a visit to the hygenist not an NHS treatment? Surely prevention is better?

He's just taken over the practice and has a big sign in recepion saying "Registering NHS Patients NOW". I think its a con if he doesn't intend to deliver NHS treatment.

Do NHS Dentists get paid an amount each year for each NHS patient on their list or is it just for treatment given?

Our dentist will take children on NHS but only if the parents sign up for private treatment.

I think that for children they get a payment just to have them on their list and see them (this is to stop the old 'drilling and filling' that I was subjected to when they were paid per treatment) but for adults its different and they claim that the rates aren't good enough. Dunno. Just (literally - still numb!) been charged 200 quid for consultation/scale/and a filling redone. (private). Now off to dribble at a meeting. joy.

I recently moved to an NHS dentist and there are like three tiers, the first is £16.50 for basic treatments as well as a scale and polish, then the next upwards is £37.50 for fillings and such like, but the next one up is over £100.

But I see thr hygienist for my scale adnd polish.

My brother is an NHS dentist and it's a pretty tough existence. His pronouncement is, 'to make any money as an NHS dentist, you have to either be rude or do a crap job, or both'. The time allowed for each treatment is very very short and the payment (it's a piece rate I think, you don't get paid according to the number of patients on your books) is pretty low. He can't retain a hygeinist, so although there is a limited range of hygeinist treatments available on the NHS, there are so few trained hygeinists in his area that they all go private - wouldn't you, if it meant a HUGE pay difference? My bro also does some private treatments (otherwise he would be earning next to nothing - he still doesn't earn a fortune and works very hard at 2 different surgeries) but is staunchly supportive of the concept of NHS dentistry, if not the practical reality of how it is delivered, so he refuses to go fully private. I am a solicitor at a regional firm in the same city where he works and I earn about double what he does - which doesn't seem fair to me. We qualified at the same time, he spent 5 years at university working bloody hard and now works much harder than I do (much longer hours) but isn't rewarded for it. NHS dentistry SHOULD be available to all and it SHOULD (IMO) be free, and excellent (as I have always found NHS medical treatment to be IME) but it just isn't - and it isn't the dentists who are benefitting from the system, I can assure you of that.
I have private dental insurance and would personally never have NHS treatment - I nearly lost a tooth once because my NHS dentist wasn't able to root fill it on the NHS and didn't tell me I could go private and have that treatment, he just wanted to whip it out. It was only that I moved house and found myself with 'private or nothing' as my options that I ended up saving that tooth.
Rant over

I agree with emsyj. I work as a private dentist for exactly the above reasons. There are however certain dentists (one local to myself) who take on people using the NHS umbrella and then charge privately. You are entitled by law to have your entire treatment plan carried out on the NHS ( if you had a check up in this course of treatment on the NHS). The sort of unclear and misleading info. that your dentist has given you muddies the water for everyone and gains a bad reputation for many very hard working and honest NHS dentists. Also, if your treatment is put off for six months, you will have to pay again as only treatment within 3 months of the initial examination is counted in your course of treatment. Your dentist is playing games with the system in order to earn more.

I am so annoyed.i have been on the waiting list to be an NHS patient for 2 years and have been paying for private treatment.DH who hasn't been to a dentist in years developed an abcess, rang NHS direct and was given an appointment the same day at my practice and they have taken him on as an NHS PATIENT !!

Crikey I've never heard of this pressure. I've never had any problems. I just turn up every 6 months have my check up and all being well pay my £16.50 no problem.

I have an NHS dentist who I think is ok, but recently had a tooth that I was told could only be saved with treatment costing £700 or it would have to be removed. As it was at the back I opted to have it removed - can't afford £700. I was then told that my dentist wasn't able to remove it as it was a specialist job and it would cost £150, which I had to pay to another dentist.

I don't understand tbh why wasn't the entire treatment available to me under the NHS? I get nervous at the dentist and so don't ask any questions.

He is now registered as an NHS patient after having been referred to the practice for emergency treatment
i am really annoyed because I haven't been for ayear -they charge £50 for exam scale & polish