Costs of dentist visit

[Ivortheengine8]

My DH has been suffering with a 'bad tooth' for ages and he has only just been persuaded to get to a denist. (He has a fear of Dr's and Dentists! )
Anyway off he went yesterday and apparently he has to see a specialist because he has some advanced gum disease :(

He was told the appointment would cost £90. He didnt seem to know if they were going to do anything on that visit or not or what the plan of treatment was.

It just sounds a bit OTT for me if it's just a 10 minute visit or something. If they are going to do treatment then that is fair enough but he doesn't seem to know what they are going to do.

Because the dentist also does private I asked him to check if this was on the NHS too. Do they not have specialists at the hospital for that kind of thing?

Dentists cost money and usually quite a bit.

Phone the specialist and ask?

Also doesn't sound like a an NHS appointment

Yes, I have told him to find out. I thought usually the specialists would be referred to the hospital but I don't know much about what happens with gum disease.

Just had:
An initial appointment - £90
Two emergency fillings - £180
three fillings - £322
Three more plus a wisdom tooth extraction - £322
Hygeinist - £70.

I hadn't been to the dentist in 12 years - think I got off very lightly indeed.

Now I've been given a clean bill of dental health I can go on Denplan. No NHS dentists anywhere to be had.

My dentist is awesome! Totally worth it even if I did have to live on scraps for half of last month.

Is that suppose to make me feel better beanlet ?

Was that private then beanlet? sorry, if it is then I guess thats pretty good.

It was private. No NHS dentists with room on their lists round here. But my suspicion is that your DH has been referred for private dental, and given he has serious gum disease you really should see if NHS care is available, because I would hate to think how expensive private treatment would be.

Thanks Beanlet. It does seem unfair how some people can't get onto NHS lists because of their area(DH did get taken on but has had to wait 3 weeks for this appointment). That was what I had thought and seeing as the initial appointment seems to cost the same as yours, it does seem that way doesnt it? :(

that is shockingly expensive..i work for a private and NHS dentist and the cost of a first private appointment is £53..and we are not the cheapest.

Fanjo but is it because he will see the 'specialist'?
We are also in London if that has any bearing.
I wonder if the treatment he needs is not available on the NHS? :(

Do all dentists make up their own fees or is there a 'standard' for private?

There is no standard.

I was really referring to the cost at Beanlet's dentist. A specialist might well be more expensive, but for a standard dentist that is a lot, just wanted people to shop around a bit and not think £90 was the norm.

Oh right ok sorry! Its a bit depressing! :(

NHS dental charges here The appt definitely sounds like it is private, not least because it is just the wrong amount of money for an NHS one.

I have been very lucky, got an NHS dentist now after about 10 yrs since last check up, and no work needed.

I pay £48 for a checkup and £48 for hygienist privately.

Paid £395 for root canal work, followed by extraction 3 weeks later as the tooth had completely cracked

The most pain I encounter at the dentist is on receiving the bill.

NHS costs are the same which ever dentist sees you ( costs are different in scotland to england etc)

in private practice the dentist sets the fees sometimes if denplan or bupa there will be greater parity but fee setting for dentists like any other business has to be free from collusion. ie all the dentists in gloucester for instance can not get together and decide that £45 is minimum fee for check up so no-one in gloucester can be seen for less that is illegal

but fees do vary depending on competition area reputation etc

severe gum disease takes a long time to treat and involves lots of visits but you can help prognosis considerable by homecare and lots of on going care

if you have a hole I can remove dacay and fill it and provided you dont bite on it too soon that's it finished, but with gum disease i can do a great job but if you do not floss clean etc exactly as told allmy work will be have been a waste of time within a couple of weeks, no dentist can fix gum disease without a high degree of patient commitment and compliance and unfortunately if you have or have had gum disease your oral hygiene has to be way above average standard to acheive a result

Thanks Sarah. So as a dentist you can treat it yourself rather than send people to see a specialist?
He says he has it just on the one side around the tooth he was feeling pain in.

moaning - thanks for the link, some interesting comments!