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Original poster

Is anyone else on a middlish income finding that dentistry is a real luxury?

106 replies

Pruni · 06/11/2006 17:47

Message withdrawn

OP posts:

sandcastles · 07/11/2006 00:12

FrannyonFire, the anaesthetic shouldn't cost anything anyway, should be figure into the cost of the filling.

sandcastles · 07/11/2006 00:30

"but IMO dentists and medics should have to give something into the nhs" Malory, They do. Once they have qualified they have to do a year in a practice, under the guidance of a dentist who has much more experience. This is called vocational training. They have to work on the NHS.

Many newly qualified dentists won't have the funds to set up private practices and to be quite honest, imo their skills aren't worthy of doing private treatment. So I believe that they have to do NHS to to be able to progress to private, iyswim.

twinsetandpearls · 07/11/2006 00:35

We are on a middlish income ( although one mans middle is anothers poverty and another's luxury!) and most things beyond food and heat are a luxury and even they area close call! ( Sorry am feeling sorry for myself as we are budgeting as the caris about to die feel free to give me a good slap!)

sandcastles · 07/11/2006 00:49

No slap twinset, carry on...I just can't believe that we have got to this point where people in the UK are having to 'save' for NHS dentistry!

When I first started in NHS dentistry, the public paid 25% of the total costs. Dentistry was good, if w did a private filling we 'celebrated', such was the rarity of it! By the time I left that was 75%.

How times change.

mummydear · 07/11/2006 07:12

Denplan is the one that we looked into -- you will have to pay for assessments for each mmeber of the fanmily to see whether you are to be taken on. Any work they find during those assessmenst will have to be done prior to you going on Denplan.

We cannot afford it at the moment- den plan is a good idea but you have to have A1 teeth in the first place !

Also not every dentist does it so you will have to find one relivetly close to you , but Denplan do have a list which is available on line.

Look carefully at the small print .

southeastastra · 01/02/2008 19:54

grim, i was looking into getting insurance having just had a bill i could do without.

Maidamess · 01/02/2008 19:56

Yes it is a luxury. Half my tooth fell off before Christmas and I still havent made an appointment to get it fixed. Have bought lots of new clothes though!

Maidamess · 01/02/2008 19:57

I'm going to look great in my fancy togs with black and yellow teeth.

aGalChangedHerName · 01/02/2008 20:02

DH and i pay £12 per month each to a private plan with our dental practice.

I covers you for 2 check ups,2 hygenist(sp) appointments and 1 set of xrays per year.
Even had to pay when i was pg and when dd2 was under a year.

But you have to pay loads for fillings extra appts and any other dental work too

Have paid almost £700 for root canal treatments in the last year and now prob not going on hols this year.

southeastastra · 01/02/2008 20:12

it's crazy isn't it. why did you pay when pg agchn?

ScienceTeacher · 01/02/2008 20:14

I pay £30 a month for four appointments (lasting one hour each) a year. It also provides worldwide dental insurance, and 10% off any treatment.

The quality of the check-ups are outstanding. I do not resent paying at all. If anything starts to go wrong with my teeth, the maximum festering time is 3 months, so easy enough to fix.

I think the standard of teeth and dental care has really improved since private dentistry became the norm.

aGalChangedHerName · 01/02/2008 20:16

Well the practice nurse(bloody harriden)said if i waited to go on the plan till after i had dd and had all my free treatment i maybe wouldn't get to join up to it at all.
Made out they would be soooo busy all my family except me would get in

I know now thats bollocks but being pg and panicking i did what she said.

expatinscotland · 01/02/2008 20:19

The practice in Rankeillor St. was accepting new NHS patients last I checked, Pruni, if you're around there.

They let me use them just because I worked at the university, too, so it's worth looking into.

southeastastra · 01/02/2008 20:22

sorry i bumped this thread from 2006

the £30 a month seems to be the norm for the best coverage i've found. that's awful agchn.

Justine888 · 01/02/2008 20:42

Crikeys!
Dont get me started on dentists. Im 35 y.o. and have "old person's teeth". Im in the process of paying a specialist 2K to maybe get my gums healthy - a 6 part treatment. After the initial consultation, the specialist sent me up to see the receptionist and when she told me how much the sessions would cost, I just burst out laughing. Outrageous. But, he's put me on the drip... I pay a little bit all the bloody time.
But, Im in the minority.
So many people I know havent been to the dentist for years and years and when they finally go, all they need is a basic clean and maybe a filing or two... small fry stuff. Losing teeth is just so confronting. Your gums receed and if they fall out in the front, your lips and mouth cave in and you look so old - old before your time.
If I dont go to see this guy and get my mouth sorted, I'll end up looking like a guest on the Jeremy Kyle show - I think bad teeth, black teeth or missing teeth are a pre-requisite.
But god, it's bullsht how expensive this stuff is... and it's bullsht that dental health care isnt free....
Oh I could go on.... (already have I think)....

Pruners · 01/02/2008 20:50

Message withdrawn

policywonk · 01/02/2008 20:54

Do your teeth hurt then pruners?

I've been referred to the hospital to have a tooth taken out because it's a difficult extraction. I am wondering whether I will have to pay for the privilege...

southeastastra · 01/02/2008 20:57

you're right pruners. my dentist seems to just be interested in whitening and cosmetic stuff. i had a tooth out recently and he didn't even give me any abs. i had to see the dr separately. just seems such an unfair 'service' that isn't improving.

TheDuchessOfNorksBride · 01/02/2008 20:59

kolacube - do you work for the BDA?

TheDuchessOfNorksBride · 01/02/2008 21:03

I didn't realise I was reading such an old thread!

About 10 years ago, I used to negotiate NHS dentists salaries (and a fistful of other benefits) via the British Dental Association and trust me, there weren't any poor NHS dentists then.

DaDaDa · 01/02/2008 21:06

Dentists. All about the money.

Pruners · 01/02/2008 21:16

Message withdrawn

pointydog · 01/02/2008 21:25

quite a few nhs places started up in Scotland recently. None near you I take it?

Quattrocento · 01/02/2008 21:34

Apparently Gordon Brown, from the time that he became chancellor, has increased NHS spending by 50% in REAL terms.

So why is everything worse

I don't mind being taxed to oblivion (martyr) but I do mind all the money being thrown away on consultants and administrators.

policywonk · 01/02/2008 21:49

Sorry to hear that pruners - dental pain is no fun.

I must say, my newly-discovered NHS dentist is absolutely lovely, and I don't think she's diddling me. But then she is Spanish so I suspect she's over here to get some experience before going back to Girona or wherever, where she will horrify her friends and neighbours with stories of British teeth.

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