What’s the highest dental PPE cost you’ve been quoted so far? I think I might be the winner!

[justanotherneighinparadise]

How about £45 on top of the £70 hygienist fee they charge as standard 😮😮😮😮😮

Who do you think should pay for it? I understand the actual cost of PPE (which includes proper disposal) is upwards of £50 per patient.

Let me think, who do I think should pay for it 🤔. How about that billionaire who owns Amazon?

But they all wore PPE before, and there was no charge then.
That sounds a lot.

Thank you RedShoe. I appreciate you allowing me my shock and awe.

What?? I went to the dentist yesterday- he wore 2 pairs of gloves and 3 masks which seemed a it much. Didn't charge me though.

They are trying to charge private patients ad they have you over a barrel. Who actually gets free dental treatment!?? I didn't even when I was pregnant!

Grow pairs of gloves and three masks? Where did he put the three masks?!

And tbh with two sets of gloves on I’d be a bit worried about their dexterity.

That cost is ridiculous. Dentists wear gloves and masks as standard in normal times so quite why they feel the need to ramp up a charge now I don’t get.

My dentist can’t fit me in for another seven weeks and I’ve been paying my denplan payments throughout so am seriously irritated.

I don’t know why GPs are getting such bad press when they have been open throughout just doing more phone and video instead of face to face- had zero PPE access for weeks and sourced most of it at their own costs without obviously passing on costs to patients and yet dentists get away with what they like.

The NHS dentist I occasionally see isn’t open at all for routine appointments, this is my private dentist. My partner is going to see what his dentist is charging as I guess I’m going to have to shop around and maybe move dentist if possible.

Grow pairs of gloves and three masks? Where did he put the three masks?!
One quite rigid mask, a surgical mask on top of that and then a visor!

And tbh with two sets of gloves on I’d be a bit worried about their dexterity.
Well he dropped the mirror in my mouth which has never happened before so you're not wrong!

I'm a Dentist, it's a bit more complicated than a mask and some gloves.
In England, at the moment we are required to wear an apron, surgical mask, visor and gloves for non aerosol procedures.
If we use a drill, ultrasonic for cleaning or a spray we need fit tested respirator masks, gowns, surgical masks if the respirators are vented, visors, gloves and then an hour of fallow time before we can reenter the surgery to clean it. We are also expected to socially distance our patients- so spaces between appointments.
Some practices have invested in equipment to speed up the air exchange to reduce their fallow times.
So a person previously attending for a half hour filling appointment needs over 100 minutes to follow procedures.
Despite what the Government says all PPE has been purchased by the Dental Practices, we have not been given any.
I work in an NHS practice we have spent thousands of pounds on PPE. The fallow times put practices at real risk of going under. Dentistry has become very expensive to provide.
Private practices have not been eligible for financial help from most quarters in the last few months, they have no choice but pass these astronomical costs on.

@Redshoeblueshoe sorry, I disagree. The PPE previously worn by dentists was a basic surgical mask. I know of multiple colleagues who caught covid while wearing them religiously, one last week actually (and the covid positive individual was wearing one too which obviously is impossible at the dentists). Proper PPE is far more expensive than flimsy surgical masks that you can buy ten a penny in boots. It's a whole different ballgame now and dentists are almost the most exposed profession so they've got to be super careful.

A quick google shows some items of PPE have gone up %1000 in price since March. It is likely far more expensive than we realise for the entire kit and the safe disposal of it too. Masks have to be fitted to the individual so different types will undoubtedly cost different amounts too- you'll likely be paying different amounts solely based on the shape of your face! Sourcing it alone is a nightmare, I really sympathise for dentists, hygienists (and those needing urgent dental care) at the moment.

You're an, anti - dentite, aren't you, op?

Dentist here too. What @MillyMollyMardy and @stitchandbitch101 say is correct. The amount and type of PPE we need to wear has changed, and due to high demand, the price of even basic masks and gloves has gone up massively. Our practice are absorbing costs for NHS patients even though there is no extra help with funding for this. Private patients are being asked to pay for PPE, and in time, as the price comes down, the cost passed on to patients will come down.
£45 sounds right for full PPE for aerosol generating procedure. Re 2 masks: We wear FFP3 mask to filter out virus particles, with a fluid resistant surgical mask on top. Each mask does a separate job. The ordinary surgical fluid resistant ones won’t stop virus particles getting through. Then visor to protect the rest of face/eyes.
(I can’t see how more than one pair of gloves can help though, unless changed during procedure, so more than one pair per patient.)

@MillyMollyMardy that’s actually a really helpful explanation thank you and has calmed me down a bit! I didn’t realise about the time needed between patients.

Lesson to self not to assume the worst of dentists.
I was probably ready to be annoyed as I’d not heard a single word from mine the whole time- thought they might have sent a text or an email explaining how to access emergency dental advice.
They just turned the phones off and I didn’t hear from them at all until I rang last week and was told no chance of an apogee for seven weeks and call back then.

I can see now how stressful it must be especially for the smaller practices.

I’ve found a local dental surgery who will see me with no extra PPE charge and is cheaper than my original hygienist. So I’m delighted and I’ve booked in for September.

I’ve opted for the AirFlow which I’ve never had before, so 🤞

I’ve booked the hygienist for a couple of weeks time and they didn’t say anything about a PPE charge. I assumed it would be £5/10 if there was one. I’m going to ring and check.

Not dentist bashing at all btw. I know dentists donated their stockpiles of PPE in March/April. It’s very unfair.

Yes I paid £45 for PPE too - did not seem unreasonable given how much they needed.

But I was shocked by £600 for two white fillings, a check up and two X rays - I've queried this, as it is a huge increase.

Oh I went yesterday and they didn't charge me anything as it was just a little niggle on something else they were treating before lockdown

Oh I went yesterday and they didn't charge me anything as it was just a little niggle on something else they were treating before lockdown

It’s pretty shit that dentistry now seems to be only for the well off 😔

@MillyMollyMardy

Thank you.
Dd's just been for an appointment this morning (root canal and filling under sedation-she's very phobic) and they were wearing far more than they normally was, and had an hour after her to allow for over run and cleaning. I was quite impressed.

My dentist has been fantastic over this time. He mended my broken tooth right at the beginning, said he couldn't do more in the circumstances and didn't charge me. Dd got toothache a month ago and I thought it would be nothing they could do as she really can't cope with having work done when awake (only thing that she does struggle with) and he arranged for a friend to come to do the sedation today because his normal sedation service isn't operating.
And cost wise, bearing in mind his friend had to come, bringing all the equipment with him etc as they don't normally do sedation here, I was impressed. I was ready to fall off my chair (if they hadn't removed all the waiting room ones due to infection). I got the bill and asked how much the crown would be on top, but it was all included.
No it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't anything like what I was expecting.

They'll be getting much less people through the doors ( I think they're looking at only 4-5 rather than the normal 10+) and they have more PPE more procedures to go through as well as more equipment.

I know someone who recently paid £900 for PPE and cleaning of the room after their £250 dental procedure! It was apparently to cover the fact that they had to hold the appointments after them open too as it took an hour to clean. They were gutted

This thread had me in so I checked my dentist and it says

“ With the support of Denplan & our management, we will not be adding any PPE surcharges to our appointments, despite a 6000% increase in PPE costs ”

What a love!! 6000% increase!

I'm glad mine and other colleague's explanations have helped.
We've been told today there will be no decision on the fallow time for 4-5 weeks but practices should be starting to get going again.
What each practice is doing will depend on lots of factors such as their backlogs, staff passing fit testing, how their surgery layout can be adapted. It's such a different way of running our diaries and in my work we've spent the last few weeks working out the best way to run the day.

I also don't think they would shut Dental Practices again in a second wave as it has been shambolic, no-one should have been left in pain during lockdown. Dentistry is an essential service. Practices now have the appropriate PPE to keep working.