£400 for dental deep clean?

[Harriet1216]

Is this about right or is my dentist just trying to recoup cash from the lockdown? He wants me to do a minimum of four appointments, each an hour long and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle.

I paid £79 for a clean at dentist once they have scrapped and polished teeth what else is there to do? Took about 10min not sure what they be doing for 4h how slowly can you scale a tooth?

I would ask how it would be different to what a hygienist could do.

I see the hygienist every 12 weeks for a deep scale and polish, I pay £45 each time. £400 seems very steep

I think you have gum disease. You should do it definitely

I forgot to say, it's the hygienist doing the deep clean.

What on earth are your teeth like? Seriously - I hadn't seen a hygienist for years as my dentist didn't have one. Just had one big manual descaling apt (30 min) and then a check in 6 months later.

Is it more of a whitening treatment?

Oh and as for being worth it, it depends why you need it. I have 12 weekly sessions as I have gum recession and the point is to disrupt any tartar under the gum line to stop it progressing, she said 12 weeks is how long tartar takes to from so it makes sense to me.

@femfemlicious

I think you have gum disease. You should do it definitely

Yes I do have gum disease, but still, £400?

Yeah I wouldn't pay that. £400 is ridiculous.

*form, not from!

@Leftbutcameback

What on earth are your teeth like? Seriously - I hadn't seen a hygienist for years as my dentist didn't have one. Just had one big manual descaling apt (30 min) and then a check in 6 months later.

Is it more of a whitening treatment?

My teeth aren't that bad. I have a couple of gum pockets over 4mm but that's all. No toothache, no bad breath, no bleeding gums. It's not a whitening treatment, just a deep clean.

I don't understand why it needs 4 hours. Maybe a dentist will pop up and explain.

Gosh my hygienist uses so many tools and gadgets I can’t imaging what else would be involved and she is obviously much cheaper. Also I honestly can’t see how it can take more that 2 appointment to catch up, First appointment to do all the ‘heavy lifting’ so to speak and with possible not enough time to get everything perfect but you should be going into the second appointment with everything almost done.

Speaking as someone who once got presented with a list of ‘urgent’ work that reached into the thousands of pounds the best thing I ever did was go for a second opinion.

Did he mention gum disease at all?

It seems excessive for just a scale and polish.

But not so much for root planing etc and follow ups.

I had that in the summer and with my private dentist it was I believe about £110

From personal experience, you might need multiple appointments to start with in order to get the gum disease under control, but 4 hours does seem a lot. Maybe see what the hygienist themselves actually says? Or you could try and get an appointment elsewhere for a second opinion? Ultimately though, I would do what it takes to stabilise the condition, to prevent tooth loss in the future.

@Harriet1216 ive heard of people paying £4000 for periodontal cleaning You should definitely get a 2nd opinion

£400 seems pretty normal to be honest! My DH is a private dentist and his hygienist would charge £80 for a 40 min extended periodontal treatment, so 5 × 1 hour sessions seems OK. Please take this treatment plan seriously, periodontitis can lead to serious long term problems if left untreated.

Assuming you have periodontal issues that warrant this level of treatment, it will be a small price to pay to try to halt the progression of your gum disease. If it is 4 x 1 hour sessions, they are probably planning on doing a quadrant of your mouth at a time and I would hope giving you local anaesthetic and/or at least numbing gel, if doing the 'under the gum' deep cleaning.
If they are not planning on 'numbing you up' , you may prefer to see a private periodontist instead who will definitely numb you up. Even straightforward hygienist visits of 30 minutes can cost £60, so £100 for 1 hour with anaesthetic is not that much more.
Some info on deep cleaning here:
www.dentalfearcentral.org/faq/deep-cleaning/
Scale and polish here: www.dentalfearcentral.org/faq/scale-and-polish/

Thanks for all the input. Yes, they are numbing injections and doing one quadrant at a time. I just wanted to know how much other people are paying, since £400 seems a lot.

How much are you teeth worth to you? Everyone’s different. £400 to keep your teeth, is it worth it?

I had this done by periodontist in London. I had a total of 32 injections, 4 appointments and paid £1200. So I think you are getting a bargain. This was 2 years ago and my periodontal problems have been in remission. Was it worth it? I don't know but I still have all my teeth.

I paid £100 for a 45 min periodontal cleaning ( under the gum line) well worth it though and have just needed ordinary ones since.

Seems fair enough now you've explained! I think it's more than cleaning your teeth. Hope it goes well. I've just spent a fortune on an implant and the care was excellent

400 for 4 hours work us numbing etc sounds reasonable.

I personally would pay.... you only get one set of teeth