Can someone advise me on private dental care?

[crossstitchingnana]

My practice is chucking off it's NHS patients and I am having to consider paying privately. There seem to be different plans and insurance too. What do you do and how do I avoid massive bills?

Hi @crossstitchingnana, we're just giving your thread a bump in case anyone's around to answer your query.

My dentist offers denplan which is about £15pm for me
Covers check up and hygienist twice a year so that's my money back already really then any work done

I used to be Denplan and had very little done for a dozen years. My new dentist is pay as you go and says things were let slide. I had several very old fillings replaced quickly.

Whether it is worth signing up for Denplan or similar may depend on your age and the current status of your dental health. The more dental treatment you have already had, the higher the monthly premiums tend to be and you often have to be 'dentally fit' before you are accepted onto a plan.

I prefer to do 'pay as you go' with a dentist I regard as ethical and experienced and who is able to do advanced things like endodontics; or refer quickly appropriately if beyond their scope.

I pay relatively high amounts for regular check-ups and hygiene visits. This means there is less incentive to overtreat, as a regular income is already being received.

This won't always apply but the continuity of care is well worth paying more to me, as I always see the same dentist (the practice owner). Registered patients with pain/problems are same-day prioritised.

So if you can, I would suggest finding a dentist you really like and sticking with them and just budgeting for dental check-ups/hygiene as you would anything else e.g. hair appointments.
You probably won't need any major treatment if you follow this prevention led approach and when/ if you do, you will have had time to save up a 'dental emergency' fund.

We were previously with an NHS dentist but paid privately for some things (hygienist and some treatments eg a crown as had more options then). We budgeted a certain amount per month which went into a savings account and was then used to pay for check ups, hygienist and any treatment. You should be able to find out the basic costs (eg check ups and hygienist) from dentists' websites, then add extra depending on state of your teeth and what you've had done in the past.

Worth checking whether your work offers any kind of medical/dental plan as these can be cheaper to join than a direct plan with the dentist.

We had to find a new dentist years ago when our NHS dentist retired. We've been with him since. Like MayBe says it is about the cost of two checkups and cleans with xrays every other year. We've stuck with him as he seems like a decent dentist and charges seem reasonable. At the time he must have been not long out of uni now he's senior shows how long its been. OH has had to make use of emergency appointments and only got charged for work done and not the actual appointment.