Are dentists allowed to do this?

[flavoprot]

Hi,

Would be grateful if anyone who knows about this stuff could please advise:

I am registered with a dentist as an NHS patient and require a wisdom tooth extraction as essential work.

They have refused to do this on the NHS with the explanation that they are ‘at capacity’, but have given me a quote to do it privately.

Is this against the rules?

Many thanks! :)

The NHS will provide all treatment that your dentist feels is clinically necessary to keep your teeth, gums and mouth healthy.
This means that if your dentist says that you "need" a particular type of treatment, it will be available on the NHS. You should not be asked to pay for it privately.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/dental-costs/why-has-my-nhs-dentist-charged-me-for-private-treatment/

No they are not allowed to do this. If the treatment is necessary they have to provide this on the NHS. For a wisdom tooth this may mean a referral onto a specialist oral surgeon on the NHS

If they have no NHS space for a while or have used up up UDA quota they can offer you the treatment privately sooner but they still have to provide you with an NHS option

CAB Advice Sheet

Thanks your all your replies, folks - sounds like they should at least offer me an NHS option, though they haven’t after I’ve pressed.

Is it wise to threaten the people who handle tooth extractions with a complaint to the PHSO though unless purely out of spite…? 😬

Have you been seen by the dentist or did you just phone up asking for the extraction?
In England and Wales there is no such thing as registration.
A dentist has no obligation to see you if you are not under a course of treatment . Indeed if they are at NHS capacity they have no obligation to offer you an appointment on the NHS.
The NHS only gives the practice a limited contract, if they do more work than this then they do not get paid. Moreover if at capacity the next appointment may be months away and they may not take on more work to keep waiting times manageable.

If you are not under a course of treatment then the practice can offer you a private course of treatment . They have no obligation to find you a NHS alternative.

If you are under a course of treatment ie the dentist has done a check up and not just an emergency appointment then they have to offer the treatment on the NHS or refer you if the treatment is out of their competency.

In Scotland and NI there is registration and different rules apply.

Surely what they're saying is you need this work doing ASAP and they can't fit you in for an NHS appointment anytime soon, so here's the alternative since they don't have a magic time machine enabling them to be in two appointments at once.

If people lucky enough to have NHS dentists stopped pontificating about their entitlements and rights and started spending that time looking after their teeth better, maybe more of the rest of us could have NHS dentists too. I have never been able to access an NHS dentist in my adult life (and there are millions of us in the same boat). Do you even know how many thousands of pounds you've saved from having an NHS dentist, money that most millennials and gen Z have to spend to get their teeth taken care of?

Honestly you don't know you're born.

@BiscuitsandPuffin that is pretty nasty post over someone who needs a wisdom tooth extracted.

You don't know why it needs extraction and the posters age.

The only one of my wisdom teeth that was extracted was impacted. This was done in my mid-20s though I was advised at the time that I should have all of them extracted.

I’ve got an NHS dentist and very grateful I am too @BiscuitsandPuffin. What has looking after one’s teeth got to do with it though? I brush twice a day, floss daily and never miss a check-up. (I always need work done though. 🤷🏼‍♀️) I do feel very grateful to have an NHS dentist but I didn’t realise I was supposed to feel ashamed too.

Ask them to put it in writing - that often results in a 'reverse ferret' I find!

As an adult I’ve never been able to see an NHS dentist. I had to pay for root canal treatment the other year which cost £’000s and had to go on a credit card which I’m still paying off.

If I was you be careful as they may just not treat you.

Jesus what a totally unnecessary post. Having a wisdom tooth extraction has no relation to how well you look after your teeth. A bit if ageism slipped in too. Nice. On behalf of the OP. Fuck off.

If op is not under a course of treatment and is in England or Wales where there is no registration for dentists then there is no compunction for the practice to offer a NHS appointment , particularly if they are , as they say , at capacity.

Unfortunately practices offering NHS treatment are completely overwhelmed with patients needing treatment and often have to close appointments until they have dealt with the backlog.

do you not think it’s more likely that they get remunerated for given procedures? But if you pay yourself then it’s obviously fine? Could be totally wrong but I’d guess that?

You must be a dentist @Lollygaggle 😅 if they've identified the need for this treatment then OP is indeed under a course of treatment

OP may have seen an emergency dentist or just realised themselves they need an extraction. In which case they are not under a course of treatment.

The practice has said they are at capacity which would imply op is not under a course of treatment.

Of course registration does still exist in Scotland and NI , in which case different rules apply.

https://www.healthwatchcamden.co.uk/blog/2021/04/15/how-do-nhs-dental-services-work/

This might be helpful. As @Lollygaggle says (although not kindly) it seems that you are only 'registered' with a practice while they are treating you. If they haven't actually agreed to treat you, they may not be able to take you on for treatment due to contract restrictions.

It's an awful system.

Not necessarily @Summerhillsquare, an emergency appointment doesn't count as an open course of treatment in all cases.

If the patient is seen as an emergency and can be taken out of pain, the tooth extraction doesn't need to be done in that course of treatment.

In the case of an impacted wisdom tooth, sometimes antibiotics, a bit of descaling and rinsing can be administered and the advice given to consider having the tooth removed if the issue comes back.

It will differ from practice to practice so there is no real 'set rule' for this since NHS registration was taken off the table.

I hope you manage to get the treatment you need though OP.
Toothache is horrible.

NHS registration for dentists ended in 2006 with the "new contract" in England and Wales.
It has become a real problem now as dentists are leaving the NHS in droves putting increasing pressure on the few who remain (for now).
Indeed in the south west one practice has had its contract changed so it can no longer see people for routine treatment ( something like 4000 patients lost their dentist) and can only see people for emergency treatment as the area is such a dental desert.
The people to complain to are not the dental practice but your MP as it's the decades long underinvestment in NHS dentistry by both parties that has led to this crisis.

Having a wooden tooth out is nothing to do with whether you have taken care of your teeth or not!! I'm 45 have always took care of my teeth and don't have one filling! But this Friday I'm having my lower left wisdom tooth out privately as it's impacted and cause me numerous infections and now the antibiotics have stopped working. I'm having it taken out privately as my dentist was told the NHS waiting list is 12 months for a general anaesthetic in hospital. I extremely luck that I can afford this and feel sorry for those who don't. You should be able to get it on the NHS but will have to wait.

Wisdom tooth not wooden 🙈

Oh, fgs. Have a gin and stfu

I'd like to heartily endorse your final sentence to BiscuitsandPuffin's post - yes, F.O. is the perfect response.* What a stupid, ill-informed post from this poster, who hasn't a clue what caused the OP's dental problem - just jumps to the conclusion that it's due to not looking after their teeth! And what the hell have the poor, suffering, discriminated against millennials got to do with it - and why don't the poor dears follow BandP's wise(??) own advice and look after their teeth? Then, by BandP'*s own peculiar logic, they won't need treatment. Oh, the irony.

Hi OP. It's not right but it happens and I can vouch for that as I/we have paid extra like that. It was cleaning of teeth and they said they needed extra time - it worked out about 35 quid extra that I would have paid on that banding

For the record, the majority of people that are not on benefits pay for NH treatments via banding and we and millions do. Most of us have paid our NI's and taxes and still paying taxes when some of us retire. @BiscuitsandPuffin
The NHS dentals service is not free as you make it out to be for the majority

To all - when you visit a NHS dentist, check beforehand the payment scales/bandings and what is is possible and what is not and challenge them. It works sometimes other times they fob you out and either you pay the extra like we did or change dentists. Another time a couple of years ago, I had to go back within 2 weeks and they charged me again but hubby rang them and asked why the charge and told them it was wrong. They said they'd made a mistake - my left foot did they as our dentists are a bit like that but local ad one of the dentists is ok. The same surgery does private practice as well and when I go most of times they ask if I pay, of course, I do, ie the banding charge. However, they mean "pay" as in 100% lol.

OP, I hope it all gets sorted.

@BiscuitsandPuffin Why are you making up what I said? I EXPLICITLY stated that they REFUSED to treat on the NHS, NOT delayed.

Also, I am Gen Z and wisdom teeth that need extracting are categorically NOT my fault. Are you just a presumptive twat to every random person on here or just me?

Some of us look after our teeth yet still have shit teeth.

Its not my fault that l have an NHS dentist and shit teeth. I also had to wait ages to get on the nhs books.

Also my Millennial and Gen z dc are also with nhs dentists.