Charged privately for white filing by dentist?

[delboy1984]

I've recently moved to a new area and found an NHS dentist which is about a 20 minute drive from my area.

I had an initial check up which was free due to me being on Universal Credit and a low income and the dentist said I needed a filling in one of my back teeth. He told me I had two options - silver or white. He went through the options and I'm sure he said it'll be £73.50 if I went with a white one. Even though it's classed as a "back tooth" I still wanted white as I thought you'd probably still could see it. Assuming it was £73.50 I can just about afford it.

So two months later I was in to have it done. He did it and said it'll be £150 as I'd signed my treatment plan (which stated this price) and that back fillings can't be done white on the NHS and it'll have to be done as private. I stated the confusion but he stood firm and said it was done privately.

Can anyone shed any light on this please?
Under the NHS how much should I have been charged for a white filing on a back tooth? Is it purely because it wasn't a front tooth and it's automatically switched to a private cost?

Thanks

White is more

White is not included on NHS. Only silver. So if you wanted white you pay private prices

I'm with an nhs dentist and had a white filling done, it had to be done on private rates as nhs only offer silver, and the 150 sounds about right.

£73.50 sounds like the standard charge for NHS silver filling, I have NHS dentist and I have always paid more for white fillings, they are not included as standard NHS treatment at my practice.

Standard practice

The NHS don’t fund white fillings on back teeth, it’s private only. Always read things properly before you sign them, there’s not much you can do about it now. Just an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Lesson learnt, read before you sign.

Thanks everyone.

Yes, lesson learnt. Do not take your kids with you because if they're giving you grief you will sign away to anything 🤣

I just wanted to check. I thought white fillings were in the 2nd tier prices (£73.50) but it seems that's just for the front teeth. If it's back teeth it comes under "private" costs.

Do you have the piece of paper you signed? They should have given you a copy?

This is correct. I had a white filling just before Xmas on a back tooth. I was charged the lower level on NHS for check up and £150 for white filling. NHS only does silver fillings.

The NHS will do what is clinically necessary. A white filling on a back tooth is deemed cosmetic and not funded by the NHS

I just wanted to check. I thought white fillings were in the 2nd tier prices (£73.50) but it seems that's just for the front teeth. If it's back teeth it comes under "private" costs.

NHS does not cover any part of white fillings for back teeth so there is no banding for them under the NHS and they are done entirely privately.

No help but I'd like to know how come it's £150, I've just been quoted £240 for a white filling

Because dentists set their own prices for private work and it can vary widely depending on lots of factors, such as geographic location, overhead costs etc. You could shop around and find someone else who might do it for less, but you’d probably have to register as a private patient and pay for check ups and xrays etc again as different practices don’t automatically share records. You might find that there’s not much price variation in the local area.

I had a white back tooth filling last month £175 at my NHS dentist.
didn’t expect it to cost that much, especially as I was in the chair for 7 minutes in total, and had no anaesthetic etc. as it was replacing a broken filling rather than a new one

Thanks @Weyohweyoh i didn't know that.

Was it the deposit price? I’m about to get a white filling and I paid 75 deposit for the other 75 to be paid at time of treatment.

White fillings have never been available on the NHs for as long as I can remember.

I'd always pay for white. The amalgam fillings are terrible.

I had six last year and it was 3000 they were big and involved drilling out the old silver ones, but dentistry is extremely expensive

See I went for silver! I had a white filling in my back tooth which was lasting about 2 months at a time
I went back and said look can we do silver, is that going to be stronger. It's my wisdom tooth, I would have stuck with white if it was further forward

White certainly look nicer, but silver will probably last longer before needing replacement and be more hard wearing. Personal choice.

I would have just had a wisdom tooth removed.

@Doggymummar I've thought about having my silver ones removed and white instead but I'm really nervous, hate dental work

Interesting comments re silver, that's what i had as a teen and all still fine but my dentist keeps suggesting i have them replaced with white ones as white is stronger...