Recieved private dental treatment when I requested NHS - now being charged.

[LapsedPacifist]

Don't know if this is the best place for this, but here goes.

I lost a tooth last year and asked the dentist about getting it replaced. They explained I could have an implant (too expensive) - a private partial appliance for £500 or a free basic NHS applicance. I am in receipt of tax credits, so opted for the free NHS one, with the idea in mind that I could always "trade upwards"if I couldn't get on with the cheap option. The dentist agreed that this would be the most sensible option, given that I've never had a dental applicance before.

I had a total of 4 visits to have impressions etc taken and finally picked up my appliance last week, and told to come back if I had any problems with it. That was all that was said. 3 days later, while I was away visiting friends, my husband received a phone call from the clinic saying I had "left without paying" and needed to sort it out immediately. He queried this, saying it should have been free treatment on the NHS and the receptionist immediately became very defensive, insisting that the dentist had explained everything to me very carefully and there couldn't possible have been a mistake.

This is nonsense. My dentist agreed the NHS option was the most sensible one for me. At no point was I asked to sign anything agreeing to private treatment. My dentist did not tell me to go to reception and pay after collecting the appliance.

What on earth should I do? I am a full-time student and can't afford to pay for this!

Ok. Speaking as a dentist....

1. Really the dentist should have got you to sign a treatment plan whether it was nhs or private. It's your word against hers. If she has made accurate contemporaneous records saying you committed to private treatment it will be harder to make your case. If not she has no leg to stand on.
2. Some times I will place a metal clip on an NHS plastic denture.
3. It is inappropriate for the receptionist to discuss any detail of your treatment, including fees, with any third party, even your DH.
4. If you are exempt from Payment the dentist still gets a lab bill. Your fees are paid by the PCT and she will pay the bill out of this.
5. The row over nhs provision of root canal goes on and on. I would be happy to provide it for an incisor canine or premolar. I would only do a molar if I was pretty certain in would succeed. it is very time consuming and the nhs fee does not cover the time and equipment I need to do it well. That does not mean that I would not do it. Just that I have clear evidence based selection criteria. Cases that do not fulfil those criteria may well be treatable but the chance of failure is much higher. I now work privately only. My selection criteria is unchanged. The difference is that my fees allow me the time and equipment to do the job to a higher standard. I actually take home the same or a little less than I did on the NHS. I would spend at least 4 hrs on a molar root canal and crown and my lab bill for the crown is over £100.

< Brief hijack >
I'm glad to hear things have been tightened up and fraudulent dentists are being held to account for this.
My dentist suggested I had an extraction on a crumbling root-filled tooth, and as I was pg, said the treatment, including the bridge to replace the gap, could be NHS. I don't remember the tooth giving me any pain, but it seemed logical to have it sorted. The extraction was a nightmare, the tooth broke inside the gum and the dentist was pushing and tugging and clearly out of her depth trying not to panic. Then I stupidly had a drink of hot tea afterwards as I was so shaken and spaced-out, which of course caused infection to set in. Agony.

Went back to dentist who prescribed abs specific for dental infections, but I was bf DD: 'oh, you can't bf,' says she. Wtf?! Clearly no idea of what it actually means to suddenly wean a bf baby overnight.
GP sorted me out with penicillin.then when the bloody thing was healed (several months later), I asked about the bridge: 'oh no, you can't have that done on the NHS.'
Fucking cow. As if I'd have had a tricking tooth out knowing it would cost a couple of thou to replace it.
Sorry wasn't brief - but rant over. Glad you seem to have got yours sorted op.

WhatsWrongWithYou, that's awful. Which tooth was it? I recently had an NHS crown on a back tooth which is second to last, I could have had a bridge if I wanted one.

This was third to last - now bridged, at great expense. But, as I said, it was about 12 years ago, and I did call the helpline but I guess maybe the rules around dentistry were still a bit fluid at that time, so wasn't advised that there was any redress.
Plus the whole emotional thing about feeling lousy for having rubbish teeth - you feel as if anyone even prepared to look into your mouth is doing you a favour!

Thanks very much for your input sprinkles, I was hoping to get a professional opinion. I'm worried that she may have made a genuine mistake because she is pretty disorganised and I dithered a bit about which option to take. But I made it absolutely clear to her before we started treatment why I decided to take the NHS option, based on always being able to trade upwards later, and she agreed with me. Told me to get used to eating etc with my NHS denture and see how I got on with it.

Re the RCT - I suspect the decision not to offer me NHS treatment was, as you say, based on the cost v. the likelihood of success. The treatment WAS complicated and took a long time, and the dentist stopped several times to take photos at different stages . He did both teeth at the same time (it took 2.5 hours!) because of the amount of anaesthesia required etc, and I was grateful afterwards that we got it over in one go. It was pretty gruelling.

I also wanted to clarify that there were major changes to the NHS dental contract in April 2006. How dentists were paid and their terms of service changed. Prior to April 2006 you would have had far less difficulty obtaining all complex treatment. Obviously I'm not saying you could get anything done then, but we were paid fees that actually reflected the treatment provided, and was clear and transparent to patients. And that is the end of my rant!

I am glad you got it sorted out, but WTF was the receptionist doing talking about your treatment to your dh? That's a huge breach of patient confidentiality!

Got a phone call today from the practice manager. They admitted that they were at fault - I should have been given a treatment plan to sign if I had agreed to private treatment - and they are going to waive the charges as a "gesture of goodwill". Dentist will also be getting her wrist slapped.

Feel rather about getting treatment from her in the future. She is really going to hate me.

Try not worry about future treatment from her. Hopefully she will have learned her lesson, and be on her best behaviour. If you otherwise trust her I'd stick with her. She probably won't hate you, if she has any sense she will be very grateful that you were nice about it. I'm more concerned about your financial / treatment details being discussed with your DH.