Can a dentist turn you away if you need a lot of work done?

[americantrish]

the only local dentist to us that is taking new NHS patients asks you to come in between 9 and 10am (drop-in basis) to be seen.
i'm concerned due to the extent of work i need done, i will be turned away. (can they do this?)

TIA...

But, the more work you need doing, the more money the dentist will get from the NHS...

Likely dentist will have a look, assess what you need and then ask you to book an appointment to come back and have it done at a later date.

Not true about the more money for more work. You may find that the dentist will ask you to have the work done in several sessions spaced out by 3 months so he can claim for several courses of treatment if you really have a lot.

sorry to cast a damper but my dad nearly got turned away by his local NHS dentist (after his old practice went private) because of the amount of work he needs doing. They told him that they would only take him on because my mum and brother(who don't need much doing) were signing on too. Good luck, hope yours is more reasonable. And congrats on getting an NHS dentist - no-one at all is taking on new patients near me.

thanks for responding... i wouldnt mind the work taking several months to be honest as long as i can have it done....

The thing is,if they do do it like that they will charge you for each course of treatment seperately so it will end up costing quite a bit

I think it is possible as the way dentists are paid for NHs work has changed.If I remember correctly ,each treatment equates to a number of units,and if they do do more then the units they don't get paid for the extra work and time put in.
so I guess if the dentist has done his NHS quota for the month then he's going to do private work instead.
the new system isn't working that well as dentists are prepared to do the work but want to be paid for it.
well that is the way it was explained to me by my dentist(who is lovely!)

even if i had to pay for 3 lots of treatments which would be £189 x3 (if the info on the NHS dentist page is correct.) that would still be A LOT less than i would pay to have it done privately. (well some of will have to be private as i want white fillings in the back of my mouth when the time comes.)

think they will be rubbing their hands like greedy beggars
with the money they will make