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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Free Dental Care

13 replies

bluedomino · 04/01/2008 01:05

Do any of you get free dental care when you are pregnant?

With DD I was told my Dentist had switched to being Private and consequently I didn't get free dental care. Apparently only NHS dentists do it free when your pregnant.

and NHS dentists are like hens teeth here.

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
BurpyErnie · 04/01/2008 01:15

Where do you live? you can check on the NHS website for NHS dentists in your area. NHS dentists are free whe your pregnant because apparently you teeth can fall out! Mine didn't but I still got the free dentists (that's why I joined one! hadn't seen one for years before that due to the price!)

turkEgyptlets · 04/01/2008 01:18

yes yes you are entitiled to free dental care. your mw should give you a form i think if i remember rightly. any nhs dentist must take you it is your right

sandcastles · 04/01/2008 02:19

'NHS dentists are free whe your pregnant because apparently you teeth can fall out!'

........Erm NO! That is an old wives tale. The old saying 'a tooth lost for a each pregnancy/child' is NOT true. Bad oral hygiene makes you lose teeth, not pregnancy. OAPs are more likely to loose their teeth [purely because of age], than a pregnant woman, why don't they get free treatment? It is much more likely that my 83 yr old great grandmother will lose a tooth than I will. Yet in the UK, she gets nothing free.

It is important to see a dentist as your teeth can sometimes suffer from reduced calcium [calcium intake goes to baby before you] & obv your gums do become more spongey. You should increase your calcium intake [a couple of glasses of milk a day] and up your oral hygiene routine, brushing 3 times a day, flossing, using a gental non alcohol mouthwash, using disclosing tablets to make sure you are cleaning well enough [all of these are actually the basics for good oral hygiene anyway]

In Australia there is no free dental treatment when pregnant & when I asked about this [am currently 12 weeks] I was told that people should be able to adequately look after their teeth without a dentist doing it for them.

Dentists won't actually do much while you are pregnant anyway, so most of it will be preventative advice & cleaning if necc. In all my years dental nursing I never came across a lady who lost a tooth/teeth while being pregnant.

'any nhs dentist must take you it is your right'

No dental practice is obliged to take you on, I'm afriad. Yes, in the UK free NHS dentistry is you right, BUT the dentists don't HAVE to take you on. If their list is full etc then you can't expect to be their patient just because you are pregnant.

turkEgyptlets · 04/01/2008 05:13

You are entitled to approach any surgery providing NHS treatment and ask if they have any NHS appointments available.

calm down sandcastles

sandcastles · 04/01/2008 05:17

Yes, you are entitled to that. But not every surgery MUST take you.

I don't need to clam down because you make it read like she can walk into any NHS practice & demand to be seen as an NHS pt, which isn't the case.

Egypt · 04/01/2008 06:49

just jesting with you sandcastles. sorry.

i know i was wrong. So I posted again.

sandcastles · 04/01/2008 08:17

Hey, no worries...apology accepted & mine extended. I hope I didn't come across as snappy, I am not having a good time due to hormones, tiredness etc etc...

Egypt · 04/01/2008 08:33

s'oright!

kayjayel · 04/01/2008 11:52

I get free care (am on NHS list luckily) - and this time I'm getting free white fillings - last time I was told that I could only have the amalgam ones on the free NHS, but that they didn't think it was advisable for pregnant women to have them. It looks like its changed from not advisable to not allowed and therefore you end up with free white ones. And I think the free care lasts for a year after the baby's born? It is a massive saving and I've only started having crap teeth since the boy was conceived, though probably this is due to less time for flossing and more cake .

mitfordsisters · 04/01/2008 13:30

you don't need to go apologising sandcastles - i thought it was a really useful post, unlike some round here ahem

Haylstones · 04/01/2008 13:35

My dentist is private but also has some (i.e very small %age) NHS patients as well. When I'm pg they always change me to an NHS patient during the pg and for 1 year afterwards but they only do this because I am an existing patient and they know I will go back to being private at a later stage (dentist told me this). They also took dd aged 3 on as an NHS patient and many of my friends locally were not able to do this.

sandcastles · 05/01/2008 00:14

mitfordsisters, tis OK....I don't like to offend people so felt I should. I am very hormonal at the mo & very snappy.

Glad you found it useful.

Martha200 · 05/01/2008 11:08

Free treatement when pregnant is just a theory/lottery these days... where I live there was NO chance of finding a NHS dentist to see me, though my son is NHS. Still I saw the Dentist early on and have now forgotton nicely the amount they made off me for the little couple of fillings I needed

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