A trip to the dentist, NHS where art thou

ImMrChris

ImMrChris

ImMrChris

Man of Honour
Joined
12 Feb 2004
Posts
3,217
Location
Herne Bay, UK
I tried everywhere to get an NHS dentist but had to go private with a cracked tooth, they ended up pulling 2 teeth and having 3 fillings for a princely sum of £730 :eek:

It seems you either pay through the nose or just live in constant pain nowadays I bet some people are having some right horror stories! I dread to think, I'm lucky I can afford it
 
Last edited:
It definitely pays to find and register with an NHS dentist, it can take forever to find one but once you do you avoid the horrendous emergency charges, you still have to pay for the NHS emergency services, but it's a fraction of what you paid.
 
Can't even get a private dentist where I currently am. I'm terrified to tell my current NHS/Private one I moved house in case they take me off the books. I drive 45 mins to get there.
 
There is a BBC article about this at the moment:

www.bbc.co.uk

NHS dentist shortages to be tackled with cash incentive

Dental leaders say new measures to improve access to care in England do not go far enough in meeting needs.
www.bbc.co.uk

Around me everywhere is ditching their NHS patients, you pretty much won't find an NHS dentist and there is an increasing number of young kids who will not be getting proper dental care in their early years - ******** disgrace.
 
The dentists can make way more money private even without those dental insurance plans they're fond of pushing on you.

Until the government increases the tariff payments they make to the dentist for your treatment and trains more dentists, it won't improve.
 
The city where I live (pop 110,000), there are no NHS dentists taking on new patients, my own family's NHS dentist has recently gone private, now on the hunt for a NHS dentist away from town along with all the other dispossessed.....
 
ImMrChris said:
I tried everywhere to get an NHS dentist but had to go private with a cracked tooth, they ended up pulling 2 teeth and having 3 fillings for a princely sum of £730 :eek:

It seems you either pay through the nose or just live in constant pain nowadays I bet some people are having some right horror stories! I dread to think, I'm lucky I can afford it
Click to expand...

When was your last visit to a dentist before that?
 
Cornwell the are non existent, managed to get kid on one not far away but the girlfriend has to go private. Fortunately mine is still NHS and I've been with them for 30 years.
 
covenantuk said:
The dentists can make way more money private even without those dental insurance plans they're fond of pushing on you.

Until the government increases the tariff payments they make to the dentist for your treatment and trains more dentists, it won't improve.
Click to expand...

Was going to post similar. To become a Dentist is 5 years' worth of student loan and then they end up as self-employed contractors, so although the headline salaries look decent, they're handling Tax, NI, rent, insurances, PII, pension etc all out of that. Its not a career to make you rich and famous.

We're very lucky in that I've been with the same dentists as an NHS patient since I was in primary school, so managed to get the wife and daughters in as well. They've not taken new NHS patients in years and it seems to be the same everywhere else round here too.
 
Samueltastic said:
Cornwell the are non existent, managed to get kid on one not far away but the girlfriend has to go private. Fortunately mine is still NHS and I've been with them for 30 years.
Click to expand...
I hadn't been for a hell lot of years then got an email saying I was due a check up , would have been silly to miss the opportunity, decent dentist in Liskeard
 
Fortunate that I can use Bupa at pretty much no cost as I’m added to to my wife’s dental plan she has through work.

I also find the experience going private much better than the few NHS dentists I’ve used around here.
 
I got really lucky, let nhs dentist appointments slip during pandemic and was told I was no longer registered after a ~3 year gap, when some teeth were starting to give me issues last spring. Then got a call out of the blue from same dentist in autumn, inviting me for an nhs checkup the next day and then treatment over following weeks including a root canal, result!
 
I got kicked off the books during COVID and wasn't even informed I was 1 day away from pulling my own tooth out till my sister n law managed get me an NHS appointment few years ago now on their books

It's ridiculous how the government have let dentists get this way
 
I visit the dentist regularly, they book me in every 12 months.
I've got a checkup next Tuesday which has been booked since last visit in 2023 and my dentist informed me a week or so ago that they're not doing NHS anymore and if i want to continue seeing the same guy I need to pay private/join Denplan.

Alternatively, they say I can look on the gov website to find an alternative NHS dentist...
I had a quick look and could not see any local dentists accepting patients over 17.
 
Last edited:
Government should scrap NHS dentistry and subsidise private care - maybe fund checks up for free with treatment discounted on some sort of % scale.

Ultimately its up to the individual to look after their own teeth* - expecting the NHS to support you when you can't be bothered to even brush your teeth is, as we can clearly see, not sustainable...

*Yes, yes I'm sure there are some special cases but that doesn't apply to most people..

Government should also incentivise private health and dental insurance some how.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom