Dentist - NHS vs private fillings

Pho

Pho

Soldato
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I'm registered with an NHS practice, my dentist left while I was between appointments to have a filling sorted and my new one decided to do his own check-up and plan rather than use the old dentist's notes. Fair enough, but it did make me wonder if there was more behind the fact my dentist left than the quoted "personal reasons"!

The new dentist seems nice enough and seemed to genuinely want to get to the root (no pun indented) of why I've a few cavities that need sorting out, and gave me far more detail than the old dentist did.

He tried to sell me the option of either going for the silver NHS fillings, or pay for him to do it privately where I'd get composite fillings. He mentioned composite fillings should last longer (10 years?) and not crack over time and allow infection in, which I believe is what happened. He said they were somewhere in the region of £90-£150 each though, which seems rather expensive.

Are they really worth it over normal fillings on teeth I'll probably not see, or am I being taken for a ride with the benefits? My old dentist never once mentioned doing things privately so I'm a bit suspicious.

I seem to remember there's a couple of dentists here, @Hikari Kisugi I believe, so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers :)
 
Soldato
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He said they were somewhere in the region of £90-£150 each though, which seems rather expensive.

Are they really worth it over normal fillings on teeth I'll probably not see, or am I being taken for a ride with the benefits? My old dentist never once mentioned doing things privately so I'm a bit suspicious.
I paid £95 last week to have an amalgam filling replaced which had cracked. I went for a composite and genuinely can't even see it when I look closely.
 
Associate
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NHS here, Had no issues regarding it yet, Had quite a bit done, Extractions, Temp Fillings, Full on fillings, Some cosmetic work.
 
Soldato
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I'm registered with an NHS practice, my dentist left while I was between appointments to have a filling sorted and my new one decided to do his own check-up and plan rather than use the old dentist's notes. Fair enough, but it did make me wonder if there was more behind the fact my dentist left than the quoted "personal reasons"!

The new dentist seems nice enough and seemed to genuinely want to get to the root (no pun indented) of why I've a few cavities that need sorting out, and gave me far more detail than the old dentist did.

He tried to sell me the option of either going for the silver NHS fillings, or pay for him to do it privately where I'd get composite fillings. He mentioned composite fillings should last longer (10 years?) and not crack over time and allow infection in, which I believe is what happened. He said they were somewhere in the region of £90-£150 each though, which seems rather expensive.

Are they really worth it over normal fillings on teeth I'll probably not see, or am I being taken for a ride with the benefits? My old dentist never once mentioned doing things privately so I'm a bit suspicious.

I seem to remember there's a couple of dentists here, @Hikari Kisugi I believe, so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers :)

My prices for white composites are between 55-94 on back teeth, varies with size. Nhs amalgams here are paid for per tooth, i believe this is different in england given the banding system.
Personally as the amalgams in my own mouth fail, i have them replaced in composite.
That said, i offer the choice to every patient, and every day i place both composites and amalgams.
Composites do bond to the tooth, by their nature the prep for such a filling is less destructive. When placed well they are the better treatment, however, there are a few clarifications.
The field should be kept dry, and preferably not below the gumline.
I would never promise that a filling would last ten years, but many do, the main reason fillings fail is secondary decay, most often due to food traps, and sugars in the diet.
One advantage of composites is they can be repaired, so if a cusp fractures or a bit of tooth beside breaks off, you can genrally repair in white without having to take the whole thing apart.
 
Soldato
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I will never go back to an NHS dentist. Went to a private one telling them what "needed" to be done and they said it was total BS IE: "overprescription"
 
Man of Honour
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I've mostly had composite lately on the NHS for some reason - most recent said she was going to use amalgam on a back tooth but then did composite - did say something about it being better due to having to replace a current filling on the same tooth at the same time or something though.
 
Soldato
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I would never intentionally get amalgam fillings. Got mine removed a few years back and never looked back. I remember I used to get a metallic taste in my mouth with hot drinks when I had amalgams.
 
Soldato
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I've mostly had composite lately on the NHS for some reason - most recent said she was going to use amalgam on a back tooth but then did composite - did say something about it being better due to having to replace a current filling on the same tooth at the same time or something though.

I also had composite on my last, a few months ago, and also heard from a friend that NHS are starting to move to Composites in general, any NHS dentists able to confirm this?
 
Soldato
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I also had composite on my last, a few months ago, and also heard from a friend that NHS are starting to move to Composites in general, any NHS dentists able to confirm this?

The world is moving to composites in general, there is a European white paper on the phasing out of mercury in all uses, dentistry got an exemption, but the phase out is still meant to start in 2018, Brexit might scupper this, and scupper our health once again.
As for the NHS moving to comp, no, i am unaware of it, might be happening in some areas of England, or the contract changes may now afford a dentists discretion, but given the band 2 fees i don't see how they could be placed economically under such circumstances. They are more time consuming and material sensitive if done correctly.
I do know that still in Norn Iron under our NHS regs, you can't place a white filling on a back tooth biting surface. Other surfaces perhaps, but if it goes onto the biting surface the regs specifically deny it currently. Madness but such is life.
 

Pho

Pho

Soldato
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I just paid £80 for 15 minute check up today. Private all the way. My missus had a filling by NHS dentist and she's got issues.

I've generally never had any issues with NHS dentists to be fair. £80 for a 15 minute checkup is a pretty good hourly rate by anyones book though!

My prices for white composites are between 55-94 on back teeth, varies with size. Nhs amalgams here are paid for per tooth, i believe this is different in england given the banding system.
Personally as the amalgams in my own mouth fail, i have them replaced in composite.
That said, i offer the choice to every patient, and every day i place both composites and amalgams.
Composites do bond to the tooth, by their nature the prep for such a filling is less destructive. When placed well they are the better treatment, however, there are a few clarifications.
The field should be kept dry, and preferably not below the gumline.
I would never promise that a filling would last ten years, but many do, the main reason fillings fail is secondary decay, most often due to food traps, and sugars in the diet.
One advantage of composites is they can be repaired, so if a cusp fractures or a bit of tooth beside breaks off, you can genrally repair in white without having to take the whole thing apart.

It's something like £55 for band 1 + band 2 NHS treatment which covers all the initial check-up and the fillings you need doing during so it's considerably cheaper than private.

Thanks for your thoughts on them, that's very very useful. Given you yourself are having them replaced with composites that sounds like a pretty good endorsement. Being able to repair them sounds like good future proofing too.

When I was younger I used to have very good teeth, never had a filling until I was ~12 or something but now I seem to have them pop up all the time. The irony is I used to eat lots of sweats, sugary drinks etc when I was younger and now I hardly ever do and seem to be worse off for it.


I've mostly had composite lately on the NHS for some reason - most recent said she was going to use amalgam on a back tooth but then did composite - did say something about it being better due to having to replace a current filling on the same tooth at the same time or something though.

That sounds like the sort of dentist you want :).
 
Associate
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I've generally never had any issues with NHS dentists to be fair.
Me neither, but I did the only time I went private!
I had 2 silver fillings changed for whites, costing me £190. 6 months later after a checkup at an NHS dentist, they told me that the private dentist had only just scraped off the top layer then topped it up with white, he had actually left the silver filing underneath. So they drilled them both out and fitted me a pair of white inlays.
I had them changed due to 2 of my immediate family having polycystic kidney disease, if I was to end up with it too, the mercury exposure can be really bad for the condition. The dentist knew my reasons, did a half arsed job, still charged me full price, then retired soon after!
I'll stick to NHS now as the dentists working for them don't have any thing to personally gain by conning people.
 
Associate
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I use to have NHS fillings once. The Dentist was really good and did the job good. When I came to New Zealand and had a checkup, she showed me the X-Rays to show that they charged me a full filling but basically bodged the whole job. Had to have every single filling replaced. Not fun at all. Especially being a sugar kid growing up, I've got too many to count... My current dentist said they all get trained the same way so wonders why its a shocking job!

Then again, my knowledge here is lacking as not all NHS dentists are like this.
 
Soldato
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Like all things they vary from my previous practise not wanting to do a root canal on me and only offering a private clinic alternative to the other NHS practise in the same town being fully equiped to do it. The other practise did the root canal on the NHS, did a separate composite filling on another tooth as they doing the root canal anyway and giving me a choice on the root canal cap matarial. Either amalgam which had a higher chance of cracking accidentally to porcelain which would be comestically matched and last much longer. The porcelain was extra of course but it was my decision.

Both dentists from each practise were good and I was happy with any previous work it was just a totally different service level being offered by the two pratices.
 
Soldato
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I've generally never had any issues with NHS dentists to be fair. £80 for a 15 minute checkup is a pretty good hourly rate by anyones book though!

I checked my bill thid morning and it included a scale and polish too which is normally done by the hygienist but dentist did it too.

£45 check up and £35 scale and polish doesn't seem so bad now.

I usually get family Bupa dental cover plan from my work but didn't renew back in April because I had 3 lots of work done the previous year but hindsight is a bitch as if I had done then my missus wouldn't have had the nhs filling and may have had a better experience with my dentist. Roll on April for renewal as my kid is now 2 so needs to go dentist now too.
 
Soldato
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When I had my fillings done on NHS I had choice of white silver or gold -- obviously I picked gold - That was 51 years ago and the fillings and caps are still in - the only investment I have that has made a profit :)
 
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