Dentist Issue

Reemul

Reemul

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HI All,

ON SAturday my front tooth snapped. I am with an NHS dentist so rang them and they temporarily filled it and I paid the £27.40 and referrred me to a different dentist in the practice to arrange a crown or bridge. I have ahd teh appointment and I need a crown, withotu thinking I paid a £500 deposit for a total of £1,067 for it to be done.

I am due back on Friday however I had a look and a crown is covered under Band 3 of the NHS work at £326.

Any thoughts on what is going on here
 
Reemul said:
HI All,

ON SAturday my front tooth snapped. I am with an NHS dentist so rang them and they temporarily filled it and I paid the £27.40 and referrred me to a different dentist in the practice to arrange a crown or bridge. I have ahd teh appointment and I need a crown, withotu thinking I paid a £500 deposit for a total of £1,067 for it to be done.

I am due back on Friday however I had a look and a crown is covered under Band 3 of the NHS work at £326.

Any thoughts on what is going on here
Click to expand...
Maybe the 2nd dentist only does private patients?

I'd be ringing them up and asking why you are being charged so much.
 
Is the other dentist in the practice private patients only? Our dentist is split that way, about 5 x private, 1 for NHS patients. Worth ringing them and reminding them that you are an NHS patient.
 
Personally I would question why the price is so high. If it is a private dentist and it was not pointed out at the onset I would be extremely bogged off.
Since COVID I have noticed a change in the working practice at our dentists. Before COVID, appointments were every year. Now the dentist “ recommends” a check up every 6 months. Also a scale and polish was done whilst you was in the chair if required. Now you have to book into see the “ hygienist” as a polish is now deemed as cosmetic.
Bottom line Tash thinks they are playing the £ sign numbers game.
 
I’ve had to go private for dentist as nhs is a long wait for appointment, this private dentist takes on nhs patients.

When I started treatment I was told first 3 appointments were under nhs then I would pay private.

Just had crown which cost £900, yours seems excessive especially if it was your first treatment for awhile.
 
Best thing to do is ring your dentist and ask, OP. Could be that the receptionist made a mistake and assumed you were a private patient. Could be that it's something your regular NHS dentist can't do so referred you to another dentist. Could be a variety of things. All any of us can do here is speculate.

Whatever the reasons, you are obviously entitled to ask them to explain the charges for your treatment.

Let us know. (y)
 
You are paying for private there

I've had to go private for a complex root canal (£700) then had to pay band 3 for the crown

Going back next week as the crown feels too big and is uncomfortable

Definitely done you privately tho
 
So I rang the dentist, explained the situation and they did not have an answer, said they will call me back. That was 2 hours ago :)
 
Reemul said:
Yeah they rang back, £326.40 is the total amount I should be paying, I can have a refund on my over payment, hooray
Click to expand...

Issue with the receptionist maybe?

I'm had issues with ours

So my root canal .. so originally £300 for the filling or £700 for the root canal, filling first if it feels off root canal and she will charge me the difference. Fair

So go to pay reception says £700 so I'm like no I've paid £300, ok but says you owe us £400 Dont worry we shall sort it

Next trip for the crown £326

£726.. excuse me? It's nhs. Yes but you owe us £400

No I dont ....explain again their mistake (same person aswell)

Pay the £326 and leave

Bet my next check up they try to charge me £427
 
I had a similar situation, and switching to a practice that really focuses on invisible orthodontics made a big difference. If you're around Lake County, this place really helped me out: https://jeffreygrossdds.com/services/invisible-orthodontics-lake-county-ohio/. The whole process was smooth and way more transparent than what I experienced before. Made me feel like I finally had someone who listened and explained things properly.
 
Last edited:
I went to our private dentist this week. I need crowns on 2 molars and have been quoted £1990. Having looked around that is bang in the middle of the expected price.
New irons will have to wait a couple of years. ☹️
 
Govt has squeezed all dentists and they don’t get paid … little wonder all are moving to private. (All) govt want to seem to get rid off nhs dentist and go private insurance route.
 
The NHS charges are pretty unaffordable for many people. Your better being comfortably off or poor when it comes to Dental treatment. I guess the other way is to have a dental plan insurance but the premiums are probably very high for older people.
 
I heard a dentist explain that the amount dentists get paid for NHS dentistry is nothing like what they should be getting reimbursed by the NHS…and that what you have to pay if going private is the real cost…and why so many dentists are not taking on further NHS patients.
 
My mate went to the NHS dentist last week, and they said he needed some sort of mouth guard to stop grinding his teeth when he is asleep. They said the cost was something like £350

However, the strange thing was that when he said he probably couldn't afford it, they told him he could get it for around £150 Private.

I've no idea how it was cheaper going private. Presumably the NHS has fixed prices for various services / products, whereas private has more flexibility, that can offer cheaper prices for certain things occasionally?
 
Swango1980 said:
My mate went to the NHS dentist last week, and they said he needed some sort of mouth guard to stop grinding his teeth when he is asleep. They said the cost was something like £350

However, the strange thing was that when he said he probably couldn't afford it, they told him he could get it for around £150 Private.

I've no idea how it was cheaper going private. Presumably the NHS has fixed prices for various services / products, whereas private has more flexibility, that can offer cheaper prices for certain things occasionally?
Click to expand...

This is - believe it or not - correct. The government/NHS (not your dentist) has defined mouth guards for tooth grinding as being in Band 3 for payment (same band as crowns and dentures - around £350).

They are nothing like as complex or time consuming as a crown/denture to make and £150 is a fair price privately - so yes you are better off having it done as a private item rather than on the NHS.

The mad payment banding system was dreamed up and imposed by the government in 2006 and has been hated by the profession ever since. It means that the cost of having 20 fillings in one go is the same as the cost of having one filling. Dentist gets paid the same fixed amount for doing 20 as for doing 1 too (i.e. they take a thumping loss on the 20 filling patient). Ponder how mad that is for a second (if you wanted beans then Tesco was forced to give you 20 tins for the same price as one!?!) and ponder whether you’d ever run a business if forced to run that way. No wonder dentists are leaving and NHS dentistry is dying.

Apparently the pre-2006 system (each individual treatment having its own set cost on a price list) was “too complex” according to the government. Yet they couldn’t explain how everyone seems to cope with understanding that same pricing system just fine in Tesco and every other business on earth…
 
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