Dentist Prices

[bridge]

I have to have some bridge work done.  It is about 30 years old and has been loose (slight wobble) for a couple of years.  My old dentist said leave well alone.  I now have a very new, very enthusiatic young dentist who tried to look at it today.  She said she knew it was on a threaded post from the xray but still tried to pull it out.  After drilling away alot of the metal (?) behind it - now have holes where I didnt have before.  She failed.  She spoke to a more experienced dentist who had to give her advice and sent me away.

I have to have another long appointment. Dont know what for as she doesnt know what she will find when she eventually gets the 'cap' out.  She might even have to cut the post.
This will be in the band £198.00 on the NHS she says.  But I dont really know that she knows.
I have had to book this for 1 April.  Will it be more expensive then?  As charges usually go up on 1 April.
~Will it go up by much?

Any ideas?  Any comments?

Many thanks.

[hobowoodward]

 I HAVE JUST HAD MY THIRD VISIT TO A NHS DENTIST AND STILL HAVE ONE TO GO. tOTAL COST WILL BE £45.60, THIS INCLUDES EXAMINATION, TWO XRAYS, FOUR SETS OF ROOTS REMOVED, TWO TEETH REMOVED AND A BRUSH UP AND CLEAN, I NEARLY FAINTED WHEN TOLD THE PRICE OF THE TREATMENT, I EXPECTED A DAMN SITE MORE AND WAS WILLING TO PAY MORE. THIS IS WHAT I WOULD CALL CHEAP.
 i KNOW ONCE THIS COURSE OF TRATMENT IS FINISHED I WILL HAVE TO PAY MORE BUT I CANNOT COMPLAIN AS I TOOK ME FIVE YEARS TO GET A PLACE IN A DENTIST.

[Dawn]

I had a root filling last year and then had to have a crown fitted on the same tooth. (This is a front tooth and I have a plate with 4 dentures on which is now tight and it catches on the tooth).  Last week, the crown and the whole tooth snapped.  The dentist just cemented the crown back onto the broken piece of tooth and gave me a clean and polish which I did not ask for.  I was charged £45.00 for this. I did not think there would be a charge for the re-attachment of the crown as this was only fitted last year.

I am unsure as to what to do as I now have to be careful what I eat (a liquid diet) for fear of the tooth coming out again.

What do you advise about this tooth?

[Student]

I'ma 19 year old student and have recently asked my dentist about getting braces. When I was younger I was told that I should leave them as my teeth would straighten up once my wisdom teeth had came through, I now have all my wisdom teeth and they are exactly the same! My current dentist quoted me £4000 to get braces which I obviously cannot afford with being a student. I just wondered if there should be any difference in prices as i'm still in education?

[js]

I've been quoted £1250 for a bridge (2 crown retainers + 1 pontic, ie. false tooth in middle). Looking at some of the previous postings this appears quite steep to me! Is this a fair price please? Should I get a second opinion?
Also, I've read that it can take 3 -6 months for a tooth extraction to heal. I'm scheduled to have a bridge fitted in a month - is that too soon?

[Dave]

Transparency in Dentistry and Dental Treatment.

Dental patients should be aware that Dentists are ethically and professionally obliged to provide ALL patients with written treatment plans and treatment estimates for all proposed dental treatment - prior to treatment.
Patients can now take that written treatment plan to other dental professionals (not just Dentists) to have that treatment carried out.

Therefore before agreeing to any treatment do the following:

1.Ask for a written treatment plan and estimate every time.
2.Identify which treatments within the proposed treatment plan are being provided Privately or as an NHS course of treatment.
3.Ask your Dentist who else within the Dental team can provide any proposed treatments (they do not have to work in the same practice) - before you proceed with any treatment .
4.If you agree to have any Dental Laboratory items (made by a dental technician) provided for you by the Dentist ask where the dentures, crowns, bridges, etc are being manufactured and are the dental technicians involved in the manufacture of your dental device registered with the General Dental Council (like dentists) - if not - why not ?
4.Ask for a copy of the original prescription and conformity statement provided by the dental laboratory for every dental appliance, provided by a Dentist or Dental professional provides you with any dental device - THIS IS NOW A LEGAL REQUIREMENT FOR DENTAL PROFESSIONALS AND SHOWS THAT WHAT WAS REQUESTED AND AGREED WAS IN FACT PROVIDED ON YOUR BEHALF.


Tooth Bleaching - It is currenly ILLEGAL for anybody to provide tooth bleaching products over .1 % Hydrogen Carbamide to a patient - Including Dentists - Despite the profession attempting to stamp out competition from the beauty industry on spurious grounds for this lucrative cosmetic treatment.

[Jaybone]

Hi there,

Ok, so I need a crown on upper right 5, an inlay on lower right 6 and a bridge on upper right 3 (canine).

I originally thought that these 3 lab procedures plus one minor filling could be done within a single course of treatment at an NHS cost of £198. Today my dentist has told me that I "can't play the system" and I need to have these 3 lab procedures done under 3 seperate courses of treatment at a cost of £594. I'll also have to let each course lapse before the next one can be started so that's a 2 month wait between procedures - all the while, the teeth which aren't being done are degrading further.

I think I understand the reasoning behind this from the dentists point of view in that the NHS won't pay them nearly enough under one course of treatment to cover their costs for the work. What I wanted to know is if this is right under NHS rules or if it's just the dentists policy to ensure they stay in the black.

I am sympathetic to NHS dentists and to be honest, I'll likely pay for the 3 seperate courses anyway as I wouldn't want my dentist doing work at a loss, that only leads to more NHS dentists switching to private work. I just want to know if this is standard or if anybody has experience of having multiple lab procedures done under one course of NHS treatment?

All comments appreciated. Thanks!

P.S Try http://www.dentist-prices.com for dentist pricing information

[raoulmp]

hi jaybone,

thruthfully speaking all those 3 items of work that you need should be provided under one course of treatment costing no more than £198. However the lab cost of providing a crown, a bridge and an inlay, even at nhs standards, will more than likely exceed the £198 you pay to the dentist, so before hes even started drilling, hes losing money - in effect hes paying for your treatment out of his own pocket!!! (one of the main reasons dentists are leaving the NHS). Situations like these tend to lead to sloppy or sustandard work which only makes things worse for you as the patient.

Im not saying this is the case for every situation, as there are cases where it is necassry to break up treatment into different courses, where it is necassary to stabalise your dental health before embarking on more complex work.

may i suggest that if you're willing to pay for 3 seperate courses of treatment, that you discuss the option of going privately for some of the work. This way you get superior work, and you get it now, before your teeth fall apart! Your dentist may even have some sort of 0% payment plan, which makes payments more managable.

hope this helps.

[raoulmp]

I've been quoted £1250 for a bridge (2 crown retainers + 1 pontic, ie. false tooth in middle). Looking at some of the previous postings this appears quite steep to me! Is this a fair price please? Should I get a second opinion?
Also, I've read that it can take 3 -6 months for a tooth extraction to heal. I'm scheduled to have a bridge fitted in a month - is that too soon?

Read more: http://www.wise-spender.com/forum/index.php/topic,371.45.html#ixzz0nBaSgdLi

Hi js

i would recommend that you wait at least 3 months before getting a bridge done, especially if the tooth is near the front. £1250 is slightly expensive, but prices do vary from 900-1500. its difficult to judge whether the dentist is overcharging you, because he may well be using a much better lab than joe blogg's nhs lab, or he may be very skilled in which case you may be getting a higher quality bridge.

[jaybee]

I am a 64 year old woman and am scared of dentists. I have not been to se a dentist foe about 8 years but now I have some problems (Mainly gumdisease and old fillings )so I have registered for a NHS dentist and will get an appointment at the end of August. there is obviously a lot of work to do and my question is will I only have to pay the £190 at the end of the treatment or willI be charged extra because I have not seen a dentist regularly

[TRAY]

I visited the Dentist today, my 3rd visit within the space of a month on a troublesome tooth and paid £80.00 over the three visits to be told today that the tooth now needs a crown, the cost for that will be £385.00, he knocked off the £80.00 I've already paid and today I had to pay £75.00 as I have to have the tooth pinned and cored first!  - Making my gold crown £230.00 ..... not bad me thinks for a private dental practice  ... had the work done today although I pay a little extra for a private dentist I don't have to wait so long for the work to be carried out! 

[TRAY]

I've just done a bit of research with regard to NHS charges to Private Dental charges, I use a private dentist and he charges £15.00 for a check-up, £48.00 for a filling so compared to NHS charges he's not that more expensive, if I call with a problem I don't have to pay for emergency appointments or pay a cancellation charge if I cannot make my appointment, so I think I'll stay where I am 

[Shree]

I have a question regarding Dentist prices. I went to my dentist last week, on a filling appointment for a tooth at the chewing area . I had a white filling and she charged me both the conultation fee of £ 16.50 and filling charge of £70. Now i also need scaling and polishing my teeth, since the original appointment did not suffice for her to do all of this she suggested i take another appointment for the same. My question is will i be asked to pay again the cosultation charge of £16.50 or shoudl the one i paid last week cover this ? Please advise.

p.s: I saw someone having a bit of argument at the reception where in the person was charged too many times for hte same treatment....

[denzel]

How about an up to date forum here

[ecline25]

I heard there is a new dental discount plan in the UK. Has anyone heard of it? (www.healthydiscounts.co.uk) They way I understand it you become a member and you get discounts on dental needs like dentures or braces. Anybody had any luck with them?