Nhs Dentists

[snapper_37]

You're right what you say about the cost of a check up Cranky but come on now, are you seriously saying that 'private' dentists are somehow better than NHS?

I had a cracked tooth that my private dentist kept trying to save (bless, nothing to do with the money he was making on it I'm sure) - deep filling, root canal blah blah. In the end I had a gold crown fitted that set me back nearly £300 and in total that 1 tooth cost me around £500. The crown fell out a year later, he charged me £50 to stick it back on and it then cracked and fell off another year later. I didn't even bother going back to him.

He also did NHS patients but only if they were on benefits. So are you saying that the NHS patient would have had worse treatment that me?

I have BUPA through work and had an op a couple of years ago. The consultant who did it was also working for the local NHS hospital. Surely he wouldn't skimp on the surgery for NHS patients?

 

[postman]

A couple of years ago my private dentist wanted to do 'work' on one tooth.£315.

I told him that was more than i got for a weeks work.
Pull it out i instructed.There is still a bit of root still in the gum.

 

[cyberknight]

I was with a dentist started out as nhs as was good ,heck he sorted out my wisdom teeth very nicely. Then when his books were full enough it seems he went private ...

Root filling £300 or extraction for £50

Do not get me wrong if it had been a good job could have been worth it but i was paying £15 a month for 2 check ups a year.

Needless to say that as soon an another nhs dentist opened up in the area the whole family was down there to sign up.

 

[ACS]

Due a critical shortage of NHS dentists in Fife, we were forced to join a private practice.

Cracked a filling last week over lunch, phoned, seen at 8.30am next day, temp dressing applied, total repair 3 days later. £40.

Dentist once told me the difference between private and NHS is about 20% and 3 needle sizes.

 

[chap]

As you may remember this summer due to the cost of Private dentistry.
My family and me thanks to GerryAttrick got onto a Nhs dentists list.

Well this week toothache started.Tried to ignore it,but thought if this continues it will ruin the weekend.

Telephoned dinnertime yesterday was seen 15-00 today.
I had a loose filling.
X-RAY -old filling drilled out and new filling in.

Get this no pain.And all for just over £45.

The same treatment last year to the wife ,private was over £100.

Good old NHS.

I would compare NHS dentists to the plague/smallpox: they used to be omnipresent, now they are all but extinct. That it pretty much where the comparison end.

 

[vernon]

I found a dentist that did NHS work on my first attempt.

I used the NHS web site, performed a search for NHS dentists close to my post code, rang the nearest one, got an affirmative answer and formalised being placed on their patients' list five minutes later by driving over to them and completing the paper work.

I accept that there are troublesome areas with a serious lack of dentists. The NHS web site took a lot of the leg work ad fingerwork out of finding a local dentist for me.

 

[Fnaar]

I developed a seriously bad abcess on one of my front teeth the day after my mother's funeral (). Went to NHS dentist I was with at the time (North London) and ended up having a LOT of work done, which (this was 1991) cost me 350 quid. Would have been a fortune private. I stayed with that dentist (excellent, Indian fella) for 12 yrs, even though I moved to the farther reaches of Sarf Lundun. (Now in Northumberland, so had to draw the line somewhere )

 

[Crankarm]

I've obviously got a good private dentist who doesn't try to rip me off.

I have had shocking treatment from NHS dentists before I found my current dentist. They were only fit to work in an abbatoir IMHO. Admittedly this was 10 years ago. My friend's BUPA dentist in Canary Wharf who she was working for as an assistant at the time, took several x-rays of my affected painful root canal tooth, told me what treatment would be best ie to try and find a dentist who would save the tooth as it could be crowned and what remedies some unscrupulous dentists might try to do to stiff me for more money eg bridge work or an implant £££££. She prescribed me some antibiotics to start the ball rolling as she said no work could be done on the tooth until the infection had receeded. She then took a few more X-rays and checked my other teeth. She said I had good teeth and gums unlike a previous NHS dentist who said I had three rotten fillings that needed renewing and receeding gums which I didn't. ANYWAY SHE DID ALL THIS FOR FREE. I offered to pay but she wouldn't take anything. She then explained the dental scene to me very lucidly and all the money the government was taking out of dentistry.

She told me to try to find a good private dentist. Don't just go to the first one because you are in agony, which I was, but look around, get a few estimates and go with the one you feel most comfortable with which is what I did . Now Mr. Niceteeth, they are all my own.

 

[Headgardener]

NHS dentists round here are as rare as hens teeth so I just stayed with the dentist that I was with when he went private. £100 for a check up and scrape and polish twice a year is good (£50 pound per visit) considering that I live in the south with some extremely expensive propertys in the area.