Dentist NHS Vs. Private

Ice Rich · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:25

Hi all,

I've luckily never had a problem with my teeth except for 1 filling. I've always been with the NHS and apart from a few cancelled appointments and longish wait time before I go in, I've been happy with the service.

I just wondered if I were to go private, would there be much benefit? Would they be more keen to do cosmetic work (whitening)? I'm just weighing up the pro's/con's of going private and thinking if it's worth it.

At the moment I pay £16 for a checkup at my NHS practice. What kind of rates do you people here pay, who are private?

shifty_uk · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:27

If you've never had any issues why pay extra?

Rich1988 · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:29

massive dissapointment i came in here expecting to see a dentist vs a pirate :*(

Ice Rich · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:31

shifty_uk said:
If you've never had any issues why pay extra?

True, but i'm guessing of the people who are private not all had bad teeth. There must be some other reason to go private apart from the higher cost

Bigsy · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:33

Not sure I even understand the question, all the dentists I've been to offer both NHS treatments plus ones not on the NHS, if you want the extras then you pay extra. You still get your basic NHS stuff even if you have private treatments.

Delvis · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:33

I need to re-register with an NHS dentist really...Going for a check up around here is like £50 if it's private =/

Ice Rich · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:35

Delvis said:
I need to re-register with an NHS dentist really...Going for a check up around here is like £50 if it's private =/

£50 for a check-up!

I'll stay NHS.

Delvis · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:41

Ice Rich said:
£50 for a check-up!

I'll stay NHS.

Obviously it varies from each dental place.

That's private without being registered to them though, so is should probably cheaper...although you have to pay in the first place before getting the check up

Duke · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:44

About £38 for a check up here (local private place).

Destination · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:48

Most pvt checkups will cost in teh region of £35-50.
If you have had no issues and your NHS dentist takes radiographs every couple of years to check between the teeth, and also cleans the teeth/gums, or has a hyginest for the same purpose, then there is absolutely no need to change.

If you wnat some cosmetic work done, especially something as simple as tooth whitening, discuss this with your NHS dentist, virtually all provide private treatments for NHS patients, basically things the NHS doesn't provide. You will find upper and lower arch whitening will cost in the region of £300-500 for home whitening in professionally made medicla device trays. This process can be done at your convience in your own home after the initial impressions are taken, and is safe and doesn't damage teeth. Althought results vary, you can generally continue until you reach your desired shade, just buy more tubes/syrings of the bleaching material from your dentist if required.

atpbx · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:49

NHS Dentists are a joke.
Find someone who is with Denplan and face up to the fact that if you want decent dental care you have to pay for it.
(Ex wife is a dental nurse of 22 years now) the NHS just doent provide the funds for decent care, you will be lucky if you find an NHS dentist who will tell you have a hole in your tooth before its nothing but a rotten crater.
Then they are only interested in stiffing you £200 for a crown, or having it pulled.

scouse · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:59

atpbx said:
NHS Dentists are a joke.

Care to elaborate a little more...?

Scouse - Dentist for the NHS

KennyBhoy · 25 Oct 2009 at 17:59

My private dentist is £23 a check up. I think the main thing for me with Private vs NHS is that it's that old saying, you get what you pay for. I can get an appointment when i want, even on the same day. Thing's are never rushed and it's just more pleasant all round. I have had too many bad experiences with NHS dentists, including two molars taken out because they couldn't be arsed root treating them as they could take 4 appointments per tooth to sort!

Treatment's are more expensive than the NHS, there's no doubt about it but it's worth paying for.

atpbx · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:06

scouse said:
Care to elaborate a little more...?

Scouse - Dentist for the NHS

Read the post, my Ex-wife has been a RDSA and Radiographer for 23 years(20 of them in the NHS I was married to her for 12 of them) and I have enough experience of the NHS dentists to know that a great many of them either cant, or wont provide the same level of care as a private dentist, to the detriment of the patient.

On the other hand you also get a fair few private dentists who fleece their patients.
But in my experience, the NHS dentists that are left are fine if you dont really care about your teeth and see going to the dentist as a chore.

Which is the same excuse you will be giving to your patients when you decide that the pittance the NHS gives you per treatment isnt worth your while and you go private.

scouse · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:15

Well its nice to know that I'm 'fine' at my job, maybe we'll put a sign up in the practice tomorrow letting people know they're only allowed through the door if they dont care about their teeth...

You're view is pretty narrowminded, although some points are valid. One of the main problems is with root canal - the goverment feel it is a sensible idea to pay the same money to have an extraction - which lets say takes 10 minutes, compared to a root canal - lets say at least an hour, plus the fact that if its going to be done properly the equipment is going to cost the dentist £20 which then has to be thrown away. So for an hours work we're talking about £40 - £20 (equipment) - 50% as this goes to the practice owner....doesn't sound like a great amount of money in the end.
Another thing is that regardless of whether a patient needs 10 fillings or just one small filling, the Dentist gets paid the same amount. How can that possibly work? Does a taxi driver get one flat rate regardless of whether he is driving 2 miles or 200 miles??
For this reason, some NHS dentists may try and avoid doing the RCT yes, however, myself and a lot of other dentists I know have morals and just take this on the chin as hopefully in the not too distant future this will all change. On the other hand though, go to a private practice and have the root canal done, probably cost you around £350 - and its not 100% guaranteed to work so you might end up losing the tooth anyway, I have seen some poor poor treatments come through my doors that were done in a private practice. So I guess its not all down to whether or not its NHS/Private, a lot depends on the actual dentist themselves....

atpbx · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:25

scouse said:
Well its nice to know that I'm 'fine' at my job, maybe we'll put a sign up in the practice tomorrow letting people know they're only allowed through the door if they dont care about their teeth...

You're view is pretty narrowminded, although some points are valid. One of the main problems is with root canal - the goverment feel it is a sensible idea to pay the same money to have an extraction - which lets say takes 10 minutes, compared to a root canal - lets say at least an hour, plus the fact that if its going to be done properly the equipment is going to cost the dentist £20 which then has to be thrown away. So for an hours work we're talking about £40 - £20 (equipment) - 50% as this goes to the practice owner....doesn't sound like a great amount of money in the end.
Another thing is that regardless of whether a patient needs 10 fillings or just one small filling, the Dentist gets paid the same amount. How can that possibly work? Does a taxi driver get one flat rate regardless of whether he is driving 2 miles or 200 miles??

It doesnt work, which is why the NHS dentists dont do it. which is why they dont "notice" holes for months at a time so they can charge you for the treatment to start again.
Like I said in my first post, I pay £15 a month, and I have done for a year, for that he has cleaned up the mess left behind by the last dentist (NHS 2 bodged fillings one of which required the tooth to be completely rebuilt, a root canal filling and two holes I knew nothing about despite only having been to the NHS dentist a month before I registerd private) I had the renewal through yesterday, its still going to be £15 a month.

I have 5 fillings in total in my mouth, 3 done on the NHS, all three required redoing as doing it properly is seemingly too much trouble to do it properly, and two they couldnt be bothered with.
So, I suppose I dont have a lot good to say about NHS dentists, no.

LordSplodge · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:27

NHS all the way baby. If you can find one.

I've always used the NHS for dentistry and have never had any problems and nearly always top treatment.

scouse · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:28

Ok, that is all fine, you've obviously had a bad experience in the past, but to tar us all with the same brush is, as I said, quite narrow minded.

Rroff · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:29

I don't know what NHS dentists are like as a whole but the 2 I've seen have been good... my normal dentist is really really good, very competent, polite and professional... I've had reason to see another dentist while living in another area for a short period and she was very good too - but that dental practise while NHS was tied to some christian order and some of the staff were nuns I think - so might not represent NHS dentists as a whole.

Lopéz · 25 Oct 2009 at 18:37

I had 2 RCTs done by my NHS dentist, Polish Stan. That was 2 years ago and neither have given me any grief. I fully expected him to whip them out and tell me to deal with it (this is what my Mother's NHS dentist in Wales does with damaged teeth)

Considering each RCT took 2 sittings (never mind the X-Rays and so on) I think I got brilliant value for money. Not so sure Polish Stan did though, it seemed like an awful lot of labour for very little reward to him as far as I could see?