I’ve had private dental care for 25 years, but obviously not for the last 2.5 years. I’m not currently in pain, but have lost a few fillings in the last couple years. Can’t get a local NHS referral as the waiting list is full.
Went to a private clinic yesterday for a check up and their estimate is £8000! Some of my teeth were fractured many years ago in an RTA, plus I’ve had a few root canals and crowns, but I still can’t get my head around this…

Are they replacing the fillings with unobtanium? Or saying every tooth needs filling?

Seems massively over priced.
I’d expect Private white filling in the 50-200 mark pending size.

Was that suggestions of crowns/bridges or something?

I’m in the same boat as I haven;’t been able to get an appointment in the last 2 years with my NHS dentist, and they’ve now removed me from their list because I haven’t been seen in two years!!

Too scared to call a private dentist due to the cost….

but I still can’t get my head around this…

That’ll be the swelling.

Is that to give you Tom Cruise teeth, or just sort out a couple of dodgy fillings? Presumably they’ve given you a list of work that needs sorting at some point, but you can kick off with the more urgent stuff.

There’s 19 appointments over 6 months, an extraction, 3 root canals and then what looks like a new set of pearlies 🤣

There’s 19 appointments over 6 months, an extraction, 3 root canals and then what looks like a new set of pearlies 🤣

Probably cheaper to book a week in Poland and get it all sorted in one pop. 😉

Sounds about right then. I’ll do it for 150 all in, meet me behind the Co-op, bring your own hammer.

Sounds about right then. I’ll do it for 150 all in, meet me behind the Co-op, bring your own hammer.

Deal, but you’ll have to pay your own ferry fare and provide your own hammer…😜

That’s a big estimate, it could be quite reasonable or it could be way over the top. FWIW 3 molar root fillings done well and the (nice) crowns that the teeth would need afterwards could easily take you to £2500 plus

It really depends on how bad your teeth are ( they may be much worse than you think ) and how “absolutely gold standard belt and braces” the treatment they are suggesting is.

I would suggest a second opinion, ideally from a private dentist that someone you know uses and trusts.

Different practices charge different private rates based on the area of the country you’re in and how important the dentist believes he is.

There are often different options for treating problems – not every dead/ dying tooth needs to be root filled if you don’t mind having a tooth out, not every missing tooth gap has to be filled.

I’m in the same boat as I haven;’t been able to get an appointment in the last 2 years with my NHS dentist, and they’ve now removed me from their list because I haven’t been seen in two years!!

I was kicked off my previous dentist’s books 13 years ago as they found out I had moved out of the area, since then I’ve been on the local waiting list and never got to the top! I’ve had 2 teeth out since then, both done at the local university hospital on separate occasions for free as I let students do it. Currently got another tooth that has had a bit chipped off it and is now sensitive so have tried to get an appointment somewhere, anywhere and had absolutely no joy. Even a private appointment is unobtainable. I know my teeth are in bad shape but getting to see anyone to look at them is impossible.

Yep, check-up and one filling, £200.

Went a few weeks ago, luckily we found an NHS dentist after our last one bounced us and then claimed “We’ve never had NHS patients”.

Check-up lasted 5 mins and everything was “fine” I enquired about a bridge to cover a tooth I knocked out a few years ago and bothers me, their website says “from £300” which translated to “£1000 please”, it’s funny though, I had to go to the ‘other side’ of the surgery for a clean first so they can match colours etc, it’s like another world! flavoured polish, soft music etc, I suppose you get what you pay for.

Frankly, I’d drag the lot back into the NHS if I was in charge, how they ever managed to weasle out I’ll never know, I guess we’re lucky GPs don’t all decide en mass to stop seeing NHS patients!

Yes, I have. They never ask me for money. This is because I’m on Denplan. I can’t afford fancy things, but at least I don’t pay for my checkups.

Yup, temporary filled due to dying nerve, returned to have it cleaned out and ready for root canal in a month’s time. All covered by the insurance.

Went to my NHS dentist a few months back, she counted my teeth and charged me for it. I could of just told her I hadn’t lost any and saved her the bother.

Blimey. I can’t get my around why access to an NHS dentist isn’t guaranteed. I’ll count myself lucky.

Why the obv not been back? Our dentist never closed, and continued with his regular checkups. He has thrown out the people who didn’t go in for their during covid appointments though.

After some extensive phoning around the area I found an NHS dentist. Had a replacement filling on Wednesday. No other work needed unless I want an implant.
Think I’ll stick to soup.

This is because I’m on Denplan.

Yeah we are on Denplan too and I always get a hygienist clean and clean with my 6 monthly check-up. The last few times I have been, they have said ‘shall we book you in next year for a hygienist’. Nope – I pay good money for this, the hygienist is included and it makes sense to keep on top of the cleaning to avoid bigger issues arising – every six months please!

Two root canals have costed me roughly:

Denise appt. who referred me to endo
Endo £100 consult, £250 ct scan, £750 root canal
Dentist £450 belglass onlay

So that’s £1500 per root canal. But it’s done by a very very accomplished endo and the onlay is the current best on the market so means it gives the tooth the best change

You could get it done for under 300 quid on the NHS. And I did that. And it has failed. Hence needing to get it done properly.

All I can say is:
Floss in between your teeth!!!! Buy interdental brushes. If you teeth bleed, persist. (They will stop bleeding – it means you’re not cleaning properly)
And don’t rinse your toothpaste out especially overnight (this was a new one to me)

Frankly, I’d drag the lot back into the NHS if I was in charge, how they ever managed to weasle out I’ll never know,

they didn’t so much weasel out as successive governments have refused to invest in NHS dentistry in any meaningful way or even keep funding in line with increasing costs and many left so they could keep their businesses afloat / not have a stress related breakdown / continue to do dentistry to the standards they were taught to rather than compromising standards due to lack of funding.

GPs have always been treated much better by the Treasury and are funded in a different way.

Yes, I have. They never ask me for money. This is because I’m on Denplan. I can’t afford fancy things, but at least I don’t pay for my checkups.

you do pay, just every month…unless someone else pays.

I had a place at an NHS dentist, they were useless. turnover of staff meant it was rare I saw the same dentist more than once and the quality of work was pretty variable. the final straw was when I waited a month for an appointment for a broken filling/tooth, got seen an hour late and after 30s told he couldn’t do anything that day and i’d have to make another appointment. another months wait.

went to the private practice down the road, signed up and got that one sorted fairly quickly. 18 months later, 5 fillings, an extraction, a crown and ~£2000 later and starting to get on top of things. NHS dentistry isn’t fit for purpose, i’m fortunate enough to be able to pay.

I went to my nhs dentist last week for a check up 6 months after the last one. Seen hygienist in between. I was in and out in 7 minutes for £23. Seems like a bargain to me. Booked again for Jan 23.
I don’t understand why anyone (presumably) paying for private dental cover just hasn’t been seen during the pandemic.
The dental practice I am at were very reluctant to take me on as an nhs patient. The individual dentist I used to see cut back on nhs work loads I think. Years ago. When they said they didn’t have room for any more nhs patients I pointed out that my wife and 2 kids were all receiving nhs care from them and they swapped me to another dentist. My mother in law also sees her now. She is great.

TL:DR keep trying to get an nhs dentist.

you do pay, just every month

Well, that’s truly **** obvious

The not rinsing the toothpaste out at night really only applied to the premium toothpastes. So I was told by a dentist. I’ve done this for a while now.

Why the obv not been back? Our dentist never closed, and continued with his regular checkups. He has thrown out the people who didn’t go in for their during covid appointments though.

Ours didn’t close per-se either, but what happened was this. There was a requirement for addtional cleaning between patients, who made this requirement I don’t know, but it makes sense. This reduced the amount of patients who could be seen in a hour/day or whatever, makes sense.

What our dentist did though, was for me at least, a bit snide. They first informed us that because of the above, we might not see our NHS dentist every 6 months, but “within a year” but this just didn’t happen. Like OP, I didn’t get to see mine for about 2 years, in fact, call me cynical, but I didn’t get a reply to any of my e-mails / voice mails until I enquired about the bridge, then I got an SMS reminding me of my NHS check-up 48 hours later.

We’re getting the ‘hard sell’ about going onto their in-house plan, it’s not great value at £22 a month each, £88 a month for the 4 of us.

Well, that’s truly **** obvious

so what you meant to say was, they never ask me for money when i go in, as i pay for my checkups and hygienist appointments in advance by installments.

happy to help. 😉

No

then where do i sign up for this magic denplan where you don’t seem to pay for anything? 😉

Here in Germany it’s a thing to go to Budapest on holiday and get your teeth done whilst you’re there. There are even companies who organise it all…. Train, hotel, chauffeur to and from dentist, etc.

Here in Germany it’s a thing to go to Budapest on holiday and get your teeth done whilst you’re there. There are even companies who organise it all…. Train, hotel, chauffeur to and from dentist, etc.

My Dad has his done there, some places offer a full set of new teeth for £6k or something, he was living in Bahrain at the time, he reckoned it a quater of the price of having them done there or in the UK inlcuding the cost of flights and hotel etc.

There seems to be a common theme here…

I badly broke a tooth in lockdown 1, my NHS dentist was closed but did at least give me phone advice about a bodged DIY repair, and then said they’d contact me when they re-opened. When they reopened did I get a call? Nope. After a few weeks I called them and got told “we’ve de-regestered you”. So, knowing I was waiting for treatment they didn’t even tell me they’d taken me off their books!

My DIY repairs actually lasted me quite well, which was lucky as it was 18 months before I gave up looking and waiting for an NHS place and went private.

In January I went for a check up which included x-rays. I needed a filling replaced and a wisdom tooth removed, which was done yesterday.

The total bill was £38

Another similar tale here.

I’ve been at the same practice for as long as I’ve had teeth. It used to be a local family-owned independent, today it’s run by one of the Big Tooth chains (I think it’s “My Dentist”). A couple of years ago I was late for an appointment, I arrived all apologetic and asked if they could squeeze me in still or if I needed to reschedule, to be told no because they’d struck me off for non-attendance.

This was right before Covid hit and they closed operations. In the interim I moved house.

After lockdown 1.0 I rang round all the local dentists and no-one was taking on NHS customers. I rang the “you are entitled to a dentist” phone number on gov.uk, she asked if I was in Lancashire, I said yes and she all but laughed in my face. She gave me an emergency number.

The emergency line launched into a script, “which quadrant of your mouth is it… on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you describe the pain…” I said look, can I stop you there? I have a bunch of work that needs doing, I need to see a dentist, I’m not in chronic pain right now but I’d rather like it to remain that way. She told me they were there to help (she was actually really nice) and to call back if it gets any worse.

So here we are. It’s a madness that the only way I can see a dentist is to wait until I’m in agony and needing antibiotics and root canals and god knows what else because no-one is prepared to patch up a couple of fillings and a broken tooth. Or, I pay four figures for treatment that I am supposedly “entitled to.”

Oh, I have a dental plan through work. Great, I thought, how does that work? I get the work done and then claim back (some of) the money, which is a fat lot of use if I can’t get an appointment in the first place.

The thing about “my dentist” is that they are owned by venture capital and are run as such.

They have hoovered up a huge percentage of the NHS money available over the last ten years, either by buying practices or by offering to do any available extra capacity contracts for very low cost. The NHS commissioners repeatedly go for cheap without asking too many questions.

As a result they focus on keeping costs low, are very pushy about selling add on treatments and are very much a business that happens to be a healthcare provider.

They struggle to recruit and retain staff and this can impact their ability to deliver the activity they are contracted for.

In many ways the crisis in NHS access is the unintended consequence of the NHS itself attempting to get more and more for the same cash and the “market” this has created.

In reality there is evidence ( & has been for donkeys years ) that the NHS should focus on providing a properly funded core service for those who need it most rather than a bargain priced “everything” service but facing up to that is politically uncomfortable so it’s easier to squeeze and squeeze the clinicians until th8ngs give and then blame them for pulling out not a broken system.

Sadly the pandemic and the restrictions ( that the chief dental officer enforced ) have further screwed a failing system. It’s difficukt for many people but the dentists themselves are generally working very hard in a very stressful job and generally seeing as many people as they physically can, whether they are nhs or private providers.

Moved house did nothing about dentist until I broke a tooth.
Went in asked for an NHS appointment given 4weeks wait. Asked about private was in a seat within 30mins. Dentist finished up asked why I wasn’t NHS signed me up and charged NHS prices for the work.
They phoned after lock down to set up appointments after cancellations. Everyone bar the receptionist is young (relative to me) and European.

Fine here with my nhs dentist (galloway) as I needed root canal work on a molar that took 4 visits over 2 months to ensure it was suitable to be left in place, didn’t cost anything. This was in December to January this year, my dentist is Ukrainian and is away back over to fight for his country and attempt to get his extended family out, his Moldovan wife is still working at the practice.

The only time i’ve paid for a dentist was in Mapusa Goa, broke a front tooth hitting a huge pothole on the bike and got treatment the same day in a pristine surgery with so much kit it made my surgery back home look like a backstreet garage, made me a crown and fitted it in a few hours, still in place 20 years later for 600 rupees (about £5 at the time).

The thing about “my dentist” is that they are owned by venture capital and are run as such.

that’s who took over the practice I left. Makes sense now I read what you wrote.

Mehhhhh, it’s not much better in the NHS.

So far getting a broken tooth out has cost

Emergency appointment £24

NHS fee £65, and all i got was the thooth smashed in two. Referral made to the hospital. So far this has been in the system for 14 months …..

Another emergency appointment because although extra sessions should be included in the first fee untill it’s extracted, not if they’re “emergency”, and you can’t get a scheduled appointment for 2 months even if you have toothache that is objectively their fault. £23

Course of antibiotics £10.

Countless packets of painkillers and tooth numbing gell ££.

A bottle of whiskey and a bit of string to a doorknob is looking tempting.

I was on Denplan for 25 years – whilst I had the regular check-ups and occasional filling, it turns out that they did the minimum possible, drilling out and replacing fillings to the stage that my teeth are now very weak and over lockdown a few have just crumbled. Having moved house, you can’t just transfer your Denplan to another practise – they have to re-assess you and I’m now at the back of the NHS queue as a patient, but can get an emergency appointment if I’m “in pain”. I’m probably just going to opt for the minimal procedures to address any immediate concerns and wait until I can get an NHS referral and deal with stuff as it arises.