So, just been to see the hygienist today and they’ve put their prices up by 50% due to Covid (to cover PPE apparently), so my session was £75 rather than the normal £50 ish. Quite a dramatic price rise!

I have some sympathy for them, so coughed up as it’s a small price to keep my teeth from falling out.

Anyone else’s done the same?

Are you private ? My bro is NHS and it’s cost him a fortune, not just in PPE, but ventilation upgrades that change the air more often etc.

Nope. My dentists prices have stayed the same as they were last year. Was in the other day and the service was better and faster than before c-19.

my sis a dentist (runs her own practice)
Dunno if she’s put her prices up, but requirements are quite strict, new PPE between patients & rigorous clean down of things that get touched.
Thus number of patients they can see in a day is reduced, plus 2 to 3 times the amount of PPE needed normally for each dentist & assistant – it is having an effect on costs, so, wouldnt be suprised if some are having to raise prices to cover additional costs.

So I’m going to carefully explain this once then ignore the inevitable comments about how dentists are ripping you off…..

The price rises are inevitable and unlikely to reduce again in the foreseeable future (at least until working restrictions change )

PPE costs have risen. A £4 box of gloves costs over £10 now. Who knows how No deal will add to that since a large percentage of dental materials come from Germany.

The PPE dentists are now using is a higher level and more costly than the PPE they used pre Covid. There’s more of it too.

The procedure for getting a surgery ready again after each patient is vastly different to previously. Unless your practice has invested in (very costly) air management systems (like a hospital has) they will be unable to re-use a room after a filling (or anything that generates an aerosol spray of potentially virus contains droplets) for around 40 minutes.

I.e a 20 minute filling appointment for the patient uses an hour of surgery time. Up until a few weeks ago the gao needed for cleaning was around 70 minutes. Even with the air management systems it’s still around 25 minutes. This compared to a turn around of around 5 minutes between patients pre-Covid

Because of this, most hygienists are working by hand rather than using the scaling machine which will take them longer and the practice need to charge more.

My dentist seems to charge a flat rate £15 for PPE, on top of the normal prices. So that’s insignificant if you’re having an expensive treatment, but a lot when it’s only a hygienist appointment.

Mine have stayed the same price, at the moment. I went last week and my Hygienist had to don additional PPE to perform a high pressure water descale, which is deemed a high risk procedure, compared to the manual descale she started off with, so I wouldn’t be surprised if costs go up soon, for all the additional PPE / Decontamination costs incurred.

I think my dentist has just added a flat rate to procedures that require significant additional PPE and cleaning. Normal check ups have stayed the same.

Mine’s added 9.99 to pay for extra PPE, cleaning etc. Probably about the same starting point, £50 for a hygienist appointment. £25 seems steep!

So, all the Denplan fees i’ve been paying, for literally nothing and no service, are these likely to increase?

I can’t even get in to mine to pay more for treatment.

I have some sympathy for them, so coughed up

that’s why they need the extra PPE

Weirdly – my dentist charged me nothing for my last appointment (in September) They were suggesting patients make a donation to charity instead. Not sure if that’ll still be the case next week.

So, all the Denplan fees i’ve been paying, for literally nothing and no service, are these likely to increase?

Mine already have….

interesting timing. I had a root canal done with a specialist this morning. 30 mins, in and out, very efficient and friendly.

£790.

I’m in the wrong line of work..

(got another one on thursday. I’m very glad my insurance is zero deductable..)

No idea as I don’t pay for anything it’s all done under the private package.

No idea as I don’t pay for anything it’s all done under the private package.

In what world did you think that was a helpful contribution?

“Hey, plebs. I know you’re concerned about the best way to get dental treatment,and questions about the price increases, but screw the informative information posted by a dentist – I’ve got a private package”

I’m sure your reply is much more helpful.

He’s right though drac, it wasn’t a very helpful comment and did seem a bit snobbish exclusive.

The cost increase is inevitable and probably for the most part at least fair it’s a very different way of working now.

The bi product of this will be that we ultimately need more dentists or have less checkups.

Given that pre Covid our family NHS dentist had cancelled and rearranged more appointments than we’ve actually attended (sometimes it takes 2 or 3 bookings before you are seen, people keep leaving and they can’t/won’t find locums) I can’t see the extended clean downs helping that.

I think whats more worrying for people who already are struggling due to a drop in their income, is the lack of availability of NHS dentists. Its pretty much impossible to register as an NHS patient these days.

It would seem that good dental health in this country is only for the rich.

^^^

this. I’m registered with an nhs dentist and in the process of moving to a private practice so I can actually get seen and have some pro-active treatment done rather than just emergency work.

in the time I’ve been registered, I don’t think they’ve managed to retain the same dentist for more than 6 months.

I’m with Drac – private dental. Snob? You don’t know me. But I’m looking down on you through my monacle.

Had three dental appointments in the Covid era and no price hikes for me yet. In a post covid world I don’t see why the current protocols Dentists have to work under with all the additional PPE needs to be sustained continued. The additional costs should be temporary. I’m PAYG private. Haven’t had anything but routine checkups for about 15 years, but this year needed a filling replaced and one tooth decided to give up the fight against a particularly stubborn Pork Scratching and snapped a corner off which needed a couple of visits to sort out.

As for NHS dentists I jumped off the NHS thing about 15 years ago. Just got sick and tired of being in a system that was massively over subscribed and the attitude of the staff and inflexibility under NHS became a PITA and got the feeling the were just looking for an excuse to kick you off the NHS scheme. I had a few years on Denplan, but it was expensive for just routine checkups (thankfully I have decent reasonably low maintenance teeth) and since going PAYG with the local dentist I’ve found the charges for routine check ups and hygienist visits are not much more than I was paying through the NHS. Clearly if you’ve got teeth like Shane MaGowan then PAYG private would be unaffordable for most people as would NHS charges. But there is no greater incentive to look after your teeth than the effort to avoid a couple of grand bill from the dentist for a Root Canal filling or something like that.

Restrictions post covid is an interesting one.

There isn’t really anything in the history of dentistry where cross- infection controls have been relaxed. Usually they only ever get tighter.

The risk of transmission of “something” through the aerosol dental treatment generates has always been there its just previously been deemed an acceptable risk. Will it go back to being acceptable?

The whispers around are that we will always be left with some kind of “fallow” or gap between patients to allow the aerosol to settle. Smart money says 10 minutes but then you have to clean the room which ( using the current standards ) takes 15 minutes so still a down time of 25 mins between patients compared to 5 pre covid,

I can guarantee every dentist in practice would really like this not to be the case but the people who make the rules don’t usually get involved in making them work ion the real world…

I’m with an nhs dentist. Had my routine 6 monthly check up cancelled in august. Only communication since then has been an email to offer whitening procedures. (the practice does private treatment too- tried to up sell me private treatment during a root canal procedure a few years ago). I guess income was massively reduced and expenses increased.
I’ve never visited a hygienist though… should I?

Just had an extraction done private £90, seems reasonable, it’s the £2.6k for the implant that is gonna hurt.

The whispers around are that we will always be left with some kind of “fallow” or gap between patients to allow the aerosol to settle. Smart money says 10 minutes but then you have to clean the room which ( using the current standards ) takes 15 minutes so still a down time of 25 mins between patients compared to 5 pre covid,

I did speak to my dentist recently and she said 45 mins clean/downtime between aerosol treatments. During the visit I had a chat with the receptionist and they were seeing about 60-70% less patients because of the distancing and cleaning.

Are you private ? My bro is NHS and it’s cost him a fortune, not just in PPE, but ventilation upgrades that change the air more often etc.

No, but AIUI hygienists aren’t covered by NHS, so you pay for those anyway.

The procedure for getting a surgery ready again after each patient is vastly different to previously. Unless your practice has invested in (very costly) air management systems (like a hospital has) they will be unable to re-use a room after a filling (or anything that generates an aerosol spray of potentially virus contains droplets) for around 40 minutes.

Ours has new floor standing air filters in every room, so apparently the gap between patients is only 10 mins. I would guess they’re about £1-2k each in the current climate.

As for PPE, she was wearing two face masks and a full body plastic apron.

I’ve never visited a hygienist though… should I?

Depends on the invidual, I am really susecptible to plaque and have receeded gums as a result. I rely on the hygeniest to help me keep my teeth so see her every 6 months. My teeth, on the other hand, are indestructible and zero fillings at 50. Problem is they rely on the gums to keep them in place….

Just had a check up £22. The dentist usually gives a quick descale and clean but said he can’t due to the aerosol issue. Two earlier appointments cancelled so 1st time I have been in the Last year

I’ve never visited a hygienist though… should I?

Hard to tell over the internet. Is usually something a dentist would tell you

Haven’t been since the crisis started. Madness really… but i just cba with the hassle of it at the moment. I’m sure many of us are in the same boat.

Well my dentist normally does a bit of a descale each time I go. They’ve never suggested a trip to the hygienist in between checkups. But do some people alternate dentist/hygienist every 6 months rather than dentist every time? I’m sure there’s probably some guidance from BDA somewhere about how often people need to go.

He’s right though drac, it wasn’t a very helpful comment and did seem a bit snobbish exclusive.

How dare you speak to me you  mere mortal. Not really no, I’ve genuinely no idea if it costs more because of the cover I have. I don’t pay for it the MIL got a family package a few years ago on some lifetime deal so she pays for it. If it helps my wife is on the same package but hers has different cover, I’ve no idea how that works, so pays for some work. I can wait until she requires some work and report back. However, as already mentioned they’re a business these measures are costing them more they’ll charge for the additional costs including downtime of the room following an aerosol procedure as the room needs decontaminated. Have a chat with the dentist they’ll explain this to you, mine did whilst getting a filling and a crack repaired.