Dentists Charges

[RubberSkin]

Leigh, after a great deal of perssausion form me, went to the dentists. He has to pay for his treatment but asked for an NHS dentist, not private. He paid £15 or so for the examinationa and X rays, but she now says he needs to pay £50(ish) for each of his 3 fillings he needs (so £150) and 2 visits to the hygeneist at £40 a go. I thought it was a flat rate scheme and you paid x ammount for the course of treatment you needed. Is he being screwed ?

[Scary Monster]

Hygienist isn't usually covered on NHS.

NHS charges are indeed now a flat rate type scheme with 3 charging bands.

£15.50 - Generally covers check up, any X rays, and planning and further treatment.

£42.40 - The above plus filings, root canal treatment and extractions.

£189.00 - The above plus crowns and bridges.

There's more info here (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4131873).

As an NHS patient he should only be paying one of those charges per course of treatment, and after a course of treatment finishes, he shouldn't need anything else doing for at least 3 months.

Sounds like he's being treated privately.... Just because someone is a NHS Dentist/ accepts NHS patients doesn't mean that all of their patients are NHS. How clear they make this can vary somewhat.

[RubberSkin]

Ta muchly. I'll get him to phone the practice manager and get it sorted.

[Whowhere]

My dentist said to me you could get away with only having one filling but you'll end up having to come back, so she did 2 for the same price

[Ballerina]

Whether you have 1 filling or 10, you're supposed to pay the same price.

[Sa-ra-ra-ra]

Whether you have 1 filling or 10, you're supposed to pay the same price.


:yes: It's for a course of treatment - so if you go and your 'course' includes 5 fillings, it should cost the same as one because it's all being done in the same batch.

However, if you want white fillings it will cost more and you may have to go privately - the NHS only offers the most basic of dental treatment under the flat rate scheme.

[DG]

NHS only pays for silver fillings from the last time I went - white fillings were £50 a shot - white looks better but also means less need to drill out the tooth - silver is stronger but weakens the tooth more as you need to drill a dove tail shape into the tooth to anchor the silver filling.

[Scary Monster]

Silver filings also last longer and are a better match in material to enamel.