teeth!

Rebecca3 NHS dentists work to bands so your quote is probably accurate. Privately, it would cost you a lot more,

I don't know where you have recently come from? Maybe could be cheaper in other countries but for UK...sounds ok to me

£259 sounds like a bargain to me- bite his hand off (haha)

It's a minefield isn't it? I have had an abscess this week & have just finished a 5 day course of antibiotics. Do I have a root canal treatment in Bristol or an extraction by my regular dentist in Gloucester? Decisions, decisions.. The tooth has been troublesome for about 4 years. Started when I flossed with cheap Chinese floss rather than good quality tape.
Methinks at my age of nearly 68 I don't want anymore drilling & patching up. A small chunk of tooth has been stuck back on twice. I'm told the tooth is dead.

legs55 my grandparents had all their teeth removed and dentures made as an economic decision in the early 1900s.

I reiterate, not all, or even most, dentists are unethical.

kittylester I had exactly the same experience as sassenach512 when I was in my early teens, including filling wisdom teeth as they emerged! Talking about this at work, other colleagues had had the same experience in the 60s. Paying dentists by fillings did lead to unethical behaviour in some cases. However, my dentist did straighten my teeth beautifully which is why I was there in the first place. As he was a professional my mother never questioned why my teeth needed filling. Other family members have few fillings and good dental health probably due to the fact that they had straight teeth and never needed to go to the dentist in the first place.

Just realised that the surgery does both nhs and private work, not that you have been offered a mix of nhs and private treatment. The price you have been quoted is clearly for a new crown on the nhs. Sorry for the confusion, but good that you have managed to find a surgery that is still offering treatment on the nhs as they are few and far between these days. Hope all goes well and you are soon smiling again.

I was a dental nurse until I stopped working, so many years in the dental surgery. I can confirm that there is no option but to go to the dentist and have a new crown prep done, which will entail having whatever remains of your own tooth re prepared and a new impression taken to make you a new crown. There is no other way a crown can be made as it has to fit the prep precisely. You are very lucky to find a dentist who is happy to do the prep work on the nhs and offer you the option of a private crown, which will be of superior quality and appearance than the nhs option, so you are getting a very good deal. Many dentists would simply quote you a lot more money for a totally private course of treatment. Get down to the surgery ASAP!

I have no idea how dentistry came to fall outside of free NHS treatment. Anyone who has suffered tooth ache or absess will testify that it’s as debilitating, sometimes more so, than other minor illnesses that are treated free.

I believe the charges are extortionate. There are too few NHS practices. I once stood in the queue to pay at my old dental practice (that decided to go private) years ago. An elderly lady stood with her husband and was presented with a £200 bill. She said nothing and paid but I heard her whisper ‘That’s Christmas gone this year’.

And there are dodgy dentists. Probably more than have been brought to attention. When I was searching for an NHS dentist for my family after our practice (when the senior partner left) decided to go private only; I rang one dentist who said they did ‘part’ NHS, ‘part’ private. Meaning they would receive the government payment per patient but they would not cover anything more than a checkup and filling. Win win. And probably illegal.

Sorry but I simply cannot understand how this has happened over the years. Only the poorest (they get it free) or the wealthy will have good teeth.

Wrote to the health secretary about it once. Got nowhere.

crazyH it was common practice to have all teeth removed & a denture fitted after NHS started in 1949 my DM is 90 & she has had false teeth since she was 21. It was common practice rather than fillings

I had School Dentist (came in a van parked in School grounds) in the 60s, when I reached my teens I was told that my fillings hadn't been drilled properly & my teeth were decaying under the fillings.

It also left me with a fear of the Dentist, I wear a partial denture but on my next appointment I shall be exploring having my remaining teeth removed as I've lost 3 more teeth this year, 2 with abscesses on them. I don't pay any Dental charges at the moment as I'm on Employment & Support Allowance Income Support. If I do have my teeth removed I will opt for Hospital Dentist (I've already had 7 teeth removed by them) as I have a few medical issues. I need to get my teeth sorted out before my 66th Birthday when I draw my State Pension.

Preparation and fitting of a crown particularly if a molar is band 3 NHS and the cost you have been quoted seems right. I've had two over the last 4 years and the charges were approximately £200/250 each.

I am 80 and have a very good NHS dentist - have 5 crowns in my mouth and have had 3 extractions.
Band 3 covers the cost of the crown and is much cheaper than having it done privately - the alternative would be an extraction which is much worse.
I am happy to spend money on my teeth as my husband has dentures and I can see what problems it causes

Is it possible that you may have swallowed your crown? I’ve known people who have done this. You may guess the only way to find it is if it emerges from the other end of the digestive tract!
To have it refixed (after disinfecting/cleaning!)cost my friend £42.

Not really in answer to question. I have a dental plan with dentist. £12.50 a month. I get 2 checkups 3 hygienist appointments plus xrays. If anything more needed there is a 10% discount. All this care means I now have healthy teeth and gums and I don't miss £12.50 a month.

There are no NHS dentists near me anymore, so I have to pay a private one. My treatment last year cost me £960 pounds. My dentist's name is Richard, but all his staff call him rich..........

I think it's the normal rate for the NHS. It's certainly cheaper than the hundreds of pounds DD pays her private dentist.

And, as I said, sassenach, don't tar all dentists with the same brush.

It was only the back molars, Sassenach - but from a couple of tiny fillings I ended up with most of them filled.
This would have been about 1965 - now I know the reason!

I was talking about dentists in the 1960s to 80s kittylester when dentists were paid per filling

I think it sounds a more than reasonable price for a crown - just this morning I paid £131 for a routine check-up with the dentist and hygienist, including two x-rays.

Mr C has just paid £269.30 for a crown as a NHS patient, current band 3 charge. The process has involved one appointment where the tooth was prepared, x-rays and impressions taken and a temporary cap put on the tooth. A second appointment two weeks later is for the e crown to be fitted. We thought good value for money. If you have been quoted £259 for the same procedure it is very good value indeed.

Dont tar all dentists with the same brush. Most dentists are highly ethical.

It's a crying shame isn't it Callistemon? your teeth were ruined for life but being young, I never questioned their actions, I just presumed they knew best

I'm sure you're right, Sassenach - I had several unnecessary fillings done when I was younger on the advice of a dentist.

When I think of all the appointments I kept with dentists over the years and every one said I needed fillings, I get so angry. I'm convinced most of them weren't needed at all but dentists were paid by the filling then. All of my teeth have fillings now, I remember the dentist filling my two wisdom teeth when they had just grown in! Since the way dentists are paid changed, I haven't had one more filling, in fact the ones I have, are old and need replacing but I got fobbed off when I asked about them, too much time involved no doubt. Ironically, my DH hated going to the dentist years ago and hardly ever went for appointments and his teeth are still intact, without fillings.

I'm lucky enough to be with a wonderful NHS dental practice and I still had to pay hundreds for a crown. (This is a comment, not a complaint: I feel so lucky to be with this practice.) Years ago, an American survey of "seniors" (I love that word for us oldies!), asking about health issues, indicated that the said seniors all wished that the two things they'd taken better care of, were their feet and their teeth. I am always careful to nurture both. I don't think that you can put a price on having "happy" teeth.