Dental prices - NHS / Private

I have a very long bridge which has been in situ for so many years I can't remember when it was fitted! It has been slightly loose for the last 5 years with no pain or problems. I went for a check up at a new dentist (I had moved) and was told I needed to see their specialist about the bridge. At this appointment I was told the bridge HAD to be removed and would be replaced with implants, or the better option would be to remove all upper teeth and have a full arch of implants!! I also had severe periodontal disease apparently and would need several sessions with a periodontist for treatment before the extractions. First appointment to assess disease was £175. I then had expensive x rays and a scan before they told me the price of the extractions and implants.
£19,995!
Obviously at my age (77) out of the question. Besides the thought of extracting healthy teeth filled me with horror. I made an appointment at another dentist who drilled through the bridge and cemented it in place, gave everything a clean, and made another appointment for 6 months time, all for £160!!
So beware what dentists tell you.

crazyH

I think the older you are, your gums are thinner and not implant-friendly. That’s what I was told …

I had an implant done two years ago at the age of 65. The cost - £3,500 - put a few years on me, though! ?

Yay! Dental hospital , foot hospital, eye hospital all students supervision and fantastic, I used to use them when we lived in Manchester, I also used to use the hairdressing college for hair too! Only experienced students are allowed to use scissors! Juniors practice blows/perms/curls/ up-do styles/ wedding hair etc.all for a nominal fee and tea with bickies!

# gumline!!!

allium

All power to anyone who can find an NHS dentist. Quite a few quit the NHS including mine. Have a feeling GPs and elective surgery will go the same way. Would be interesting to see how some of the other European countries do things.

A friend many years ago has what I thought were fab gnashers! But they were veneers!? All done for about £1000 in ..... Turkey! She was married to Turkish lad and lived there for a few years, they've lasted really well ,not got that awful black timeline that always seems to appear, and I'm at a loss as to why our dentists firstly are so incapable of good cosmetic work , mine even put me off having bleach treatment for 2 years saying it was 'expensive'! I'm quite well off and he was a nightmare he didn't like bleaching saying he thought natural discoloration was proof of own teeth (warped!) I finally got my treats and trays when he was on holiday!!! Other countries appear to tak a matter of fact attitude to dentistry and there no adulation of the buggars either, they're pretty well available whenever you want for whatever you want and make a damn good job of it too! At a reasonable price. My friend also sported some mahoosive diamond rings from Turkey too and at an absolute fraction of our jeweler's prices here! Over there you choose your rocks and they make your ring! Simples. It's about time dentistry was bottomed out and the ludicrous system changed.id much rathe pay a monthly fee like at the vet!

£1200 for an implant is a very good price! I paid £4500 for one implant. Maybe you could agree to a monthly payment plan, as a suggestion.

Yes unfortunately that seems about the right price. I’ve had exactly the same problem since July. I’ve got an abscess under my bridge which was infected. I’ve had 8 courses of antibiotics since August when the work was started and now got jawbone infection on bottom tooth same side. Quite frankly I’m sick of it. Personally to cut a long story short, I wish I’d had my bridge taken out (which is what my next step is going to be ive decided) and a small plate put in that side instead so this cannot happen again. I was quoted £1,500 to drill through bridge in my private practice, cannot get with NHS dentist for love more money in Sussex, and do root canal treatment. Daylight robbery but what choice do we have? I’ve also been referred to Chichester hospital to maxi facial department to have a wisdom tooth out and I’ve now decided I want this bridge and teeth out under it as it’s not healing and been told there’s a 30 week waiting list, so they’ve referred me to a NHS dentist to have 1 tooth out to see if that helps, ridiculous situation and very stressful.

Following cancer treatment in 2016 I've had a lot of dental problems, and I referred myself to the Bristol Dental Hospital. You get seen by the students who are supervised by consultant dentists, who also do some of the treatment if it's complex. I've had a lot of excellent, and complex treatment that I would have found difficult to pay for. Probably could have bought a small car! Maybe you have a training dental hospital near you that you could contact. Good luck!

LuckyDuck

My daughter was in agony with a wisdom tooth a few months ago, couldn`t get her in to see anybody for love nor money. I paid for her to go privately in the end as I couldn`t stand to see her suffering a minute longer. Found a wonderful dentist who was skilled in dental surgery also. He extracted it, put stitches in and a course of antibiotics as my daughter also had a nasty infection. Worth every penny!

Great post.
I’m more than happy to pay and have spent a small fortune in recent years. No regrets.

kittylester

calistemon our Denplan includes everything other than the lab fee. Maybe you are on something similar with another company? My brother is on a plan that sounds like that.

I'll check, kittylester

crazyH

I think the older you are, your gums are thinner and not implant-friendly. That’s what I was told …

DH had one done only a little while ago.
They do have to make sure the jawbone is sufficiently strong, I think.

Shinyredcar

When I was told a broken tooth could not be repaired I started to ask why everything had to end in extraction on the NHS. I Was told that there is no remedial or preventative work available to those over pension age.

I don’t know if this is true but all the older people I know have moved to private treatment.

They used to fit crowns on the NHS a few years ago, I didn't realise they had stopped doing that.

I think the older you are, your gums are thinner and not implant-friendly. That’s what I was told …

Have you thought about going abroad for treatment? I know someone who went to Hungary on an all in dental package for implants and was very satisfied.

When I was told a broken tooth could not be repaired I started to ask why everything had to end in extraction on the NHS. I Was told that there is no remedial or preventative work available to those over pension age.

I don’t know if this is true but all the older people I know have moved to private treatment.

NHS dentists will not do root canal fillings according to our NHS dentist as it is too expensive for them. I had a crown which my grandaughter knocked out and it caused an abscess. It was right in the front of my mouth and nothing would persuade my dentist to root fill it. He would give me plastic dentures but that was it. I chose to pay for an implant but it nearly bankrupted me.

I have a policy with Simply Health for 2 of us it is about £35 a month. When we get big bills like this a large percentage is repaid to us by the policy. This avoids surprise big bills. If the alternative is extraction missing teeth can be very ageing according to where there are in the mouth. I would rather pay for Private Dental Care than fancy face creams or other cosmetics.

I contacted the authority in charge of primary health care and asked them about a similar dilemma ie referral for a specialist private treatment or extractions.
This dentist, though nhs, said he didn’t “do” extractions.

Primary healthcare told me that the nhs dentist is supposed to do what is deemed necessary which in my case was referral to an nhs dental teaching hospital hygienist for a deep clean.

calistemon our Denplan includes everything other than the lab fee. Maybe you are on something similar with another company? My brother is on a plan that sounds like that.

Mine will be about £550

Thats about average.

Shirls52000

My dentist changed to Denplan a number of years ago and as I ve always needed a lot of dental work I felt it was worth it to pay a monthly fee to cover most treatment. During lockdown this has really paid off as I had a broken crown and needed root canal work and a new crown . Because I was with Denplan the only cost was the crown and lab services, which was £150

I wonder why it varies so much?

After we moved we carried on driving back 50 miles to our previous brilliant NHS dentist, until he took early retirement. He loved doing complicated work, eg rebuilding teeth rather than extraction. DH had a lot of work done by him including crowns and root canal treatment over the years. We managed to find a new NHS dentist here and had check ups, but they wouldn’t do a scale and polish within the band A treatment, and you were expected to pay £50 for the hygienist to do that ( torture!).
Then came lockdown. Eventually I had a further check up, but DH, who had an outstanding appointment for more work, was not contacted, so eventually he decided to go private. He has paid about £1300 for a series of treatments, including three extractions and being fitted for a partial denture, but he thinks it is well worth it. He is being treated “as a gentleman by a gentleman”, as he puts it, by a very experienced man who he trusts, and is very pleased with his decision. I think he would still be waiting to get this done on the NHS.
I guess this is the way things are going to go, hoping that more and more people will get tired of waiting for all kinds of treatments, not just dental, and go private if they can afford it.

About right I would think, maybe even cheaper than most. I paid a similar sum for similar work almost 4 years ago.
Specialist work does cost a lot, but in my opinion it is better than the alternative. (Lose the tooth and the bridge too)?

My dentist changed to Denplan a number of years ago and as I ve always needed a lot of dental work I felt it was worth it to pay a monthly fee to cover most treatment. During lockdown this has really paid off as I had a broken crown and needed root canal work and a new crown . Because I was with Denplan the only cost was the crown and lab services, which was £150