Dentists again

There are no NHS dentists accepting new patients within 50 miles of our home. We are registered with a practice has provided us with NHS dentistry for the last ten years, latterly from from dentists in their first year of practice. Our November appointments have been cancelled because the dentist we last saw has left. We were not offered an alternative. Asking if we would still remain NHS patients I was told yes if they could recruit someone when we were less than two years post our most recent appointments. If we reach two years we will be removed from their list. Limbo time for us or a move to private dentistry which the same practice would happily provide. We would go elsewhere if we decide not to wait and see.

Areas of the country do seem to vary according to how many NHS dentists there are.
Have you looked to see if you have any near you?

We are with a practice which treats both NHS, which we are, and private patients.

It would certainly be worth investigating.

My dentist is private and I have a dental plan but went in for a simple filling last week and she charged £198.. that was with a 10% reduction. I was horrified.. it's really worrying how expensive it is.. but there doesn't seem to be any choice..

I am a ‘pay as you go’ dental patient. My last appointment cost me £69. ExDancer I don’t have the best teeth either. Rightly or wrongly, I thought this was the best way forward.

Our NHS dentist went private last year. It took me nearly a year to find us an NHS dentist. I just struck lucky with a practice who had just taken on a new dentist.

Norfolk is one of the worst places in the whole country for NHS dentists. i was reading today that over 600 people have been to our main hospital A and E this year with mouth abscesses, a similar number at the next largest and about 500 at the smaller hospital. That is shocking.

I am told that dentists do not want to work in Norfolk. Why dentists? Everybody else seems to want to move here from the Midlands, London etc. Makes no sense to me.

My dentist ceased to treat patients under the NHS at the beginning of this year and there are no dentists accepting NHS patients in my town or the surrounding areas. My denplan contract costs £29 pm and covers 4 hygiene appointments and 2 checkups per year. I believe annual X-rays are included but no other treatments or investigations.

That is a very reasonable monthly cost OP. It is up to you to pay the extra treatment you would need to get a healthy mouth and then you could look at denplan

I know treatments, staff and overheads have to be paid for especially with the increase in everything but I wonder how some of the private treatment costs are justified.

my dentist went private earlier this year. I pay £17.50 per month. This covers two check ups, cleaning, 2 xrays and 10% off any work done. I have poor teeth and already the side of a molar broke off and a filling cost me £96 less 10%.

Dental care in the UK is disgraceful. My daughter had to go to Turkey to get some treatment as it was cheaper than trying to get it done here. I'm fortunate enough to be still NHS but I don't know how much longer it will last. I have a full top denture and 6 permanent teeth at the bottom. I had to have two bottom ones out in February and one right at the front so I had a gap. The dentist said I needed to make an appointment for July to get a bottom denture but by May I tried to see her. I was struggling to eat but she refused to see me until my appointment. On the day of the appointment my dentist rang to say the appointment had been cancelled as the dentist had left and they couldn't fit me in until November. I told them how disappointed I was but all they said was that they were sorry and couldn't do anything about it. Now the gap at the front has closed up so much that it will be a struggle to fill it in and another tooth has become very loose. It's very upsetting because I know if I make too much fuss they might stop treating me and if they'd have sorted me out sooner this could have been avoided. I'm 71 and it would be difficult to find another dentist to take me on. I'm now waiting to see my dentist next month and I was quoted £306 in February but if they make me go private it could cost from £400 to £1365.

No nhs dentist within 25miles. We joined denplan when our dentist stopped doing nhs work. £30 a month covers 4hygienist visits a year 2 checkups xrays fillings. I had a bridge recently and all i had to pay was the lab fee. Extractions are covered and emergency treatments. We have an excellent dentist. (Ive always had rubbish teeth).
As someone else above has said dental health is so important as it can affect various medical conditions. The Government any Government should be concentrating on nhs dental health.

Not all Dentists will use Denplan and prefer their own system.

Chardy, Dentists fell out with the government(s) a lot earlier than that. Governments of all varieties have mostly refused to honour the recommendations of the independent review body on dentists' pay. And, have continued to impose ridiculous contracts on GDPs.

Privatisation by the back door.

Why is there no public outcry about the fact that so many people can no longer afford basic dental treatment? It’s like a ticking time bomb because our dental health can affect our overall health. People are concerned about the erosion of our NHS and yet we’ve lost an important part of it and it’s just been accepted as inevitable. We’ll be in a situation soon whereby people have all of their teeth out in their twenties so they won’t have to pay extortionate dental charges in later life!

sparklefiz no fillings or extractions mentioned - so I assume these would be extra.

Hi ExDancer Sorry to hear that. I am with Denplan but they won't accept you until your teeth are "up to scratch".

Does the scheme your own dentist is offering cover actual work such as fillings, extractions, etc? What happens if one of the checkups reveals you need treatment?

I've been with Denplan since a lot of dentists fell out with the govt in mid-2000s (was that the beginning of the end?). It's just over £1/day, and I get everything included, except if I have a new crown, I have to pay the company who make it.
When I moved house, I needed a new Denplan dentist, my previous dentist had to get my teeth up to a certain standard before the new dentist would take me.

I am fortunate my dentist is still taking NHS patients. He wanted to crown one of my teeth last week but I am 80, and that would be very expensive as well as painful so I went for the cheapest option but even so, my bill came to around £78.

Could you look around for an NHS dentist or have they all vanished?

Our dentist did the same thing earlier this year.
After seeing the new charges, we have decided to "Pay as you go".
I need regular check ups, as I have bone cancer, but I did wonder whether a regular check up should now be part of my treatment?