Private care for 'cosmetic' issues

Reading my way all through this thread - and "Crikey...it's been about 20 years that I've been seeing a private dentist now" !!!!

I'd forgotten what year it was they stuck those new treatment guidelines on NHS dentists and hadn't realised quite how long ago it was. Add that private dentists are very variable in their charges and I had one that was comparatively speaking cheap by private standards until I moved here - at which point I think it was four dentists I had to work my way through until I found one of the standard I'd been used to pre-move - and that practice is by far the dearest I've ever had. However, after I'd seen a female dentist - young/attractive/from southern England (where I think we probably expect a higher standard of looks for our teeth) and she wasn't going to sort out the looks aspect of one of my teeth properly (ie she obviously planned on doing enough to get it working - but not enough to look right too) = I gave up at that point and swopped to "dearest dentist ever" to get my teeth sorted properly.

I'd thought that I'd maybe got it sorted previously - as I'd found one where the hygienist used the method I use (ie a modern one) of cleaning my teeth - but she phoned in declaring herself "sick" one day and the surgery didn't seem to click that it was a day she would want off - every day for the rest of her life (though it was literally obvious that she would want that day - which I knew....but they hadnt realised). At which point I binned them for having put me with a "butcher" of a hygienist unexpectedly instead and told them what their modern hygienist had really wanted that day off for every year - and so she should have booked it as a holiday day...rather than faking illness. It was her lying at the last minute on the day itself that had got me annoyed...

My NHS dentist delisted many patients during covid and I was one of them so since then I have to pay for my dental work privately. Because of the long waiting lists for physiotherapy I am paying privately for treatment. I am not a rich person but what other option do I have? If I lose my health then having a little money in the bank is of no use to me.
I do what I can with the little I have available to stay independent and healthy

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With limited money available these days in the NHS I would like to think health issues are given priority over cosmetic ones

OTOH an ex colleague with really seriously bad cataracts (he hadn’t seen an optician or a GP for years and had assumed that he was going blind) was sent asap on the NHS to a private clinic.
Results were brilliant - they did the other eye a month later. He would never have been able to pay to have it done privately.

Still interesting though

Old post woken up by Spam

Shantygirly

I have a problem with a fingernail. About a year ago I caught my index finger in my misnamed 'soft close' kichen drawers. The nail went black and was detatched from the nailbed. A paramedic at my local surgery removed it (painfully) but now its grown back, just the same as it was before, lifted right off the nailbed and I keep catching it on things, its very uncomfortable it aches and is ugly. The GP surgery now say I have to 'go private' to get it treated. My problem is where? I know I will have to pay for it but I can't even find someone to do it!

Any ideas?

In your position - I wonder if it's worth consulting a podiatrist (as in the top level out of the three types of foot treatment people)??

I know they are for feet - but a nail is a nail and, if you asked one of them if they could remove a nail for you - but it's on a hand, rather than a foot, I would think they'd agree. It's all money for them after all. So - yep...it is private podiatrists I am thinking of here. Having recently had problems with big toenails on my feet means I know the going rate for a big toenail removal is around £300 or so.

In your position I'd be asking the podiatrist I've used recently and saying "Nail problem - it needs removing. Would you still do it - given that it's on my hand and not my foot?".

When it comes to "nail avulsion" (as it's called) then it seems to have become the norm for them to use phenol before removing the nail. The reason seems to be because phenol stops the nail growing back again - whereas there is a risk it will regrow if phenol isn't used. Back in the 1980's I had partial nail avulsion done on both big toes and it was fine and they weren't a problem to me again until the 2020's (and phenol wasnt used then - at least on me).

During the last couple of years and now in a different part of the country one needed some re-doing and she used phenol (and it does cause discomfort of itself and mean the nail takes longer to heal). I subsequently went to a man instead and had the other one done without phenol and I'm taking my chances as to whether it will grow back again.

So - yep...ask a private podiatrist and query what's what re "phenol or no phenol" with them and I'd guess they'd say "Phenol - and then it won't grow back again".

We have paid several times for necessary medical care that should have been paid by the NHS.

One was DH developed excruciating pain in one arm. He had to stop driving ended up just sitting in a chair all day grey faced and silent. He had pain killers from the GP, which were inaffective. After six weeks we asked for a referral, which DH was grudgingly given - and then told he would probably have a 3 month wait.

We went private. He was seen by a specialist a week later, had an MRI scan that showed a trapped nerve and then three steroid injections. Job done in a fortnight. that was 10 years ago and the cure is still effective. In the interim between consultation and treatment the specialist prescribed pain killers that worked and that the GP should have prescribed.

I was twice incorrectly diagnosed as having minor strokes. The relevant NHS doctor refused to consider any other diagnosis, even though every other NHS doctor I came across disagreed with her diagnosis. In the end I saw a private specialist who confirmed that I had the problem I said I actually had (I had had it before) and treated me very successfully for it.

Oldbat1

Yes i am bitter and twisted!

No, you are worried.
My BCC was tiny and insignificant when I first drew attention to it. In the end I lost the end of my nose.
If you can afford it then pay and see a consultant. I must admit I did that and the consultant dismissed my concerns too but I was just really unlucky. I think she had had a bad day!!
At one time private care was for the rich and those who had insurance under their work contracts.
Now I think it’s something many of us who would never have considered in the past. It’s almost becoming a necessity now.
Last year I had to pay for an echo cardiogram because we were going to visit DD in Aus and I would have had to wait about 4-6 months for one on the NHS. It’s not just for cosmetic reasons.

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petra

If anyone is interested in what went wrong with dentistry this article explains what went wrong in 2006 when new contracts were signed up between the profession and the government of the day.

lowdownnhs.info/comment/nhs-dentistry-where-did-it-all-go-wrong/

Yes, I think I posted something similar on another thread.

A dentist we knew here at the time gave up in despair and emigrated.

If anyone is interested in what went wrong with dentistry this article explains what went wrong in 2006 when new contracts were signed up between the profession and the government of the day.

lowdownnhs.info/comment/nhs-dentistry-where-did-it-all-go-wrong/

My husband had a skin tag on his face under an eye. Our GP told him to tie a piece of cotton round it and wait for it to drop off. I used dental floss and it did the job!

Many years ago I had a minor operation and at the follow up I mentioned to the surgeon that I had a mole/skin tag on my back that bothered me. He said ‘I can deal with that for you’. He tied cotton around it, it turned black and dropped off within a very short time. Those were the days!

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You'd have to have met my nan to understand, but her teeth were absolutely perfect until the day she died.

MissAdventure - I was aghast when I read your Nan used AJAX to keep her teeth nice and white! 😳😳😳

In my country Ajax (was, and I believe still available) is a chlorine bleach and chemical coarse, scouring powder for sinks and toilets - and harmful (maybe poisonous) if ingested.

That would be so abrasive to natural enamel and wear it down. The smell and taste alone.
I’m still not over it. 😆

I had a raised growth on my face which turned into a bit of a nightmare as it kept catching when I took clothes on and off, bleeding, crusting up and growing larger. It looked horrendous. I did get a referral to the hospital where the consultant deemed it benign, therefore cosmetic, and refused to touch it. Had to pay at the private hospital. £750 for just one item and the very first year I was retired without a salary. I had never been private before and expected the red carpet treatment, but the doctor was 40 minutes late, talked to the nurse about parking for the entire procedure which took exactly three minutes. I expect it would have taken two minutes if the first consultant had done it at the NHS hospital where I was already prepped for examination. I did feel a bit miffed.

My nan never had a tooth out or a filling.

She could open a bottle of steralised milk with her teeth!
She used ajax to keep them nice and white

My Dad had to have lots of fillings and I’m sure that’s something I inherited. However, my son, almost 40, has never had to have any fillings or extractions. Must have inherited my Mum’s genes!

I was scared of my mum, and always brushed properly, plus I rarely had sweets, but I needed quite a lot of dental work when I was young.
I think it's from my dads side of the family, because my mums side all had excellent teeth.

If it's not bad enough that adults are struggling to find an NHS dentist, it is an absolute disgrace that children's teeth are being neglected for the same reason.

Mind you, I'm appalled that some young children have had to be admitted to hospital to have several teeth extracted. I can't remember mine having fillings in their baby teeth.

Perhaps we were all scared of the school dentist and cleaned them properly!

Callistemon21

^Paediatric dentists work mostly in hospitals and for the NHS^

Here the NHS dentist also does private work. One DGC needed a 'baby' molar extracted, nothing wrong with it but it is hindering a brace being fitted. With NHS the wait was months, the same dentist could do it the next week (same clinic). One molar removed in a few minutes - that'll be £170 please.

There's an early day motion about the sad state of paediatric dentistry edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61695/specialist-paediatric-dentists
227 paediatric dentists for the whole country. It's reckoned we need 3 times as many.