Dental charges increase

[expressman33]

Charges in England will increase by 8.5% from 24 April 2023. This will mean the cost of a band 1 treatment like a check up will increase from £23.80 to £25.80 while a band 2 like a filling will increase from £65.20 to £70.70. A band 3, like dentures, will increase from £282.80 to £306.80 – an increase of £24.

[macliam]

That's of course for NHS

First, find an NHS dentist!!

Queue the pursuit of wildfowl.........

[Richard Frost]

Have not been to an NHS dentist for years. Here on the South coast they are a rare phenonium. There are probably more ex Prime Ministers than NHS Dentists.

My last check up couple of months ago was £55
Dentures I got two years ago were £1100

[macliam]

The worse "phenomenon" is the inreasing numer of "NHS" dentists going private and either abandoning their patients or gradually pushing them towards private "care".

For example, in the old days, a clean and polish was part of the regular checkup procedure. But now I am advised to use the hygienist, who is, of course, private and whose charges are more like the band 2 treatment charge. Also, when a tooth that had been treated actually broke off, I was offered a bridge or an implant, but both privately. The only NHS option was a partial denture, which is very uncomfortable, but necessary before any further treatment can take place..... so probably 3 months use for £285.

A friend was told he needed an extraction after an abscess formed and he was prescribed 3 courses of antibiotics. The date suggested for the extraction was over 2 months away. He then enquired at a private dentist locally, who advised a cost of £105 for a simple extraction. But then, there was also a £25 registration fee and a £45 checkup necessary - and with a follow-up booked and paid for before treatment. Total cost, £220 to treat someone in pain - will that be card or cash, Sir?

Then, when he complained to his practice, his own dentist found he could do the extraction in the next week, as a private treatment at a cost of £90. Quelle surprise......

[Sarah]

I regularly had 2 x check-ups and 2 x hygienist appointments each year until recently. The check-ups were originally always NHS, then for awhile I had to alternate between paying NHS and private charges each time (despite visiting the same dentist at the same practice) but had later seemed to revert back to NHS treatment every visit. The hygienist appointments were always private.

The costs didn't actually make any real difference to me at the time, as I had dental insurance cover that reimbursed 100% of these visits anyway. Unfortunately, that's recently changed because our insurance provider of many years has ended our corporate policy as part of a phased withdrawal from the UK. Our cover got switched to Bupa. The replacement policy with nearest equivalent level of cover has slightly lower premiums but effectively operates on a shared-payment basis even for preventative treatment; on balance this will work out more expensive for dental visits of all kinds and we'll have to contribute more for private treatment than NHS treatment.

My main problem now is no longer being able to schedule as many dental visits as I'd like. I've had to book my next check-up appointment 11 months after the previous one, due to high demand. In the past it was only this difficult to book hygienist appointments, which were always necessary to book up to 12 months in advance (although they'd nevertheless usually allow stacking 2 future appointments at 6 month intervals). I'm now having to book with different hygienists to keep my visits regular.

[rayf]

Not been to the dentist for about 20 years - my one was just a moneygrabber - lost a few teeth since then but probably wouls have done anyway - but I have no pain since stopping, contrary to what I had when I did attend