A filling dropped out recently and it's replacement, a 10 minute job, was £18.50. The bad news is that it is likely to drop out again soon as there is not much of the original tooth left. My dentist told me that the best option was to have it capped. That's £219 please. In my naïvety I asked it was cheaper to have it done privately. Nope, that would be £350+ although I could recoup most of it if I paid £23pcm fir a private dental plan on any future treatment. I don't think so.
What really annoyed me was that the surgery was full of unemployables and whilst waiting my turn only 2 out of 7 people were having to pay for treatment. Having paid tax & NI for over 40 years, since I was 17, and will probably continue to pay for several more years, in a perfect world once you have contributed sufficient funds or a period of time, you should get a reduced rate!
Maybe it's my age but I am becoming less & less tolerant of able bodied people sponging off our society.
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>> My dentist told me that the best option was to have it capped. That's £219 please.
My wallet would tell me the best option is to have what's left of the tooth extracted.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 29 Jul 14 at 10:16
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Mrs F is faced with such a choice, and believe me £219 is a bargain compared to what her dentist charges (although he does seem to be very good - could have got it cheaper at one she's just left). But there are drawbacks to extractions; it's not such an easy choice as you might think.
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>> But there are drawbacks to
>> extractions; .
>>
The main one being that's one less tooth left on which to base a future crown or bridge.
Also it's more difficult to fit a later implant if the space has grown back. Even a root reserves the spot for future development.
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Extractions - be careful what you wish for!
In the chair for 2 wisdom teeth extractions last Feb, at £90 each. First one took about 30 seconds and my immediate reaction was that 'this guy must be making easy money'. But he earnt his money for the 2nd!
45 minutes later I was still in the chair, bleeding well. Having broken at the first attempt, it culminated with the dental nurse holding my head down to the chair, so he could grip and pull on the remaining piece adequately.
I did comment to my male dentist, (age 40 hence no life experience), that, given the choice, a prostate biopsy was to be preferred.
It then became infected, painful for 10 days, antibiotics, poor sleep patterns, - unable to eat properly for 14 days, and uncomfortable for about a month. So plan your life accordingly.
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>> Extractions - be careful what you wish for!
>>
My last, very reluctant, but it had run out of options, extraction, was ghastly.
I seemed to have developed some kind of reaction to the anaesthetic, and it set my heart racing in an uncontrollable frenzy. Anaglyptic shock, or something (or is that wallpaper?)
I could sense the usually calm dentist beginning to get worried, as he kept saying "steady, steady!", and then gave me more injections of something else to counter it. He insisted I sat still for half an hour while he monitored my heart rate, and then very reluctantly let me go, urging me to call a doctor if I felt unwell.
Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Tue 29 Jul 14 at 11:11
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>> A filling dropped out recently and it's replacement, a 10 minute job, was £18.50.
I think your dentist made a mistake. The cost of a filling on the NHS is £52.50, or thereabouts. I lost a filling from one of my teeth and it cost me about that, in May. I looked at the notice at reception and there were three categories of charges. I can't remember the exact charges, but the cheapest was about £18, the next about £52, and the third was a few hundred.
I had a check-up in March and that was about £18.
Just googled this:
There are three NHS charge bands:
◾Band 1: £18.50 covers an examination, diagnosis and advice. ...
◾Band 2: £50.50 covers all treatment covered by Band 1, plus additional treatment, such as fillings, root canal treatment and removing teeth (extractions).
Last edited by: Robbie34 on Tue 29 Jul 14 at 10:51
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£50.50 is exactly what I was charged last week for an extraction. A recently descaling in the same surgery cost me £30.00.
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Extractions. My dentist is top rate and lectures in dentistry and sets exams as a part time job. And reviews dentistry students pre graduation..
Nice guy.
He spent 30 minutes extracting a tooth yesterday.. a canine tinyurl.com/n84ho2s
It was decayed, growing inwards into the mouth and blocked by adjacent teeth one of which was crowned. He broke nothing... but it was painful - additional injections needed and still hurts today. Had to cut into flesh and push and pull. My neck hurts this am.
He's not cheap but worth every penny.
Waiting list ? What is that...:-)
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I thought that NHS dental charges were fixed. Being a pedantic kind of person I keep all my receipts...last weeks filling was £18.50, earlier this year I paid £31.50 for the removal of decay in a cavity, two x rays and a filling and 9 monthly inspections have risen from £15.90 in Jan 2008 to £17.50 late 2013. Quite reasonable in my opinion. No point paying £200pa for a dental plan unless you are unfortunate enough to have manky teeth requiring lots of attention.
As an aside a few months ago I was given a 'pre owned' battery powered brush by a friend ( gross I know) fitted new end bits and that has certainly helped. My dentist told me that my manual brushing was too vigorous! I now plan to splash out on one of these oral B electric ones.
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NHS dental charges - VxFan
