NHS Dental Treatment - what to do?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Abnoba

Abnoba

Joined
Aug 9, 2006
Messages
2,489
Reaction score
3
Points
0
Location
North Yorkshire
We dont have NHS Dentists in my area (around Malton) they are all private.

I have been on the NHS waiting list for several months now.
This February, when I had a hole in my tooth and bad pains, I went to an NHS emergency clinic, where they literally took five minutes, slapped a temporary filling in, and sent me off saying I should go find a dentist. :tickedoff:

So I had to go private, and pay 60 pound, to have my tooth removed. The thing is, it was a baby tooth, so they couldnt do any treatment for the roots, and I did not have an adult tooth underneath it.

So now I am 20 years old and have missing teeth already :( To have a fake one put in would start from prices like 300 pound, which I just cannot afford at the moment. But there is no chance i will ever get it done on the NHS, right? :(

Today I bit on my piercing and chipped a little bit off a tooth. Thats how it started with my other one. Because it was left untreated, it became a hole and got bigger and in the end infected..

but what do you have to do to get NHS treatment? Can you just go to a completely different place in the UK (say London) that has more NHS dentists, and demand you be treated there? Because if they tell me to go to one in my area thats no good, as there arent any :(

Or can I have it done privately, and claim it back from the NHS?

I want something done about my teeth, dont fancy having a gap in my smile for the next five years until I can afford to pay 300 pound or more just like that :(
 
owch I hear you. I had a filling fall out and was waiting a year to see the NHS dentist. Guess what? It got to the point where I couldn't eat, drink or brush my teeth...I went private too. The only thing I can suggest is, if the nearest NHS dentist is so far away talking to your local council. It's their responsability to provide you with one. Maybe confronting them will bring about a change?
 
This is madness, the nearest one I found to Malton was in Great Ayton TS9 :o
 
Sorry to hear this love, ouch it must be painful one of the worst pains is a toothache :tickedoff:
I hope you get notification from the NHS real soon :)
Can you go to the hospital, have they got a dental section? Just a thought.
 
I'm sorry to hear this sounds painful and annoying!

Its silly this NHS dentist thing as we have 3 by work all advertising for patients, same across most of west midlands.

Its worth seeing if you could register as a temp patient at one of the NHS dentists in another area as train fare cheaper than going private?

If you want me to ask at mine for you out of interest let me know?

Alison :)
 
Yes please, if you could find out for me if this is possible, that would be great!

a day trip with the car or train will quite probably be cheaper than paying a private dentist :-\

Thank you!
 
bev said:
This is madness, the nearest one I found to Malton was in Great Ayton TS9 :o
Click to expand...

As Abnoba is probably more than aware I would have suggested York but they have a critical problem with NHS Dentists. When I was a student there I just stuck with my dentist at home and if I move back there I will still stick with them and use my parents address.

The only thing I can suggest is to give the practise a ring and ask if they accept NHS patients from outside the area. I am sure that in York they offered people the chance to go elsewhere.
 
Its a long way to go to Stourbridge - trains 10 mins walk from dentists I'm wondering if there are say dentists on NHS nearer to you like Leeds?

Can pop over after work to ask about how the system works!
 
As far as i know Ulrike dentists dont have catchment area like doctors so you can go anywhere.

My dentist in Leeds was taking on NHS patients, I can pm you his number if it'd help :)
 
I did ring ours they said they do take patients from any address.

So in theory you should find one in Leeds? or somewhere nearer you, as cheaper to get too?

If you need the details of mine do let me know.

I recall reading somewhere that people have given friends addresses nearby to nhs dentists with gaps just to get in and registered and visited when seeing friends!

So think you will be ok :)
 
Abnoba said:
I think the max. you pay is 40 pound?
Click to expand...

They are a lot more than that here.

The last time i went i paid 80% of the private cost by going through the NHS my bill was in the region of £140
 
I'm sure the last time I was there it was approx £20 for a check up, once you start needing fillings it goes up to approx £40-£50 but the cost of your check up is included in this so you only pay an extra £20. There is another price tier which is more expensive but it is far more cheaper than going private.
 
£15.50 – This charge will include an examination, diagnosis and preventive advice. If necessary, this will include X-rays, scale and polish, and planning for further treatment.
£42.40 – This charge includes all necessary treatment covered by the £15.50 charge plus added treatment such as fillings, root canal treatment or extractions.
£189.00 –This charge includes all necessary treatment covered by the £15.50 and £42.40 charges plus more complex procedures such as crowns, dentures or bridges



Mmmm just googled and found this.. wondering now if mine was 189!
 
Smileer said:
Today I bit on my piercing and chipped a little bit off a tooth. Thats how it started with my other one.
Click to expand...

No offence, and i know I will get shouted at for saying this but i know people that have been on the wating list for months for the nhs because of medical conditions or accidents, not because they have put bits of metal in their mouth through choice and bitten them...and now you have done the same thing again....why didnt you take the piercing out the first time you did it? :-\

maybe ive read that wrong, and I'm sorry if i have, but if not then surely its a vanity thing as opposed to a medical problem...so if i were you and i wanted to correct my smile id go private, like all the adults out there wearing braces? :-\

If i was in charge of making the waiting list and i could put you first out of an old person needing dentures, or someone that had serious pain coming from the tooth...i know which id choose...

I have two tongue piercings myself and one on my lip and if i did that to one of my teeth, id just take it out!

Also, one of my mums fake teeth fell out about 4 months ago now..and she had to pay £500 ish for a new one...shes 39 and had to go private...

Either way I hope you get it sorted if it makes you feel better about your smile!
Click to expand...

To be honest I don't think a chipped tooth would be covered anyway as it will be classed as cosmetic and private charges would occur (could be wrong but as I've just googled thought i would do some reading up on it)
 
The chipped tooth doesnt bother me - but last time, a bit of my filling came out due to it. And with no dentist seeing to it, it got worse. Then when it desperately needed seeing to, all they did was putting a temporary filling in and sent me back home...

I am sorry, but this is such a bad service, is this what I am paying money for each month? If I was to go private permanently, I would like to pay reduced NI contributions, as I dont see the point in paying full, when I am actually not using one of their services.

About the piercing - it was a problem of eating too fast. Chomp chomp chomp, and i had bitten on it.
The same way that you might acidentally bite your tongue, or fork.
So why exactly should I not receive any treatment? If you do something really silly for cosmetic reasons (say getting a tattoo, or trying to cut your nails) and it goes wrong (say the nail is then ingrowing as a result of you cutting it wrong, or the tattoo gets infected as you werent taking care of it properly) then you should not be seen by a Chiropodist or GP?

The amount of things that people do for "cosmetic reasons" that go wrong - you think they all should have to pay for it?

Well thats great news. I hope next time you shave your legs and accidentally cut yourself and need a doctor to put a dressing on, they make you pay for it private, too :)
 
It's a very grey area as to say who should get what etc. My sister lost part of a front tooth playing laser quest and generally being stupid but she got that seeing to. Accidents happen I'm afraid whether it's through having a piercing or not. At least with Dentists people still pay something towards treatment.

Unfortunately the NHS is different and there is a far greater incentive between private and free! In this case I think there are a lot of treatments offered which shouldn't be.

That's my opinion anyway.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top