Private Dental

[d000hg]

Sorry for the Wilmslowesque thread, but does anyone here have a history of moving from NHS -> private dentists they could share thoughts from? I've always used NHS since we've always lived places we could find one, and because my parents are middle class but tight when something free is on offer

How much different is it in terms of check ups, fillings, more major stuff? How expensive actually is it? And how does insurance work... what does it cover?

[Troll]

Sorry for the Wilmslowesque thread, but does anyone here have a history of moving from NHS -> private dentists they could share thoughts from? I've always used NHS since we've always lived places we could find one, and because my parents are middle class but tight when something free is on offer

How much different is it in terms of check ups, fillings, more major stuff? How expensive actually is it? And how does insurance work... what does it cover?

I've used private for over 10 years... you can pick and choose and actually check they qualified somewhere decent rather than at the University of Bongo-Bongo land

I wouldn't pay a NHS dentist to do private work rather go the whole hog

HTH

Did a deal where the kids treatment was free Me & missus paid

[fullyautomatix]

Missus is a dentist and what she charges for simple fillings and extractions compared to NHS is massive!

[Durbs]

but does anyone here have a history of moving from NHS -> private dentists they could share thoughts from?

Yup, round here no chance whatsoever of getting NHS dental. I pay 12/month and get 2x checkups/xrays/clean a year for that and money off any fillings or work that needs doing.

Just had a quote on having a wisdom tooth removed, £350 at 'members' reduced rate but dunno whether thats a good price or not (well i suppose its £350 more than the NHS price!).

Quality of dentists and the surgery seems very nice compared to what i remember of my NHS dentist visits.

[d000hg]

My Denplan is about £16/month.

Peanuts really.

You can get extra cost cover for implants & suchlike apparently.

What do you get for your money though? £16/mo is all well and good, until you find you pay £100s for a filling.

[d000hg]

Not paid anything other than that so far.

What have you had done... and are these plans specific to each dentist or are they national companies like car insurance?

[Platypus]

What have you had done... and are these plans specific to each dentist or are they national companies like car insurance?

Each dental practice will have a preferred insurance provider, e.g. Denplan or Dpas (DPAS dental plans for dental practices).

The way mine works (and I've been with both insurers) is that I pay £25/month (my teeth must be in worse shape than the previous poster) and it's "all inclusive" apart from if I need implants.

[IR35 Avoider]

I've used private twice.

First time about ten years ago, didn't want to take time off work, about £90 for a filling on a Saturday. (Done by someone who looked like a teenager, using my NHS surgery, I wonder if that's really allowed?)

Second time was last year - complex root canal. NHS dentist said would "have a bash" if I really wanted her to, but strongly recommended I went private to a specialist who would have had specific training that she (and other dentists) had not had. I have since read that it is quite normal to be referred to private specialists for this. Paid £550 to someone who was also quite young, maybe late twenties, think he was a lecturer at UCL school of dentistry, he was operating in someone else's surgery in Harley street.

The root canal was a lot more guelling than I expected. He gave me a DVD to watch (via goggles with built in LCD) and the surgery took longer than the whole movie, and there were tears rolling from my eyes by the end, from the ache of keeping my mouth wide open. (In fairness, I think I had asked him to compress what he would normally do in two separate visits into one, as I was about to go on holiday for two weeks.) He did find one more root than the NHS dentist had, and his X-ray equipment was in a completely different class.

[cojak]

I pay £12.50 pm, that gets me 2 dentist checkups and a quarterly hygenist descale.

Mine is the Vision Express Dental clinic. Very happy with them cos they're open on Saturdays - that's the most important point in my book and not many NHS/Private dentists are.

[d000hg]

Each dental practice will have a preferred insurance provider, e.g. Denplan or Dpas (DPAS dental plans for dental practices).

The way mine works (and I've been with both insurers) is that I pay £25/month (my teeth must be in worse shape than the previous poster) and it's "all inclusive" apart from if I need implants.

That's not too bad... well £300/year is a bit pricey but it still sounds fairly cheap considering how much our vet charges for dental work on a cat.
Presumably they insist on checking you before they'll accept you into the plan... does that mean you also get a free consult so you can evaluate them before signing up, like you would commonly get with an accountant/lawyer/etc?

How far do plans go along the essential Vs cosmetic route?