Private dentists - grrrrr
(blimey, it’s been a while)
Mich got a letter from her dentist today - they are no longer going to be NHS so she has to decide one of 3 options.
- pay a tenner a month which will cover 2 checkups and 2 hygenist visits and allow her to make emergency appointments if needed. You also get a bonus 20% discount on anything else needed
- pay £32.50 a year to remain on the books and then pay for appointments (20 quid a shot). Also need to have an xray (more ££) to go on record (I assume the ones taken as an nhs patient evaporate or something when they go private). This also allows you to make emergency appointments as long as they have space (ie, no one paying more than you gets there first). You must make at least on paid for appointment each year else they strike you off
- piss off elsewhere
They strongly recommend option 1. But they would really wouldn’t they.
Option 2 seems like a real con. £32.50 a year for bugger all. Apparantly the charge is for an insurance policy that gives you worldwide emergency dental treatment (is that not covered on your travel insurance?).
Option 3 is tempting.
Oh, all of these options also have a £7.50 admin fee to set up. Bastards.
Actually, thinking about it I think I’d pick option 2. I’d then go find a the most remote arseendofnowhere place I could and ring them from halfway up a volcano to get my moneys worth from my “worldwide emergency dental insurance”. Mind you, I bet they have small print to exclude volcano induced teeth incidents or something. Apparantly they will continue to see the kids on NHS terms but will re-assess this in April.
Apparantly my dentist is currently not making new appointments while they consider their position so I guess I’ll be getting something similar.
So, what do others do? I presumed that a private dentist just charged when you went - none of this yearly insurance crap. Does she just have a real bastard dentist or is this a normal scam?
February 9th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Seems to be the standard scam tbh. I got struck off when i was 18, but managed to hang on as an NHS patient till i left uni as i was “still in education”. Since then i’ve done nothing, and i’m a bit worried my teeth are all going to fall out. There doesn’t seem to be an NHS dentist in kent accepting new patients.
My parents went to the same dentist as I, and when he went private they went for option 1 and have got decent value out of it due to teeth which are rotting quite well
February 11th, 2006 at 2:39 am
I’ve been with my private dentist for about 5 years now (after lapsing with the NHS whilst at Uni). I just pay for the treatment as I need it, he doesn’t seem upset if I miss skip the odd 6 monthly checkup and I can get an emergency appointment same or next day everytime. He does offer some plans but they aren’t compulsary. He isn’t cheap, but I guess he needs to pay for all his dentist toys somehow
February 12th, 2006 at 7:43 am
Paul now calls me the “thousand pound mouth” because I couldn’t find an NHS dentist when I chipped my tooth in the summer.
April 4th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
[...] Mich and sprog1 went to the dentists the other day for their final NHS checkup before the dentist goes private as we had told them to stuff their expensive plans (see an earlier post for details). After they are finished she is asked if they want to make another appointment and when quizzed with “I thought you were private only” they respond with “You can stay as NHS if you want”. [...]
July 21st, 2006 at 8:33 pm
[...] Finally, while on a whinge about the NHS (don’t get me wrong, in general I think the NHS is wonderful) a few months ago I got a letter from my dentist which appeared to be word for word identical with the one mich got a while back. I ignored it and then got another one saying that my appointment with them had been cancelled. A few weeks ago my mum went along for her final appointment (they didn’t have time to cancel hers) and she asked them about this saying that she wasn’t signing up for either and that they both seemed a con. They then offered her the chance to go pay-as-you-go… Not quite such a good result as mich got (her dentist offered to keep her on NHS when it became obvious she wasn’t going to sign up) but still and improvement. What really annoys me is that pay-as-you-go wasn’t an option in the letter. Bastards attempting to use scare tactics to get me to sign up to an insurance that is useless. I’ll give them a ring next month and see what they offer me - I’m buggered if I’m paying for the privilege of being allowed to visit. [...]
May 1st, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Research Blog on UK Dental Treatment
We at The Patient Connection are currently running a research blog or online discussion on the subject the use of private dental care in the UK. We are seeking the opinions of both people have had any dental treatment in the UK either privately or on the NHS.
In particular we are interested in your experiences with specialists
We would love it if you could share your story and your thoughts on using private dental care.
To participate please go to
http://www.thepatientconnections.com/blog.asp?uid=39
The blog is anonymous and easy to use so I’d like to thank you for your contribution in advance.
Best wishes
Belinda
The Patient Connection
Belinda.shale@thepatientconnections.com
PS Please email me if you have any queries about the blog or any of our projects.