Dentist : best value at Stafford?

Goldilox

Goldilox

How do I edit this?
kyoto49 said:
The sad state of NHS dentristy is such that so long as all you need is an amalgam filling, or other basic work then you'll be fine. Need to save a tooth with complex reconstruction and you're f*cked ................basically! The Dentist is paid a maximum amount to save a tooth, if you're treatment costs more than the very low ceiling the governemnt enforce, then extraction will be your only option on the NHS - trust me! I lost a tooth unnecessarily at an NHS dentist that could have been saved. Sadly it was cheaper to extract. I learnt a valuanle lesson that day - your teeth are irreplacable!




Not attending an NHS dentist does not mean I don't believe in the NHS, and it's a ludicrous link to make frankly!. I work in the flippin NHS, I'm a staunch defender and seupporter, but their dentistry is minimal and out dated. Complex tooth saving technology is not available, and amalgam fillings ..........yuk!



It depends what you think is an excellent job. Big black fillings everywhere? Yes, they are excellent at those :(.




It's not about the training the dentist receives, it's the severe financial restrictions imposed on NHS dentists to keep costs down. Cost in NHS dentristy is more important than saving teeth. I'd rather not have a cost benefti analysis done on my teeth if I need treatment. I prefer to have all the necessary treatment to save my teeth. Thankfully my dentist is so good on the preventative work that I haven't needed much work, but any fillings that have been replaced have been done with white fillings, not the mercury heavy amalgam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_amalgam_controversy

Each to their own, but good private dentristy is streets ahead of good NHS dentristy because the private dentist is not restricted byt the NHS financial restrictions so can offer more varied and complex treatments. Until you've tried a good private dentist you'll not realise that the difference between the 2 is night and day. I love the NHS, but their dentistry needs a lot of financial investment that just isn't going to come sadly.
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Disclaimer - I have all my own teeth & have only ever used NHS dentistry....

I'm curious as to why you feel a cost/benefit analysis is so out of place in dentistry? Surely the fundamental point is that we can all enjoy a pain free existence & masticate our food & if the most cost effective way to achieve that is to pull a tooth is that really so bad? It seems like an easier argument to make over a tooth than when you're talking about denying someone a cancer treatment that's too expensive.
 
Jonah

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
kyoto49 said:
Yet these same people usually can afford to drink, smoke, own pets, have Sky TV, the internet and annual holidays. Our teeth are more improtant than all of those and then some. Infact, nothing is more important really so everyone should get the best treatment available. Almost always this involves paying.
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People are allowed to have a drink or smoke or have pets or internet access or have holidays or have a TV subscription. It's called living a normal life.

When I was last at a private dentist, I needed a lot of work doing on my teeth for which I was quoted £1500. I declined the treatment and found an NHS dentist who told me I didn't need some of the quoted work. I had my teeth fixed at a cost of £300. This was 15 years ago so I dread to think how much private dentistry costs now.
 
kyoto49

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Goldilox said:
Disclaimer - I have all my own teeth & have only ever used NHS dentistry....

I'm curious as to why you feel a cost/benefit analysis is so out of place in dentistry? Surely the fundamental point is that we can all enjoy a pain free existence & masticate our food & if the most cost effective way to achieve that is to pull a tooth is that really so bad? It seems like an easier argument to make over a tooth than when you're talking about denying someone a cancer treatment that's too expensive.
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No no no, I completely understand why the NHS makes a cost/benefit analysis that some things are more important to spend money on than others, like in the example you give. You kind of back up my whole point. It's because of the cost/benefit analysis that the NHS has done that I recommend people do their own cost/benefit analysis of whether their teeth should be put below the importance of TV/fags/beer/holidays or above. I put the importance of my teeth and health in general above recreational things so pay for the best treatment. My original point was that one should not look for 'value' when chosing a dentist, and I stand by that!
 
kyoto49

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Jonah said:
People are allowed to have a drink or smoke or have pets or internet access or have holidays or have a TV subscription. It's called living a normal life.

When I was last at a private dentist, I needed a lot of work doing on my teeth for which I was quoted £1500. I declined the treatment and found an NHS dentist who told me I didn't need some of the quoted work. I had my teeth fixed at a cost of £300. This was 15 years ago so I dread to think how much private dentistry costs now.
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It's surprisingly good value if your teeth are well looked after.

20 something quid for a thorough checkup

Small fillings, white ones, £45, medium ones £68.50. I've never needed a filling though as the preventative work is excellent.

Hygenist, £43 for normal scale and polish,

I had a tooth that the NHS dentist would not crown as she said the NHS would only pay for a filling, there was no 'need' for a crown. The tooth was quite near the front and in the process of filling it, half the tooth was drilled away. I ended up with a black filled tooth, black because the NHS will only use amalgam which blackens with age and half filled because the NHS wouldn't pay for proer restorative work. Yet for less than 400 quid I went private and had such a fantastic corwn put on that it's indistinguishable from my own teeth. It's alot of money, but worth every penny in my eyes. Your teeth are your health:

http://www.livescience.com/40195-oral-health-body.html
 
proactive

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
The NHS use white filling as well. You just have to ask. And they do crown when that is the best choice of action.
 
Lucy

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
My one filling is white. I had it done on the NHS. I had to pay a little more on top of the band, but less than private would have cost.
 
kyoto49

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Lucy said:
My one filling is white. I had it done on the NHS. I had to pay a little more on top of the band, but less than private would have cost.
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Not being funny, but how do yu know? There is quite a misconception that private dentistry is extortionately priced, but even quite large white fillings are much less than £100.
 
Jonah

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
kyoto49 said:
It's surprisingly good value if your teeth are well looked after.

20 something quid for a thorough checkup

Small fillings, white ones, £45, medium ones £68.50. I've never needed a filling though as the preventative work is excellent.

Hygenist, £43 for normal scale and polish,

I had a tooth that the NHS dentist would not crown as she said the NHS would only pay for a filling, there was no 'need' for a crown. The tooth was quite near the front and in the process of filling it, half the tooth was drilled away. I ended up with a black filled tooth, black because the NHS will only use amalgam which blackens with age and half filled because the NHS wouldn't pay for proer restorative work. Yet for less than 400 quid I went private and had such a fantastic corwn put on that it's indistinguishable from my own teeth. It's alot of money, but worth every penny in my eyes. Your teeth are your health:

http://www.livescience.com/40195-oral-health-body.html
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Last NHS check up with scale and polish - £20.60. That's a third of the price of your private dentist.
 
Lucy

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
And if you then have to have a filling you just pay the cost for that, not for the scale and polish as well.
 
Jonah

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
I have found that the NHS dentists I've used have been better than the private dentists. Better prices, better value, better service.
 
E

EasMid

Well-Known Forumite
I cant be arsed to "quote" Kyoto's rant but on the subject of amalgam fillings, the last 2 fillings I've had ( over the last 15 years) have both been white fillings at 2 different NHS dentists at the NHS price scale.
I cant be certain but I don't think amalgam fillings have been available on the NHS for several years.
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
EasMid said:
I cant be arsed to "quote" Kyoto's rant but on the subject of amalgam fillings, the last 2 fillings I've had ( over the last 15 years) have both been white fillings at 2 different NHS dentists at the NHS price scale.
I cant be certain but I don't think amalgam fillings have been available on the NHS for several years.
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I believe that the current situation is that white fillings may be available at the front, but amalgam is still used 'out-of-sight'.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/nhs-fillings-and-crowns.aspx?categoryid=74

That page hasn't been reviewed for two years, though.
 
E

EasMid

Well-Known Forumite
Mine were both towards the back & not really visible from the front, I wasn't even offered the alternative. Maybe I was just lucky ( or had a conscientious NHS dentist)
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
EasMid said:
Mine were both towards the back & not really visible from the front, I wasn't even offered the alternative. Maybe I was just lucky ( or had a conscientious NHS dentist)
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I imagine there is a bit of leeway available in the way materials are documented.

Some foreign dentists look with horror at the amount of amalgam here.
 
Alee

Alee

Well-Known Forumite
I use dentist in gnosall .I think they are fab , especially with my kids . My son has been very unlucky with his teeth lately and has been there a lot . He Had an abscess and A cavity . He's had it filled multiple times now because it keeps falling out . Would probably just be easier to rip it out but dentist it determined to save the tooth ... it's only a milk tooth too
 
Carole

Carole

Well-Known Forumite
kyoto49 said:
So not NHS treatment at all then?

D*ckhead
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This is exactly why I can't bear this woman. @kyoto49

Anyone that has the temerity to disagree, or heaven forbid, have a different opinion, is considered an idiot, or worse, depending on her temper/vile language at the time.

She doesn't have the emotional intelligence to realise that we are all different, we have our own thoughts and opinions.

In her world .. it's either HER WAY or the WRONG way.
 
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