UK patients unable to get dental care after ‘eye-watering’ rise in private fees | Dentists

UK patients unable to get dental care after ‘eye-watering’ rise in private fees | Dentists | The Guardian

Exclusive: warning that lack of NHS dentists and soaring cost of private work puts essential care out of reach for many

Private dentists are cashing in on the scarcity of NHS treatment by hiking their charges for fillings, checkups and extractions to “eye-watering” levels, research has found.

Patients are paying as much as £775 for root canal work, £435 to have a tooth out and £325 for a white filling due to fees for common dental procedures soaring since 2022.

Fees for many treatments have undergone inflation-busting rises in the last two years as more people have been forced to seek non-NHS care, with the average cost of a non-surgical extraction going up by 32%, a comparison of prices at private dental surgeries across the UK has found.

Patient groups warned that some people with dental problems were missing out on care altogether because NHS help is so hard to access and private treatment has become so expensive.

“For patients struggling to access NHS dental care, and for those who choose to go private, the dramatic rise in private dental costs places essential care out of reach for many,” said Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association.

“This creates a dangerous cycle where patients bounce between an inaccessible NHS system and unaffordable private care, while their oral health deteriorates. The stark reality is that many are left with no viable route to essential dental treatment.”

Prices have risen dramatically over the last two years, with patients now paying between 14% and 32% more for the same treatments than in 2022, according to research MyTribe Insurance, which tracks the cost of private health insurance and also different types of paid-for health care across the UK.

Their analysis of data covering six common treatments, from 450 private dental practices in 52 UK towns and cities, found that the average cost of:

• A white filling has gone from £105 to £129 – up 23%.
• An extraction has risen from £105 to £139 – 32% more.
• A half-hour scale and polish is now £75, up from £65 – a 15% jump.
• An initial consultation for a new patient is up 23% from £65 to £80.

In addition, a routine checkup has gone from £48 to £55 – a 15% rise – while the average cost of anterior root canal treatment has increased by 14%, from £350 to £400. However, many surgeries charge much more, MyTribe found. For example, root canal work can cost anywhere between £366 in Northern Ireland and £775 in the east Midlands.

To have a tooth out, you can pay £435 in the east of England, and £350 in the south-east and south-west. And for a white filling in the east of England you have to fork out £325.

“Given these big recent price rises, some of the prices now being charged for private dental treatment are eye-watering and beyond the budgets of many, many people who need help with their dental health,” said Power.

One in five people, and two in five of those on lower incomes, already avoid going to the dentist in England because it costs too much, according to a survey by Healthwatch, the statutory patient champion. The recent increases in private treatment costs are “alarming”, it said.

Louise Ansari, Healthwatch’s chief executive, said the research on private treatment costs “paints a troubling picture of access to dental care if you don’t have the financial means”, especially given the previous government’s failed efforts to incentive dentists to see new NHS patients.

There are significant variations in the amounts charged by private dentists across the four home nations. For example, the most expensive white filling in the UK this year cost £198.90 in Watford – but just 17 miles away in Luton you could get one for £70.

Milton Keynes is another of the dearest places to get treated. An extraction there costs £242 – whereas it’s just £75.93 in Dundee, while a checkup costs £70 in the former and only £33 in the latter.

Similarly, the three priciest root canal treatments were in Cambridge (£660), Watford (£609) and Bournemouth (£550), while the cheapest were in Aberdeen (£250), Bangor (£250) and Belfast (£250).

“Our research clearly shows the increasing financial burden the public feels to access dental care. It’s concerning, as NHS dental services are in crisis and people need an affordable and accessible alternative,” said Chris Steele, MyTribe’s founder.

“I recommend that people shop around when looking for a dentist. Most publish their prices on their websites and time spent comparing them upfront can save you a lot of money in the long run.”

He also advised patients to look closely at the cost of more complex procedures, such as extractions and root canals, as they often have the biggest price differentials; to consider joining a practice’s membership scheme, which can involve discounts; and to pay for dental cover if you take out private medical insurance, so you can claim back some of the costs of dental care.

Eddie Crouch, the chair of the British Dental Association, which represents dentists, said “huge inflationary pressures” on dental practices, including the cost of energy and laboratory bills, and increased costs stemming from the budget, helped explain the price hikes.

But private practices also charge higher prices to help cover the cost of treating NHS patients, as the fees they receive do not cover the outlay involved, he said.

“Private practices have an option to reflect cost increases in their prices. NHS charges are fixed but a generation of poor funding means many treatments are now being delivered at a financial loss,” Crouch added. “Private dentistry has effectively cross-subsidised loss-making NHS care.”

Dentists claim they have been doing more and more private work in recent years since the fees they receive for providing NHS-funded treatment have not kept up with rising costs.

Responding to MyTribe’s research, Neil Carmichael, the executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups, said the widespread shortage of dentists was also pushing prices up.

“This is the classic outcome from having huge demand with limited supply,” he said. “The ADG has been flagging for some time that overall dentistry requires a further 3,000 or more dentists across the NHS and private sectors.

“This huge gap means that access to all dentistry is reduced. So, with the continued demand from patients and as overhead costs increase, it is inevitable that there is an upward pressure on prices.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “NHS dentistry is broken after years of neglect and has failed patients and staff for too long.

“This government is committed to rebuilding NHS dentistry, but it will take time. We will start with an extra 700,000 urgent appointments to help those who need it most, and reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.”

 This article was amended on 1 January 2025 to add a comment from the Department of Health and Social Care.