I got a quote for some routine work from a private clinic (because there are literally no NHS dentists taking new patients in my city).
It was cheaper to fly to Poland and have a week long holiday, get the work done there and come back.
No complaints, and Krakow is lovely.
UK dentistry just feels like a rip-off.
I had an interesting phone call with the receptionist at my dentist. I tried to join a few years back because I’ve got terrible teeth and needed a lot of work done. NHS waiting list was 2 years, so I signed up privately. Anyway, fast forward to the other day:
Me: Hi, I’ve got a 10-month-old who has got 4 teeth now. Can I pop him onto your NHS waiting list?
Receptionist: We don’t have one. The list is too long so we’re not putting anyone else on it.
Me: Ah damn. What are your private fees like for babies/children? Can I just sign him up privately then?
Receptionist: Are you with us already?
Me: Yep. [do the surname/address check etc]
Receptionist: Ok. That’s fine. I can sign him up on the NHS if you like?
Me: …yes, please…
I occasionally meet people who come back and forth from Asia, Europe for years (transistor manufacturing) and I usually get the response these days along the lines as “they used to find coming here as a perk of the job but now it is taxing”
I love this land and its people and values but fuck me if we haven’t taken the shine of it this last decade.
To counter balance I had a crown fall off (two weeks ago this Sunday), worried about it for a few days and finally called my NHS dentist on Thursday, no pain or discomfort I explained and had an appointment for Monday this week. I haven’t been to the dentist since Jan 2020 and was worried they might have binned me but clearly not.
Sadly they can’t reattach the crown and I need a small filling which is booked for Sept 10th and she recommend that I see the hygienist which I did on Wednesday. £30 for the check up, £69 for the hygienist (I can notice the difference) and the filling will be approx £150 but I’m paying more for a white one.
Overall I’m happy.
I couldn’t go to the dentist during lockdown, because… It was a lockdown. So because I hadn’t been in 18months I was removed from the list.
Obviously my filling decided it was a great time to fall out, tried to sign up with other dentists taking NHS. Nope. Best I can get is a 110 mile round journey with an appointment pencilled in for May 2023.
They got on a waiting list?
Was charged £220 private to be told my cracked tooth was in fact a sinus infection. £220 to poke round my mouth for 30 seconds and then give me the wrong information anyway. Ended up being in so much pain I went to an emergency dentist who would only do a removal. So now I need to try and price up a false tooth or implant or something. Total jokers.
I’ve not managed to get into an NHS dentist since maybe 2014
Last checkup I had they said “Your teeth are in excellent condition”, so I’ll probably be riding on that prognosis until the day I die.
Bit silly of a decision surely. Yes it’s probably correct that everyone in the UK should have access to subsidized dentistry. But is sub-standard dentistry really a reason to re-enter a war-torn country or is this article just getting publicity with the hope that an embarrassed dentist will take them on?
How bad does the Dental service have to be if the better option is to go back to an active war zone where people are being murdered in the streets and shopping centers?
Just point him to Turkey.
Welcome to the party pal
Imagine still thinking this is a functioning country.
I can’t even get through to my dentist on the phone.
Been trying on and off for weeks.
I need a filling done, was told in March. Should’ve booked in while I was there…
Refugees are also declining housing in Scotland and wales. Crazy.
I called a dentist in my new area and was told there’s a ‘bit of a wait’, naturally I thought we’ll best to be on it than not so the receptionist told me I’d be added to the waiting list. As she hung up the phone in all honesty she said to me ‘we’ll give you a call back in four years.’ 😂
Our dentist is mostly private – they have or had some NHS space but the main dentist of the practice is now private only. They said there may be space once they join two practices and move to new premises… possibly going to eat my words later but I thought the prices looked okay, and there’s no monthly subscription bullshit. Also check-ups for under 3s are free, so we managed to get the little in for her first a few weeks before her birthday.
I literally just spent £140 this morning visiting the dentist.
It’s the current and previous NHS contract that makes it a nightmare, not the dentists. An unfair target driven system where each practice has an allocated amount of work permitted in a certain year. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as opening up the lists as this would create a huge influx in an already wait time heavy environment.
Yes some NHS dentists have gone private but that is the contract that has caused this, it has constantly moving goalposts and restrictions on what they can and can’t offer that has forced them in making what is normally a very hard decision.
Also for all those considering becoming a dental tourist just be mindful about aftercare. Likely the NHS won’t touch anything that may go wrong based on work done abroad and you’ll then be subject to private prices to rectify any issues ( this is aimed more at those going for extensive crown/bridge/implant work rather than simple fillings etc)
They privatised the opticians, then the dentist, with 6m people on NHS waiting lists, stealth privatisation is happening. Better make sure your job has health insurance! Might make it more difficult to change jobs,but I’m sure the employers won’t use that to screw you on wages!
This is hilarious, so it wasnt that bad to begin with ?
Whoever that refugee is, they’ve truly embraced British humour.
Where is everyone? I can get an NHS appointment in a few days (no wait list to sign up). Got an emergency appointment on the same day as well. There seem to be plenty of dentists near me (SE London) accepting NHS patients.
So what I get from this is…we should be spending millions of £££ on the health service instead of sending it to Ukraine which only prolongs the war and kills more innocent people? But what do I know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When are we going to admit the UK is a basket case. Too many years run in to the ground, dry humped for all the money it’s worth by the Tories. I don’t know why anyone would want to live here
I’ll post this again.
I come from Poland. A “third world” country which a lot of people here look down on. The private dental care is 10 times better than here, with clean offices and modern technology. Two years ago I used to pay £20 for a filling. Prices went up now so it’s around £30-40 now.
Here in the UK, I was quoted £100 for a filling, at the best reviewed dentist in the area, in an office that looked worse than the dentist I had in school in Poland 20 years ago. And that was after the initial £80 consultation that missed two big holes in my teeth that also needed filling.I also went to a NHS dentist once. Looked more like a butcher than a dentist office really.
Sorry, but I’ll never be fixing my teeth here. People should consider medical tourism. You’ll save some money and have a good time with cheap food and booze.
So, are we saying a Russian sniper removes teeth better than a British dentist?
27 comments
I got a quote for some routine work from a private clinic (because there are literally no NHS dentists taking new patients in my city).
It was cheaper to fly to Poland and have a week long holiday, get the work done there and come back.
No complaints, and Krakow is lovely.
UK dentistry just feels like a rip-off.
I had an interesting phone call with the receptionist at my dentist. I tried to join a few years back because I’ve got terrible teeth and needed a lot of work done. NHS waiting list was 2 years, so I signed up privately. Anyway, fast forward to the other day:
Me: Hi, I’ve got a 10-month-old who has got 4 teeth now. Can I pop him onto your NHS waiting list?
Receptionist: We don’t have one. The list is too long so we’re not putting anyone else on it.
Me: Ah damn. What are your private fees like for babies/children? Can I just sign him up privately then?
Receptionist: Are you with us already?
Me: Yep. [do the surname/address check etc]
Receptionist: Ok. That’s fine. I can sign him up on the NHS if you like?
Me: …yes, please…
I occasionally meet people who come back and forth from Asia, Europe for years (transistor manufacturing) and I usually get the response these days along the lines as “they used to find coming here as a perk of the job but now it is taxing”
I love this land and its people and values but fuck me if we haven’t taken the shine of it this last decade.
To counter balance I had a crown fall off (two weeks ago this Sunday), worried about it for a few days and finally called my NHS dentist on Thursday, no pain or discomfort I explained and had an appointment for Monday this week. I haven’t been to the dentist since Jan 2020 and was worried they might have binned me but clearly not.
Sadly they can’t reattach the crown and I need a small filling which is booked for Sept 10th and she recommend that I see the hygienist which I did on Wednesday. £30 for the check up, £69 for the hygienist (I can notice the difference) and the filling will be approx £150 but I’m paying more for a white one.
Overall I’m happy.
I couldn’t go to the dentist during lockdown, because… It was a lockdown. So because I hadn’t been in 18months I was removed from the list.
Obviously my filling decided it was a great time to fall out, tried to sign up with other dentists taking NHS. Nope. Best I can get is a 110 mile round journey with an appointment pencilled in for May 2023.
They got on a waiting list?
Was charged £220 private to be told my cracked tooth was in fact a sinus infection. £220 to poke round my mouth for 30 seconds and then give me the wrong information anyway. Ended up being in so much pain I went to an emergency dentist who would only do a removal. So now I need to try and price up a false tooth or implant or something. Total jokers.
I’ve not managed to get into an NHS dentist since maybe 2014
Last checkup I had they said “Your teeth are in excellent condition”, so I’ll probably be riding on that prognosis until the day I die.
Bit silly of a decision surely. Yes it’s probably correct that everyone in the UK should have access to subsidized dentistry. But is sub-standard dentistry really a reason to re-enter a war-torn country or is this article just getting publicity with the hope that an embarrassed dentist will take them on?
How bad does the Dental service have to be if the better option is to go back to an active war zone where people are being murdered in the streets and shopping centers?
Just point him to Turkey.
Welcome to the party pal
Imagine still thinking this is a functioning country.
I can’t even get through to my dentist on the phone.
Been trying on and off for weeks.
I need a filling done, was told in March. Should’ve booked in while I was there…
Refugees are also declining housing in Scotland and wales. Crazy.
I called a dentist in my new area and was told there’s a ‘bit of a wait’, naturally I thought we’ll best to be on it than not so the receptionist told me I’d be added to the waiting list. As she hung up the phone in all honesty she said to me ‘we’ll give you a call back in four years.’ 😂
Our dentist is mostly private – they have or had some NHS space but the main dentist of the practice is now private only. They said there may be space once they join two practices and move to new premises… possibly going to eat my words later but I thought the prices looked okay, and there’s no monthly subscription bullshit. Also check-ups for under 3s are free, so we managed to get the little in for her first a few weeks before her birthday.
I literally just spent £140 this morning visiting the dentist.
It’s the current and previous NHS contract that makes it a nightmare, not the dentists. An unfair target driven system where each practice has an allocated amount of work permitted in a certain year. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as opening up the lists as this would create a huge influx in an already wait time heavy environment.
Yes some NHS dentists have gone private but that is the contract that has caused this, it has constantly moving goalposts and restrictions on what they can and can’t offer that has forced them in making what is normally a very hard decision.
Also for all those considering becoming a dental tourist just be mindful about aftercare. Likely the NHS won’t touch anything that may go wrong based on work done abroad and you’ll then be subject to private prices to rectify any issues ( this is aimed more at those going for extensive crown/bridge/implant work rather than simple fillings etc)
They privatised the opticians, then the dentist, with 6m people on NHS waiting lists, stealth privatisation is happening. Better make sure your job has health insurance! Might make it more difficult to change jobs,but I’m sure the employers won’t use that to screw you on wages!
This is hilarious, so it wasnt that bad to begin with ?
Whoever that refugee is, they’ve truly embraced British humour.
Where is everyone? I can get an NHS appointment in a few days (no wait list to sign up). Got an emergency appointment on the same day as well. There seem to be plenty of dentists near me (SE London) accepting NHS patients.
So what I get from this is…we should be spending millions of £££ on the health service instead of sending it to Ukraine which only prolongs the war and kills more innocent people? But what do I know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When are we going to admit the UK is a basket case. Too many years run in to the ground, dry humped for all the money it’s worth by the Tories. I don’t know why anyone would want to live here
I’ll post this again.
I come from Poland. A “third world” country which a lot of people here look down on. The private dental care is 10 times better than here, with clean offices and modern technology. Two years ago I used to pay £20 for a filling. Prices went up now so it’s around £30-40 now.
Here in the UK, I was quoted £100 for a filling, at the best reviewed dentist in the area, in an office that looked worse than the dentist I had in school in Poland 20 years ago. And that was after the initial £80 consultation that missed two big holes in my teeth that also needed filling.I also went to a NHS dentist once. Looked more like a butcher than a dentist office really.
Sorry, but I’ll never be fixing my teeth here. People should consider medical tourism. You’ll save some money and have a good time with cheap food and booze.
So, are we saying a Russian sniper removes teeth better than a British dentist?