This made me 'smile'

[Duncan Rounding]

Before taking my daughter to her orthodontist appointment I read this on their website which made me 'smile':

Missed appointments

If you are not able to keep your appointment please give us at least 24 hours’ notice. If less than 24 hours’ notice is given a charge of £1 per minute may be made. If you are pleased with the care and treatment you receive from our practice, please recommend us to others. We welcome new patients.

[Mike Hughes]

Better not let them know until the last minute then, or maybe not give them any notice at all.

Mike

[Duncan Rounding]

Interestingly they have just called and left me a message to say that the appointment this afternoon is cancelled.

Maybe I should claim compensation. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Now is that £1 a minute from now until the appointment time or...

[george]

*googles `orthodontist`*



Oh, as you were etc.

[Duncan Rounding]

*googles `orthodontist`*...

Them thats fits them braces to thas teeth laddy.

and charges a blo*dy fortune for the pleasure.

[acompton]

and charges a blo*dy fortune for the pleasure.

Haven't you heard of the NHS?

[Duncan Rounding]

I'm hoping it will be covered on the NHS but I understand that things have been tightened up over the last few years and not all braces are considered 'required' anymore. I hope they are covered.

[acompton]

Both our kids had brace work that was covered

[pnagames]

Haven't you heard of the NHS?

unfortunately when it comes to dentistry you will find that NHS does not cover most things.

Dentist contracts cover less and less by the minute.

i can see the whole dentists going independent. but i think that may kick off a bit of price competition.

back home i think you have to pay most if not all of dentist expenditure

[pinbrook]

Yes this is true, make sure you find out the very last detail. I wasn't too clued up a few years ago - i was registered with an NHS dentist and needed root canal work - this wasn't covered by NHS at my surgery so cost me £400.

I now need more root canal ( next week) and am now with a different NHS dentist where it will cost £45.

I think NHS dentists can charge up to 75% of the cost- so you are stil making a saving, but one nhs dentist is not the same as another - unles the rules changed?

[grantglendinnin]

I now need more root canal ( next week) and am now with a different NHS dentist where it will cost £45.

My local dentist wouldn't take me on as an NHS patient unless I claimed benefits or had kids. I was dismayed by both options so had to go private (using the same dentist nonetheless) - have to pay £12 a month just to be on the register, and on the first appointment was told two fillings I've had since I was a kid which were metallic colour which shrink in the winter/expand in the summer and cause your teeth to crack. Probably a load of bollocks as they have lasted well over 10 years, but decided to go with it anyway, as these were blended coloured fillings - needless to say they didn't last a single year, yet cost £360. Now it's impossible to get an appointment as there's only 1 qualified dentist, the other one left. FAIL. Your dentist sounds ace, maybe I need to live in England

[Sean Williams]

Haven't you heard of the NHS?

Well that's a laugh.
Here in the Brecon region, I couldn't find a dentist of any description with space for a new patient for 4 years within a 60 mile radius.
Then a new NHS practice started up, I went for a checkup and a clean - 20 minutes from start to finish, including a small filling repair! None of the work was any good.
Eventually I was lucky and heard of a private practice that had taken on a new partner and needed some new patients - in Hay on Wye! 1.5 hours solid drive to get to the dentist
Now I get a whole 40 minutes, just for the hygenist. It does cost 35 squid, but it's money well spent IMHO.
As for the fancy filling Grant, I'd say you've been ripped off and should have a word - I've had a couple of those (privately), about 60 quid a time I think and absolutely as solid as a rock. Very impressed.
And no horrid electric feeling when chewing silver foil

Dentistry in this country is a big FAIL. The NHS service at local surgery level is a complete joke and as a result you do tend to get ripped off by the private sector.

On the other hand, I've needed some very specialised, very expensive long term treatment on a couple of areas for which my private dentist referred me to a consultant at the NHS Cardiff Dental hospital. I couldn't sing their praises highly enough - absolutely top notch treatment and no sense of being rushed along. Just simply getting the job done.

I love it when I can contradict myself, without having to wait for someone else to do it

[acompton]

A couple of years ago, our NHS dentist went private, leaving almost no NHS dentists in the area. We decided to changed dentists and phoned around to compare costs etc. It was an interesting exercise to see how they differed. Some had changed over to being private without a clue on how to run as a commercial business – you were expected to turn up and pay whatever they charged. Several didn’t want to handle any filthy lucre and insisted you sign up for an (expensive) insurance scheme.

In the end, we found a practice close by that did Kids Go Free (with 2 paying adults) and that was the best compromise.

[Darren B]

interesting my wife went to another dentist the other day after a new one at her old practice tried to rip her off.

Having gone to another practice and asked to see a dentist to discuss treatment this dentist explained all and gave her a large number of options. not one came to the 2.5k the other guys quoted (maximum of one of the options) But she also asked if my wife was recieving income support because apparently this also makes a difference to the treatment you can get through the nhs.

Oh and the cost of her treatment is now in bands, the idea being you should actually get charged the same price for nhs no matter what dentist you visit (i dont believe this but thats the way its suppose to work) my wifes treatment is £195 not sure exactly whats happening think a cap or crown or something

[pnagames]

i am lucky to date that i did not need a visit to a dentist over here.

i go for regular dentist visits when i am either back to Greece or to Malaysia. in both countries healthcare is primarily private. my dentist in greece has been sort of brilliant to date.

i had also to visit some specialist when i was in malaysia for my health (not dentist). the quality of the service and the care was brilliant again.

i paid but its off set by the quality of service i received.

having worked in NHS organisations for several years, i can see this being the only option in the near future (making the healthcare primarily private). hospitals are constantly overbudget (and we are not talking about few hundred pounds), services are poorly run, several GP's i have met and one that i was register with are complete idiots and they dont care about the patients (just get paid).

there are examples of the opposite of what i just said but i think there are very few around