Sorry - that's my sense of humour (I hope people here don't read everything I write as being totally serious...I may have to start using smileys) - the 'estimate' they gave me is good for 6 months. And my dentist was very good at explaining the treatment and what would happen should I not have it (it will end up effecting my jaw as the shortening of the front forces more action on the molars).
Yep, got that - a breakdown tooth by tooth - 12 of them all requiring 'Anterior Composite restoration' at £220 per tooth (the front 6 , top and bottom) - the lab charges of £600 and modelling charges of £90 and two 'other treatments' of £50 each (so (12*£220) + (£600+£90)+(2*£50)=£3430. The options were the quoted work or crowns - but crowns are even more expensive at £300+ per tooth. So they did give me a good breakdown - but the charges (as I was trying to get at) they charge me are difficult to justify without knowing their costs. £220 as a one off for one tooth may be fine, but is it still fine for 12? Do you follow? But I read this https://dentistry.co.uk/2017/05/25/dark-art-setting-fees/ - and that advocates charging by unit (ie if a filling is £150 pounds then 5 fillings is £750 irrespective of savings that the dentist may gain by the bulk procedures - which is even more relevant since Covid with clean down processes at one stage meaning that the number of patients per hour had to drop).
This treatment basically builds the teeth back up with 'filling' material - and from what the dentinst also said will lead to a change in diet - as I won't be able to 'bite' on the front teeth for a couple of months. So back to baby food. I can always cover myself in tin foil and treat it as 'a [sic] adventure' by becoming a spaceman and pretending I'm eating space food. Mind you, can't be much worse than my cooking at the moment anyway...
What gets me, is I snore (OK - where's this going you ask...) - and when my wife was alive, I used to wake up with shock multiple times during the night after one of her 'gentle nudges' (for gentle nudge, read 'hit with a sledgehammer' or 'kicked') hit the spot. Not once did she ever say I used to grind my teeth - and even though I am aware of clenching my teeth during the day - it's more 'gritting' them and clamping down with the back teeth rather than the front. I seriously don't follow why the front ones are wearing.
Hubby had all his teeth ( except molars ) crowned in Goa. His UK dentist described the quality of the work as " exemplary ". I think the bill was about £2,300 all in.
I heard an NHS dentist say the only way they can make money is to f " fill and bill "
...I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm certain that was the case when I was a kid in the 50s/60s. I had more lead (smiley required here) in my teeth that Paolo Nutini had in his pencils. And we were a poor family with a good diet (if you could call my mum's spam fritters good) and rarely had sweets/soft drinks as we didn't have that much spare cash. When I moved to where I live now and signed up with the current dentist when in my 20's, he was amazed at how much work I'd had done - and have had 3 fillings in the past 40 years since.
Yes a lot of us of a certain age suffered excess drilling , filling & billing (the NHS) , that is one of the things the current contract was supposed to discourage. The trouble seems to be, as usual, the implementation , apparently they have a quota now and can't take on more NHS patients even if they are prepared to. This was all over the news this am.
No Suffolk dentists taking adult NHS new patients, only 7 taking kids. I've had 2 teeth fall out since COVID with no chance of ever being able to afford private. With the cost of food it's probably just as well the teeth are going.... Who will be able to afford to eat by the time the Tory's have finished
...Don't you think it's insane that when you go private that the NHS don't cover the cost of treatment to the value they put on the job? If a private dentist charges £150 for a filling and the NHS pays £30, why isn't the price £120? I suppose the obvious answer is just that the Dentist would go from driving a Porsche Cayenne to Lamborghini and just up their prices to absorb what the NHS gave them.
I never wanted to go private per se, it was more inaction on my part (typical of me). Originally when I moved here the dentist was NHS - then he offered a mix (I could have sworn he took part payment from the NHS for some private work) and finally went fully private (he ended up selling the practice about 10 years ago I think and set up one in Majorca) - and I stayed on with the new owners. Now you can't get an NHS dentist for love nor money.
I went back an NHS dentist after very poor treatment at a private practice. The dentist was just fitted the clamp, for want of a better description, before filling a molar. I heard a crack and saw her throwing a quick look to her assistant, but she said nothing. Within a week a piece of the tooth had broken away and the filling fell out. I went back and they initially tried to say I would have to pay again because 'These things happen as the tooth was weak'. By 'These things' they were talking about the tooth breaking. When I said I had heard the tooth crack when it was being filled there was a complete change of attitude to 'Oh, in this instance there will be no additional charge'. I simply didn't trust them after that and was fortunate enough to sign up with a new NHS practice in town. This was a few years before Covid. I actually have a check up there this coming Thursday.
I was just googling NHS dentists (via the NHS site it gives an option to check in your post code area) - and my dentist came up! So my next port of call is to see if they'll shift me onto their NHS books and do the same work at NHS rates!
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What gets me, is I snore (OK - where's this going you ask...) - and when my wife was alive, I used to wake up with shock multiple times during the night after one of her 'gentle nudges' (for gentle nudge, read 'hit with a sledgehammer' or 'kicked') hit the spot. Not once did she ever say I used to grind my teeth - and even though I am aware of clenching my teeth during the day - it's more 'gritting' them and clamping down with the back teeth rather than the front. I seriously don't follow why the front ones are wearing.
I think the bill was about £2,300 all in.
...I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm certain that was the case when I was a kid in the 50s/60s. I had more lead (smiley required here) in my teeth that Paolo Nutini had in his pencils. And we were a poor family with a good diet (if you could call my mum's spam fritters good) and rarely had sweets/soft drinks as we didn't have that much spare cash. When I moved to where I live now and signed up with the current dentist when in my 20's, he was amazed at how much work I'd had done - and have had 3 fillings in the past 40 years since.