Dentist Forum » NHS dentistry

NHS Dental Services in England

admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:10:18 +0000

NHS dental services leaflet – how can you get NHS dental treatment – print this leaflet

How to find an NHS dentist
Free NHS dental treatment – who is eligible
Charging bands

Current NHS Dental Charges

admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:57:55 +0000

If you want to check your NHS dentist’s fees then print this sheet and take it with you to your dental appointment. Always ask for a written treatment plan.

My NHS dentures don’t fit

admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 05:20:29 +0000

Email received from a concerned patient

“Please could you give me some advice about a problem that my fiancé is having with his dentures.

18 months ago my fiancé had a new set of dentures made. He had his upper teeth removed and had been wearing an immediate denture up to this point. He got on fine with the immediate denture apart from being getting slightly loose as you would expect, but he used a fixative and was fine.

The dentist at the practice had changed (same chain of owners) and he had another set made – expecting them to be a better fit. They were rocking a bit at the back and digging into the side of his sulcus when he ate. The dentist said that he would get used to them and it was because they were new. My fiancé then went to Australia for 6 months. He found that he had to wear the fixative to keep them up but just got on with it.

Three months ago he noticed a crack in the palate of his dentures. He took the dentures back to the dentist (again a different one, but still same owners). The dentist tried to charge him £16.00 for the repair. I told him to point out that denture repairs were free through N.H.S dentists and after pointing this out to the practice – he wasn’t charged. He also requested a soft re-line to try and make them fit better. The dentist said the re-line and the repair would be done together and that the re-line would cost him a band 2 charge of 40 something pound.

The dentures were duly sent off to the lab. When they came back he was given a cursory check and sent away with them. It didn’t look like they had been repaired very well (the crack was still visible) and it looked like the lab had just put the re-line on top. The crack has now deepened to almost all the way through and the dentures are unwearable. He has had to go back to wearing the old immediate dentures.

He is a pensioner and seems to have paid 198.00 pounds for a pair of dentures that he cannot wear. He is deaf so I am going back with him next week. I myself am a dental nurse at he BDH, and as he doesn’t complain I didn’t really know what was going on. ( we do not live together). In my opinion the denture didn’t fit properly in the first place which has caused them to crack almost in half.

I would like to know before I go what would be reasonable to ask the dentist to do. I do hope you can advise me in this matter. He is so miserable about the whole situation.”

Are crowns available on the NHS

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:03:56 +0000

Email received from a concerned patient

“I have recently signed up for NHS work, I need two white fillings – which I know are not covered by the NHS charges – but one side tooth has cracked, it already had a root canal filling from years ago, and is not suitable for filling. I have been told I need a crown – but it will cost me £400+.”

“My dental practice has some leaflets that suggest some crown work IS covered by the NHS, since this work is not cosmetic but necessary, can you advise me of the situation and whether this crown can be covered NHS work. the Tooth is on the right hand side, four teeth in from the front tooth, so it shows when I smile.”

Dental Treatment in Ireland

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:53:48 +0000

It looks like dental care is taking a nosedive in Ireland. According to the Irish Independent newspaper dental patients in Ireland will have to have teeth extracted rather than properly repaired with fillings and root canal work because of dental funding cuts. Are we going back to the dark ages? It is ridiculous to consider pulling out teeth rather than repairing them properly with fillings, crowns and root canal work.

Is the situation any better here in the UK? We can only hope the proposed new dental contracts being piloted will make it worthwhile for dentists to undertake NHS dental work again. If you get the same payment for extracting a tooth, which might take seconds, as you get for spending hours doing root canal work which is the most cost effective option for the dentist?

Possible Dental Complaint

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:55:01 +0000

Email received from a concerned dental patient

“I hope that you don’t mind that I have sent you this email, but I really didn’t know who to ask about this, and would really appreciate your advice about something, please. Excuse me that it is a bit long-winded, but I will endeavour to explain my situation.

I am a family carer, and I care for 3 members of my family; for this reason, it is often quite difficult to put myself first, even when it comes to pre-booked appointments. I am an NHS patient and, until recently, I was undergoing treatment between my Dentist and the Hospital, as I am suffering drastic bone loss in my gums, and I am slowly losing my teeth. Unfortunately, due to my role as a carer I have had to cancel dental appointments on a few occasions, as something has happened with one of the people who I care for, where they have been unwell, etc. As I don’t have anyone to turn to for support at these times, I have had no alternative but to put whatever I have to do for myself on hold. As I cannot plan ahead for unforeseeable events like this, on two of the occasions, I have only been able to give them two and a half hours notice of cancellation.

Ultimately, I recently received a letter from my dental practice saying that they were ‘deregistering’ me for missing appointments, to make way for new patients. They argued that they cannot be expected to accept 2 hours notice, as it was not enough time to fit anyone else in the slot. As I already suffer with stress and anxiety, this has only added to my worries. I emailed the Practice Manager, explaining that I am a carer, but they wrote back to me basically saying that they are a ‘busy practice’ and they are not changing their mind.

I feel very strongly that I am being discriminated against because I am doing the job of being a carer, and have to put others before myself. I am at a real loss now as to what to do, because a temporary dental prosthesis has already been made for me, which was supposed to be fitted so that the hospital could see how I tolerate it (I suffer with globus hystericus) so that they could cut back on it’s size. Unfortunately, I now can’t go back to see my own Dentist, so don’t know what to do now!! Therefore, any advice that you could give me as to what, if anything, I can do about this (ie. If I can make a complaint to anyone) would be very much appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Many thanks”

NHS Dental Treatment Plans

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:26:40 +0000

Before your NHS dentist does any Band 2 or Band 3 treatment he has to give you a written treatment plan. This treatment plan details the treatment and how much you will pay.

Broken Porcelain Bridge

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:46:22 +0000

Email received from a concerned patient

“A porcelain bridge rooted to my left hand front tooth, that is secured to what I believe to be the eye-tooth has broken away from both anchorage points. Several attempt have been made to correct the decay in the rear tooth, without any repair being effective for anything other a relatively short time. I was told a year ago, that should the bridge fail due to the caries it would not be possible to recreate the bridge and due to my overbite I would need to go private should any form of denture be considered. Is there any solution to this situation via NHS Treatment?

If some alternative approach is not feasible and as my teeth are in such a terrible state, (extractions having been carried out since my late teens) it would seem the only viable options is to have total extraction. Can this be conducted on The NHS and dentures be provided?”

How to make a complaint about dental treatment

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:30:51 +0000

Common Dental Complaints

Badly done treatment
Broken crowns and bridges
Excessive fees

Was the treatment NHS dental treatment or was it private dental treatment? The process is different.

NHS Dental Treatment

Complain to the dentist/dental practice. You may do this verbally if you wish but it is much better to do it in writing. According to the NHS Primary Care Trust’s contract with the dentist you should get an acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 days and a full written response within 10 days. Your letter to the dental practice should be brief and concise, use bullet points and headings, do not ramble on and do not accuse anyone at this stage. Stick to the facts – what is wrong, when did you first notice the problem and what do you want the dentist to do to resolve the situation. The dental practice should have a formal complaints procedure – ask to see a copy of this if you would like to. Your complaint should normally be within 12 months of the work or as soon as the problem came to your notice.
If you cannot resolve your problem with the dental practice then write to your local Primary Care Trust (PCT) who will investigate the complaint.
If you are still not happy you should then contact The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS www.pals.nhs.uk ) PALS provide help, advice and support on NHS services. There is a PALs associated with every NHS trust and they will make sure your complaint is properly investigated. If necessary they will help you get in touch with the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS). ICAS is a free service and they will help you to make a formal complaint.
If you are still not happy then next in line is the Health Service Ombudsman.

[Note: Previously the Healthcare Commission were the people to contact before you went to the Ombudsman with your complaint however they ceased to exist on 1 April 2009. The Care Quality Commission are now the regulators of health and social care (in England) and the complaints system is now different and is listed above]

Private Dental Treatment

Complain to the dentist/dental practice as detailed above.
If you are not satisfied then complain to the Dental Complaints Service (this is an independent service funded by the General Dental Council) www.dentalcomplaints.or.uk . You can create a complaint letter online at the above website. The Dental Complaints Service will investigate both sides of the complaint and give their recommendations. Although they have no formal powers and can only offer recommendations they say that their recommendations are almost always followed.
Then it’s the courts if you still think you have a case against the dentist.

[Note the General Dental Council (the dental regulator) will only investigate complaints that concern serious patient safety issues]

Is it always the dentist’s fault

It is important to remember that when things don’t go according to plan it is not necessarily the dentist’s fault. For instance a particular tooth might be diseased or damaged so much that nothing any dentist can do will save it.

Major Shape Up for NHS Dentistry

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:36:33 +0000

Review of NHS Dentistry by the Department of Health

According to the Department of Health the 2006 dental contract, which has been widely criticised is to be replaced.

A new system will be piloted in the autumn in selected dental practices. The existing 3 bands will be divided up into considerably more (between 5 and 12 bands – to be decided) so gone will be the old problem of a dentist being paid the same for one filling as for 4 fillings. Much of the dentist’s income will come from the amount of NHS patients on their registers and less will come from the actual work undertaken which will encourage dentists to take on more NHS patients. It is hoped that this will mean that dentists will encourage patients to look after their teeth and adopt good oral health.

Under the new system any poor dental work, such as fillings that fall out, would have to be replaced at the dentists own expense. So it is hoped this will discourage poor work.