NHS Dental - What's Covered?

I recently had an amalgam filling, as I was on maternity exemption and it was "free" whereas white would have been £300 (two teeth).  I'm not happy though, as the amalgam moves around a bit if I eat something hard.  So next time I'm back, I'm going to cough up the £300 to get the resin.   

And I plan to make an appointment for a cleaning next time I'm back in the USA.  The cleanings here (£49) are just not the same.

I recently had an amalgam filling, as I was on maternity exemption and it was "free" whereas white would have been £300 (two teeth).  I'm not happy though, as the amalgam moves around a bit if I eat something hard.  So next time I'm back, I'm going to cough up the £300 to get the resin.   

That sounds more of a dentist problem than the filling.

I have heard that the NHS crowns are not very good, which is why many go private for those.

And I plan to make an appointment for a cleaning next time I'm back in the USA.  The cleanings here (£49) are just not the same.

There are some private dentists in the city that clean properly, but expect to pay nearly £200 for that if you don't have a job that gives health insurance.

Wow. A good cleaning by a competent dental hygienist in SandyEggo was $94 cash.

Since retiring in the USA we got used to paying full price for our dentist so when we returned to England we took up the recommendation of a private practice that our good friends here recommended. Not only do we love the dentist, who after the 1st visit recommended not bothering with insurance since our teeth were very healthy, but we can't believe how inexpensive it is compared to what we had grown accustomed to. The first visit was free apart from the full set of X-Rays that cost £7. Like the dentists in the USA the X-rays were immediately brought up on a computer screen where he talked to me about them.

A scale and polish with the hygienist costs £54. The 2nd visit 7 months later included an examination by the dentist which cost £27 and he told me (and my wife at her appointment) that he didn't really need to see us more than once every 18 months unless we had issues, and that we could continue with the hygienist if we wanted but even that wasn't absolutely necessary as we obviously practiced excellent dental hygene.

We do have a dentist taking NHS patients in town that my sister and family use but they do seem to have a lot more issues. (My sister has crowns, caps and a dental implant or 2)

I'm thinking about becoming a "dental health tourist".
On the first of July, I broke a molar and it became infected. I was told to get a root canal and have a cap on it in 5 steps at a cost of $350 a step. I literally just paid my last one an hour ago (!) so I'm $1750 lighter. Plus, I have been paying insurance for 14 years and I STILL had to pay $1750. The dentist told me that I will definitely need to have the procedure done on another tooth because it had a huge cavity in it.

Guess what horrible thing literally just happened ONE MINUTE AGO?

Yes, that tooth just broke in half. FML. ARGH!!!

I'm thinking about becoming a "dental health tourist".
On the first of July, I broke a molar and it became infected. I was told to get a root canal and have a cap on it in 5 steps at a cost of $350 a step. I literally just paid my last one an hour ago (!) so I'm $1750 lighter. Plus, I have been paying insurance for 14 years and I STILL had to pay $1750. The dentist told me that I will definitely need to have the procedure done on another tooth because it had a huge cavity in it.

Guess what horrible thing literally just happened ONE MINUTE AGO?

Yes, that tooth just broke in half. FML. ARGH!!!

Ouch!  It doesn’t sound like you’ll have any choice other than get it done.

Good luck.

Ouch!  It doesn’t sound like you’ll have any choice other than get it done.

Good luck.

You're right, I don't have much of a choice but I thought I had a little more time. I only just paid for my husband to get a filling re-filled and on that visit, was told he needed some more work done, my son had an accident earlier in the year and I had to pay $15K hospital and dental bills, my daughter has finally agreed to getting braces (she had a traumatic experience at a dentist during kindergarten and I literally have to drag her crying) and yesterday, I made a financial agreement to pay $5K cash upfront instead of $7,500 in payments. I thought I was so done with the money siphoning to the dentist. Now this.

*sigh*

I'm thinking about becoming a "dental health tourist".
On the first of July, I broke a molar and it became infected. I was told to get a root canal and have a cap on it in 5 steps at a cost of $350 a step. I literally just paid my last one an hour ago (!) so I'm $1750 lighter. Plus, I have been paying insurance for 14 years and I STILL had to pay $1750. The dentist told me that I will definitely need to have the procedure done on another tooth because it had a huge cavity in it.

Guess what horrible thing literally just happened ONE MINUTE AGO?

Yes, that tooth just broke in half. FML. ARGH!!!

See, that's the problem with insurance. Everyone thinks, just because you have it, you'll be protected from huge bills, but that can be far from the case. 

That sucks Lorena. Could you just have the root canal and keep the temporary crown until you have a chance to catch your breath financially?