NHS Dental

I was curious how they go about charging for dental work? When i get to england, i want to get my wisdom teeth removed...

There is a set list of NHS fees. This is the leaflet for England & Wales:


http://www.ppa.org.uk/pdfs/ppc/HC12.pdf

I just had a course of treatment from a private dentist:

Check up, including x-rays, a thorough clean, all taking one hour, followed by a second appointment which involved a wisdom tooth extraction and excellent cosmetic work on a discoloured front tooth, also taking an hour.  According to that fee scale I should have paid £194 if I had gone NHS, and I paid less than that.

I'd shop around.  Or go to my dentist 

Vicky

you mention wisdom teeth- in my experience (esp if you have dental insurance) US docs are more wisdom teeth-extraction happy.  mine were taken out almost as soon as they showed up on the xray- in case they messed up my years of orthodontics.

my boyfriend suffers from painful wisdom teeth to this day, and yet they won't/don't take them out. 

disclaimer- this could be a gross US/UK generalization.

I agree with Meggles, they won't take out your wisdom teeth unless it is absolutely necessary.  Also I believe that dentists here in the UK are not allowed to write perscriptions for pain killers so you would have to see your GP for that. I'm sure someone will correct me on that if I am wrong.

Maybe things have changed then because when I was 18 I saw a dentist who was most insistent that my wisdom teeth needed to come out in case of future problems. I refused, and 22 years on have had no problems with them, and no other dentist has said anything about then either.

I agree with Meggles, they won't take out your wisdom teeth unless it is absolutely necessary.  Also I believe that dentists here in the UK are not allowed to write perscriptions for pain killers so you would have to see your GP for that. I'm sure someone will correct me on that if I am wrong.

not sure about the dentist-painkiller thing, but they did give me antibiotics.  but you can get tylenol w/codeine in it OTC!  (just don't bring it to several countries abroad)

Also, as I said many, many times you may not even be able to get in to see an NHS dentist depending on the area you live.  I've been on the waiting list for a NHS dentist for about 6 months and counting and I work with someone whose been on it 18 months.. so theres no end in site for me.  I had to go private.

Although, if you are in pain, thats a different story and you should be seen right away.

Also, as I said many, many times you may not even be able to get in to see an NHS dentist depending on the area you live. 

Your local Primary Care Trust has an obligation to at least make their best efforts to find you an NHS dentist if you need one.

Look on NHS.uk, find the number for your Primary Care Trust's Patient Advice and Liaison Service and phone them to ask for numbers of dentists with open lists. It may not be in the most convenient location for you (e.g. in the county I work for I CAN find you a dentist but you need to be willing and able to travel a bit if you want to avoid a waiting list). They should also be able to suggest dentists or other PCTs in neighbouring counties - e.g. I'm in Bucks but I have numbers for a few open dentists in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire as back up....

And if it's an emergency and you're in pain, the Patient Advice team should be able to find you an urgent appointment at a dental clinic to get you out of pain. That may just mean that they drain an abcess and give you antibiotics, or put in a temporary filling, but they will get you out of pain....

Also when you're looking for an NHS dentist, don't discount practices staffed by final year dental students (if there's a dental school in your area)...the students are supervised by qualified dentists at all times.

Luckily, I needed no dental work and when I went private it was just for a checkup and didnt have any cavities... and the price wasnt THAT bad (£105 for 3 Xrays, checkup, cleaning)  I was offered the option of going to a dentist outside of where i live (about 45 mins away) but I only have my provisional and the option I was given was pretty  un-accessible by bus and train.  So, I stand corrected in my previous post... you CAN get a NHS dentist somewhere, if you can reach them or not is a different story.  I couldn't, just my experience.

A woman at my work needed to get hers out.  Since it requires her being totally under she has to go to the hospital for the procedure.  Which means over a three month wait in our area, which means months of pain.  Also, they seem to take them out as they bother you here, as opposed to all at once.

I got mine out in the US at 17 and I was totally under, but only at the office. 

I must admit I am glad I did.  You would not believe what happened to those who still had their wisdom teeth at boot camp. OUCH!

Wisdom tooth extraction doesn't always require a general.  In fact, it usually doesn't these days.  I just had a small injection of something nice in my gum, although the dentist is authorised to administer something stronger by way of an IV.

Vicky

If you are needing them out anytime soon you might want to have it done before you get to the UK as someone else mentioned the waiting lists are rather long here. 

I did get in quickly for some emergency care but unfortunately the temp filling they put in came out w/in a month and they wouldn't give me another appointment because I wasn't in pain.  I now have half a tooth on one side.  lol at least it is in the back though. 

dianeb, where do you live? I'll give you a number to call to see if they can find you a dentist.