Is there a National Health Dentist in South Wales ?

Eldest Daughter had toothache the other night and there are no National Health Dentists in South Wales ... They are all private ... Apparently there might be some National Health ones but there are waiting lists of several years ... My Daughter found a Dentist who gave her a consultation (?) for £50 ... She was told that there might be some root canal work required and that would cost £500 per tooth ... She was given a prescription for antibiotics.

There is a high percentage of unemployment in South Wales and there are thousands of people that can't get dental treatment on the National Health Service and they can't afford to go private ... My Daughter is in a low paid job and is unable to pay these high dental charges and we are unable to help financially.

The only way to get free dental treatment quickly is to commit a crime and go to prison ... The authorities are legally obliged to look after your wellbeing in prison.

Just wondering if anyone knows of a more modestly priced Dentist in South Wales.
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march.brown said:

The only way to get free dental treatment quickly is to commit a crime and go to prison ... The authorities are legally obliged to look after your wellbeing in prison.
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Or joined the armed forces, they have the same deal.

Surely you would be entitled to register with the nearest NHS dentist? Make some phone calls.
The travel costs would be insignificant compared to that.

monkeyboy said:

Surely you would be entitled to register with the nearest NHS dentist? Make some phone calls.
The travel costs would be insignificant compared to that.

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NHS Dentists have waiting lists as long as your arm (years in some cases) ... Found one where the root canal work is about £200 per tooth ... That is still out of the question for my Daughter ... I have dentures and was quoted "about £650" for a new set ... I am still looking for a NHS Dentist within a reasonable distance.

Apparently there are Dental Plans available at about £13 to £23 per month which give you two inspections per year and 25% off the bill ...

It is almost worth going on holiday and having the work done abroad.

The search continues.
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Quite a few here - http://www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/localservices/searchlocalservices.aspx?s=Dentist

They dont all do NHS but some do.

It is almost worth going on holiday and having the work done abroad.

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A whole industry has formed in the US, 'health tourism'. Medical procedures, pharmecuticals, geriatric care. Though I think our dentists have gotten more savey about offering individual payment programs, larger proceedures are still done in Mexico and elsewhere.

The key is to use your vacation time to reduce uses of sick days.

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Wife went today to a Private Dentist (£50 consultation) ... She has had two temporary fillings and has been referred to a "Dental Referral Centre" ... Don't yet know the cost of everything or when she will attend.

Whilst my Wife was in with the Dentist , I asked the receptionist if there were any National Health Dentists in the area ... She mentioned the name of a nearby practice and said they had just taken on another dentist ... When we got home , I rang that Dentist and their receptionist said that they had just taken on another Dentist and the books were open for new patients ... So , I am in now , but my Wife unfortunately can't get on their books till her treatment is completed with the private practice ... If we hadn't visited the Dentist today , we wouldn't have found out about the other NHS one.

Previously I had been quoted "about £650" for a set of dentures ... The NHS dentist has quoted me £177 ... That's a huge difference ... My first appointment has been booked for when we get back off holiday later this month.

I have informed all members of our family about the NHS Dentist that is accepting new patients ... It's on a "first come , first served" basis.
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NHS work only has three set prices.

£17. ( $26 ) Exam, polish, xrays, scale, advice, etc..
£47 ( $73 ) Fillings, extraction, root canal..
£204 ( $315 ) Crowns, dentures, bridges...

Emergency and urgent treatment is charged at £17 no matter what is done.

These prices are per set of treatment so if it requires multiple trips to the dentist you only have to pay the once. If you are being charged anything other than these prices it isn't being done on the NHS. Any work needed to keep your mouth teeth and gums heathly and free of pain come under the NHS umbrella and should be charged as above.

Try moving to Bracknell. We have so many NHS dentists they are advertising for NHS patients.

Jay R said:

NHS work only has three set prices.

£17. ( $26 ) Exam, polish, xrays, scale, advice, etc..
£47 ( $73 ) Fillings, extraction, root canal..
£204 ( $315 ) Crowns, dentures, bridges...

Emergency and urgent treatment is charged at £17 no matter what is done.

These prices are per set of treatment so if it requires multiple trips to the dentist you only have to pay the once. If you are being charged anything other than these prices it isn't being done on the NHS. Any work needed to keep your mouth teeth and gums heathly and free of pain come under the NHS umbrella and should be charged as above.

Try moving to Bracknell. We have so many NHS dentists they are advertising for NHS patients.

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Thanks Jay for the list of prices ... strange that I was quoted £177 for dentures though ... I will see what their other charges are when I come back home from North Wales ... First appointment in that week is 22nd November ... No problem as it is not urgent.
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Blimey, didn't know you had different prices in Wales. Mind you, if the dentist could charge a bit more, perhaps there would be a few more NHS ones around.

Wonder what the prices in the US are like. Perhaps a Yank could chime in here with how much they would expect to pay for a simple xray and one medium sized filling.

I think that if you have two or more fillings done at the same time you only get the one charge but I'm not 100% on that.

I thought of that... only way to get mine fixed would be go to jail and get 'em fixed. No thanks to my mom's genes, my teeth are shot and it would cost more than the payoff for our house to do it. Insurance only covers 50%... no good. Just as unaffordable.

The U.S. really does need socialized medicine for dentistry.

If dentists weren't such greedy f**Ks I wouldn't have to post this. They're right down there with lawyers IMO.

Rich

richpalm said:

I thought of that... only way to get mine fixed would be go to jail and get 'em fixed. No thanks to my mom's genes, my teeth are shot and it would cost more than the payoff for our house to do it. Insurance only covers 50%... no good. Just as unaffordable.

The U.S. really does need socialized medicine for dentistry.

If dentists weren't such greedy f**Ks I wouldn't have to post this. They're right down there with lawyers IMO.

Rich

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Our National Health System (NHS) would be great if it worked in all cases , but it doesn't ... Most Dentists in our area have gone into private practice ... They all seem to have gone very upmarket with their houses and cars ... The poorest Dentists (the younger ones) seem to only have Porsches and Mercedes or BMW's ... The only Porch that I will ever have is attatched to my house and it needs a new roof ... I have now found a NHS Dentist and am going to have a new set of dentures ... The private practice said that the dentures would cost "about £650" ... The National Health dentist quoted £177 ... We do have very wealthy Private Dentists in the UK.

We have a beautiful large new General Hospital in the Neath / Port Talbot area but they don't seem to have cover after six at night ... My Wife had to go to Hospital the other night (at about seven) with a bleeding throat ... She had swallowed something in her MacDon***s meal or (more likely) in the cup of tea afterwards and it cut her throat deep down ... She said the tea had a metallic taste but that it might be a different type of tea they were using ... She began coughing up blood which eventually stopped after about fifteen minutes ... The Macd manageress was informed and she took all the used tissues , teabag etc to send off to head office ... We still have not heard from them yet ... Our new modern hospital didn't have a Doctor present in Accident and Emergency ... There was only a Nurse on duty ... He had to ring a bigger hospital for advice and they gave my Wife an appointment for two days after ... How can a large hospital NOT have a Doctor ?

To get 24 hour emerency medical treatment , we would have to go to the larger hospital which is another 20 miles away from our local hospital.

So it can be very "hit & miss" being treated in some NHS areas ... Others are great ... It's what they call "A Post-Code Lottery" OR "You get what you pay for".
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