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Bruce
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Wollongong, Australia
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06-06-2018, 11:26 PM
1

I was shocked! Shocked I was!

On Tuesday I broke a lower front tooth at the gum and had to ring a dentist to get it extracted. He fitted me in the next afternoon (there was no pain) when he gave me choices but as it is a tooth which does nothing I decided to stick with extraction. It was tricky because it was just the root below the gum rather like an iceberg the root was twice the length of the broken tooth!

Anyway I mentioned the cost on FB (the social network we don't mention). To my surprise my cousin (in Yorkshire) said:



When I rang my brother last night he told me that when he moved to Manchester he couldn't get an NHS dentist and he now goes privately. Dentists in Australia have always been private but each state government has a scheme for low income people (I have never used the scheme).

I was very surprised to hear that because I remember the dentist in the UK cost me nothing but is this true? How do you feel about such a major change to the NHS?



That's my itemised bill for my extraction $236 (£118) because I don't have health insurance they always add the minimum items if I had health insurance it would have been more.


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gumbud
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06-06-2018, 11:35 PM
2

Re: I was shocked! Shocked I was!

one of the first things I did one entering OZ was to become a member of a private health fund with my family and have never regretted it - last year had $10,000 worth of dental care and didn't pay a penny - oh well cent - oh well no cents now only 5 cent pieces - right bruce??
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Bruce
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Wollongong, Australia
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08-06-2018, 03:44 AM
3

Re: I was shocked! Shocked I was!

I gave up health insurance years ago but I was interested in hearing people's opinion on the apparent removal of dental cover from the NHS because that seems to be a big change from the NHS as I knew it.
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SW England
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08-06-2018, 10:34 AM
4

Re: I was shocked! Shocked I was!

There are still NHS dentists around but it's a bit of a postcode lottery tbh. Private dentists here charge horrendous prices and of course even the NHS dentists are not free unless you are on benefits.

I believe NHS dentists are disappearing fast and the Nation's teeth are suffering because of it. We have five dentists in my area, all private.
Mel15
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08-06-2018, 12:09 PM
5

Re: I was shocked! Shocked I was!

I have an NHS dentist and costs here in NI are different to England

The NHS only have to maintain oral hygiene so anything else you pay through the nose for
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08-06-2018, 12:21 PM
6

Re: I was shocked! Shocked I was!

At last I have got onto a NHS dentist .
It costs 21.50 for a cursory inspection.
Anything else you pay for luckily I have had nothing done for years now.
I do go the hygienist every six months which now costs £58 for 30 minutes.
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08-06-2018, 01:07 PM
7

Re: I was shocked! Shocked I was!

Originally Posted by Muddy ->
At last I have got onto a NHS dentist .
It costs 21.50 for a cursory inspection.
Anything else you pay for luckily I have had nothing done for years now.
I do go the hygienist every six months which now costs £58 for 30 minutes.
Not a bad job to have is it?

When I was with an NHS dentist a few years ago, the hygenist only took ten minutes on my teeth. Assuming they still charged fifty odd pounds per session, that means they might have been charging the NHS at least £300 per hour.
 

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