Cradle to the Grave?

[Hyacinth]

Want to share this..

GUTTED!

Went to the Dentist this morning....I pay £10 per month now for a basic inspection, scale & clean once a year AND the privilege of being kept on a dentist's books?

Got a bill for £265 to pay next week for a course of treatment that will last 30 mns.....no X-ray/anaesthetic etc. required....

OK I can pay it.....but the Certificate that says that I'm exempt from NHS charges is now obsolete?

Dentist's daughter is now a qualified physiotherapist but this year's qualified physio's in B'ham can't get any jobs.....the Health Services can't take on staff cos they haven't the budget to pay their salaries....

I'm NOT knocking my dentist (a friend).....she can only operate within the system and I'm pleased to call her my friend, but.......'cradle to the grave'? Times long passed - amd perhaps I should have posted this in 'Nostalgia'?

[Hyacinth]

[calendula]

makes you sick to the teeth  ;D BUT take a stand back and carefully think about whether you really really need this treatment - gotta get used to this as I'm sure the whole NHS will run like this and no longer be the NHS - the moral of the story is that we need to stay as healthy as possible and growing our own food is a huge step towards that - I sympathise - private health is one thing but to pay for the honour to be on a list as well, geez  >:(

[saddad]

When we wanted to register our children with a dentist they would only take them (NHS) on if we both signed up as paying customers... twice yearly check ups for no treatment for 15 years... and the odd X-ray if they needed extra cash that month!!!
>:(

[MrsKP]

I pay £15/month and that includes 2 check ups, 3 hygenist visits, and ALL work carried out in the surgery i.e. fillings, extractions.

the only thing it won't pay for is crowns and plates (I suppose).

That's through Denplan and I've been with them for years.

Stupid thing is that I also pay £12/month to the private health scheme at work which will also pay up to £100/year for dental treatment but NOT cover my Denplan payments.  ::)

I was really in two minds whether to cancel the Denplan and just go with HSA, but I'd only need one or two extra fillings a year (all mine are years old and probably just about to need replacing) and it would end up costing me more "unexpected" bills.

I can't fault either dentist.  I was with the same one in Croydon for 18 years and trained him from a youth, and my new one in glesga is just as lovely (and pain free).  with all the problems my mum and nan have had with their teeth i feel it's money well spent and you get what you pay for, but i just wish HSA weren't so inflexible.  the only reason i stay with them is that i can also get £150/year on glasses and a massage every month (which i haven't used yet).

one of life's wee bitches.

[mc55]

KP, that sounds pretty good to me - replacement fillings under the new revised charge list are £40 (although if you need more within 2 months I think its free).  Costs me £25 everytime I see my hygenist (apparently I'm at risk from my own bacteria  :o ) so have to go every 2-3 months.  Up side is that I've now been accepted as a patient at the dental hospital (their treatment is free)

[MrsKP]

I'm not moaning about the denplan bit - i think i've definitely had value for money from them for the past 10 years or so, just that fact that HSA won't cover my dental premiums which i think is daft.

i'm always good as gold for a week after coming out of the surgery, and then i lapse.  so i do need to go to the hygenist every 3 months or so just to keep me on the rails.

;D

[Hyacinth]

Denplan costs are SO variable....friends who had to register with them get the same deal as me - at half the price? KP, you've reminded me to check the health insurance scheme I've paid into for years, so might get something back there when I get the final bill....so thanks for that.  8) Like HSA they don't cover the Denplan premiums.

All in all, just one of life's little blips, eh? Thank goodness I've got a box of chox to console myself with ;D

wonder if my car likes chox? It's due for its MOT soon  ::) ;D

[MrsKP]

i've been a Plan B ever since I've been with them.  that was £17 darn arf and £15 up here.  they increase the fees each year, but by a nominal amount so i don't notice. 

when i was shopping around for a new dentist up here, and asked the old one what they're actual prices were, i nearly choked.  something daft like £90 a filling !!!!!!!!

not even gold lmao

there's you eating chocs and me drinking the evil irn bru. what will our dentists say !!   :o

[Hyacinth]

You're a 'Plan B'?

roflmao...... ;D ;D ;D

[MrsKP]

I've always been a B, ever since the B stream at school.

Mrs Average that's me.

;D

[muddy boots]

Would like to know if anyone has tried HSA?  OH tried it some years ago and found them ok.  Haven't signed up but would be interested to know if anyone else has experience of using them!

;D

[tim]

All I know is that Wife had 2 fillings recently - £106.

I had a denture remade to accept a replacement for an extracted tooth - £650!!

Perhaps we should have been on a 'plan'. Is it too late??

[Hyacinth]

Not too late Tim, but my with my Plan one paid subs for 6 months before qualifying. Worth shopping around, tho.

[MrsKP]

Would like to know if anyone has tried HSA?  OH tried it some years ago and found them ok.  Haven't signed up but would be interested to know if anyone else has experience of using them!

;D

i'll let you know muddy boots.  i've got an opticians appointment next friday, and have saved about 3 or 4 other bills to be submitted.  considering i've now been a member for 6 months and not yet billed them for anything, it will be interesting to see how easy they part with their cash.

[Emagggie]

Daughter 2 had  3 wisdom teeth out whilst with HSA. (perks of job) Done in local private hospital, all excellent. Now she has moved jobs again and joined in our Denplan scheme. Keep meaning to  cost prices against national health but never seem to get round to it. I had major probs 3 years ago when dentist fractured my upper jaw trying to extract a tooth. All subsequent visits to hospital were covered by NH, and I could claim nothing from Denplan!! He retired shortly after, and as he was a friend I felt I couldn't pursue it further.

[froglets]

Ironically, gold fillings are the cheaper option.

I'm one of those grumpy old gits who gets very hacked off at working long hours in a stressful job for the privalage of paying 40% tax to fund services I can't use ( no NHS dentists available since I moved here) or get put to the back of the queue on because I'm not a priority because of my age and "health" ( 9 months wait for a diagnostic test on the NHS - I went private so paid twice!!!), don't have kids, don't qualify for any benefits rant rant rant rant.

...and breath.......

[Carol]

There is a shortage of Dentists up here in the Borders as well.  I had to go into Northumberland to be attended to last year because I was knocked off my Dentists books locally.  I believe two or three Polish Dentists are promised quite soon.  Sad state of affairs really.  Wonder if there is a shortage of Dentists being trained now.  Ridiculous the prices that are charged as well.   :( :( :(

[bennettsleg]

I'm very forunate to have inherited my grandmother's genetic trait for hard teeth so only go to the dentist once a year. I needed a tiny filing on the tooth just behind the lower right incisor.  I could have paid £45 for an NHS filling in black metal (don't know the correct name) but as I wanted to smile without sucking the atmosphere down the new black hole I paid £60 for a white filling. 

There were a few ladylike exclamations flying around the surgery that morning I could tell you!  I recall mumbling something about the increase in costs since my last filling (2 years ago £45 and 5 years ago £22) and asked if they had a pricing matrix based on a sliding scale of cost Vs size of filling as surely my cavity was so small that I could get a discount!  ;)   ;D

Don't like the idea of blackmailing parents into joining so that the kids can be registered... Sounds like shooting fish in a barrel.

[Hyacinth]

I'm very forunate to have inherited my grandmother's genetic trait for hard teeth. 

and my son's very fortunate to have inherited the calcium from mine :o ;)

[Meg]

Sob sob cry cry. used to be that screaming horrible child parents drag in to surgeries!!! But now manage to walk in with a bit of grace by myself!! Am in denplan with the £11 a month job. My mouth is a wreck other people who don't go seem to have far better smiles than me. One of the priviliges  of being an old bat I guess.