The dentist will see you now

DO you visit the dentist regularly? The British Dental Association have published figures that report approximately 11,000 people a week visit the GP with dental problems such as tooth decay or abscesses, rather than going to a dentist.

Part of this problem is the rising cost of dental treatment.

It costs £20.60 for an examination in England, this includes diagnosis and advice. Charges can go up quickly if you need fillings, root canal treatment or tooth removal or crowns, dentures or bridges. The British Dental Association sees charges for dental treatment as a “tax on health”.

Healthwatch hears that many people visit the dentist “every now and again” or when they “notice a problem.” The most commonly cited issues for not going to the dentist regularly was cost.

Dental treatment is seen by many as simply too expensive, and many on low to moderate incomes get no exemption from dental charges.

There is confusion about what the actual cost of NHS dental work is. Nearly five in 10 people we surveyed said that they were “not really confident” that they know which treatments are available on the NHS and which must be paid for privately and only two in ten people we surveyed said that they are fully confident in this matter.

The current NHS system is widely accepted to be flawed.

Someone with good oral hygiene who has chipped a tooth will pay exactly the same amount as their neighbour who has not attended in 15 years and needs 10 fillings, three extractions and a root canal, as under the NHS you don’t pay for each individual treatment like you do privately.

A depressing new trend is the fact that up to 80% of toddlers do not visit the dentist because parents do not realise they need to have their children’s teeth checked, as a result there has been a steep rise in hospital admissions to remove decayed teeth in children.

Hospitals in England performed a total of 9,220 tooth extractions in 2015-16 among children aged between one and four, often because of tooth decay.

Although local dentists may be upholding guidance around communication of charges it is clear from the patient perspective this is not always sufficient.

We recommendation that dentists should review their current procedures for informing patients about treatment charges to make sure these not only meet NHS guidance and standards but work to fully support their patients.

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