[rollthehard6]

There is still a divide in the UK - unlike general medical care, dental care is not 100% free at the point of use (Similar for optical care).

Dentists can take a mix of private and (public) NHS patients or specialise purely in private or NHS. If you move to a new area it can sometimes be hard to get into a practice as an NHS patient.

NHS dental care is heavily subsidised but not entirely free (See here for prices where I am in Scotland - https://www.scottishdental.org/public/treatment-charges/)

Typically, if I get a check up and need nothing done other than scale and polish the cost is around 15 USD (The exam part being free)

As a consequence, having some dental insurance plan is not uncommon here - my partner needs more dental work than I do so has such a plan called Denplan.