[rollthehard6]

I'm not sure how true that is? Would like to see some statistics on how many people elect for private vs NHS. Myself I've never had private dental healthcare and have no complaints, especially since I am paying probably an average of around 150 USD a year for my dental care and can pay as little as 30 USD a year typically.

[pricechild]

Only a few years ago most "NHS Dentists" were full.

Just like that. No new patients. Tough.

It's only relatively recently that you'll find yourself driving past one with "Now accepting NHS patients" on big banners outside.

[toyg]

It's still a big challenge to find one in many areas (like mine). You call, get on the list, and if it's not urgent it will take weeks or months, you might have to drive quite a bit to get where they send you, and don't expect to find people happy to see you when you get there.

[cma]

When you say most do you mean 51% were full, or something more drastic than that? Wouldn't most having vacancies be inefficient?

[TheOtherHobbes]

Full as in "Yes, we're accepting patients, but the waiting list is two years, and we won't see you for an emergency until then."

I had a lot of NHS work done last year. I didn't pay much because I was used as a guinea pig by a couple of freshly qualified dentists who wanted to improve their skills before being promoted to private practice.

One dentist was good, one was kind of okay, I guess.

The deal wasn't explained. It was "And this is the NHS dentist you'll be seeing." Which is maybe not as ethical as it could be.

I've paid for private care in the past and it's never been significantly better. You get more choice of filling/crown material, but the actual work seems to be as good - or bad - as NHS work.

By far the best work was done for free by supervised students at an NHS teaching hospital in the 80s. Most of it has lasted for decades.

The issue with dentistry is possibly that there's no distinction between primary health care - the "have this tooth out or die of sepsis" kind - and purely cosmetic surgery, which is strictly optional.

There's also some overlap with products like implants, which improve looks but can also work better than fillings/crowns.

I can't think of any other branch of medicine which has the same tension between health and appearance.

[toyg]

I think the key is "most people who have a choice". That translates as "most people who can afford to spend a few grand per year on dentistry without really noticing".

I guess parent is a bit more upper-middle class than you.

[dazc]

I spend £27 GBP a month and that is considered to be expensive by some people who pay as little as £7.

For this I get 4 cleans/checkups a year and a zealous hygiene regime. I also get some insurance for accidental trauma too.

Sure, if you do need major work it's going to be expensive but the emphasis is very much aimed at preventing this. In the past 15 years or so I have had minimal work done.

Relying on an NHS practice is, as indicated in other replies, a bit of a lottery and you'll be hard pressed to get decent treatment for something serious. Partly because some dentists are not qualified to do stuff like root canal and partly because of funding restrictions - they just don't want that kind of work.

Having said that, things have improved since my childhood when NHS dentists were payed per filling. You can imagine how that worked out in many case.

[arethuza]

Private dental insurance in the UK is most definitely not "a few grand per year".

[dogma1138]

Private dental insurance in the U.K. doesn't cover as much as you think.

[arethuza]

Well, I get regular checkups and when I need work they do it - I haven't encountered any areas where stuff wasn't covered.

Edit: Pretty sure I pay £30 odd a month and I've had root canal treatment, new crowns, etc.

[rollthehard6]

As far as I know this is similar to my partner's deal and the most expensive thing is a crown and only the fabrication of that is not included, the rest of the treatment for it is in the plan.

[dogma1138]

It will cover only certain things, expensive crowns and fillings which are not covered by the NHS will not be covered or will be simply be over the cap of your yearly insurance coverage.

If you need a simple crown that is subsidized if not completely by the NHS you'll be able to offload it to the insurance pretty easily, if you want the top of the line ceramic crowns that cost 1500-2000 GBP no insurance will actually cover that.

[dogma1138]

I also pay that and both AXA and BUPA cover upto 75% and upto like 300 and something GBP a year unless you are doing procedures which are also covered by the NHS.

[rollthehard6]

Must be as I'd certainly notice a few grand per year being spent on dentistry ; )