How to find a NHS dentist who is taking on NHS Fee paying patients?

Question:

Yesterday I paid £95 for a tooth extraction, the tooth itself cost £60 to take out then all the rest of the money was spent on xrays ect. I was taken off the NHS list as I missed 1 appointment as I was in hospital at the time and too sick to cancel the appointment so hence have been paying for treatment for the past couple of years. I claim working family tax credit but not not child credit as I earn too much so they say so I dont even have an exemption certificate. I am in a health plan so I will get a percentage back of what I paid but having looked on the NHS site all local dentists and even further away dentists are not taking on fee paying patients for the NHS. Is there anyother way I can search for someone to take me and my daughter on without paying an arm and a leg everytime?

Answer:
Phone your local PALS service. PALS stands for Patient Advice and Liason Service. They have lists of dentists who are taking on NHS patients and the lists get updated regularly. It should be a freephone number too. I worked for my local PALS office, the vast majority of their calls were people in your situation - they've been kicked off a list for missing an appt, so they'll understand and won't judge you.

Good luck!

Needle in a haystack. I've just moved and the only one I could find has a 6 month waiting list. In the meantimes I'm paying through the nose for Sweeny Todd's skiing trips.

its a disgrace isn't it? like many I resort to going abroad to fix my teeth, it doesn't save much in the end but at least you get a nice holiday to go with it

if you get any benefit child or working tax credit you do not pay for dentist or prescriptions - you dont say what area you are in but I had no problem finding a NHS dentist in Scotland and when i had a tooth extraction and was painful for 1 month afterwards i phone another dentist and got an appointment for 3 weeks later.

Very few dentists take new NHS patients any more, I'm afraid - all I can say is that £95 for a tooth extraction is NOT an arm and a leg - it costs £45 to have it done under the NHS - and you could be waiting up to two months for an appointment. So after whatever percentage you get refunded (50%?) the difference would be around 25 quid - then take off cost of extra travel if you did find a dentists accepting NHS patients (say) a further 20 miles away and it;s hardly worth fussing over.

No you might find this difficult. Virtually no dentists now take on new NHS patients. As patients die or leave a dental practice they are not replaced with other NHS patients. In a few years all dental treatment will be private and will not be available on the NHS. This is because the government will not pay the going rates for dental treatment to dentists who feel they are subsidising the NHS.Unless the NHS is prepared to pay a lot more for dental treatment the situation will get worse.

You should search the NHS site for dentists in adjacent areas- you may need to travel some distance.

NHS dentists have had to be strict on failed appointments as they prevent targets being hit- NHS dentists can lose their jobs if they don't hit targets.

How to find a NHS dentist who is taking on NHS Fee paying patients?

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