Cost of emergency dental appointments at the NHS and that at private dentists

 

Cost of dental treatments in the NHS with respect to any private practice in the United Kingdom varies widely. A treatment at the NHS will cost you around £25.80, whereas that at any private practice will come around £99 for any emergency treatment. In the table below let us explore typical cost of private dentistry treatments in London.

Treatments at private dentistry practices	Approximate cost
Emergency dental appointment	Around £99
Dental x-ray	Usually free, the cost is included in the overall treatment cost
Prescriptions	Free in most cases and that is included in the overall cost of the treatment
Root canal treatment or RCT	It starts around £950
Tooth extraction	The standard cost is around £300 a tooth
Teeth bonding to counter issues of chips and breakage	Treatment cost starts around £195
White tooth filling	The cost is around £285
Dental crown	The starting price is around £1250

 

It is also relevant to mention that some private practices charge a deposit of around £50 when you book an appointment online.

Payments options for an emergency dental appointment

Various payment options are there when an emergency dental appointment is concerned. One chooses the option that is most convenient. The options include the following –

·       Dental insurance policy or coverage

·       Many practices also offer the privilege of using 0%finance across 12 months to cover the cost of the follow up treatments

So how much is the cost of a dental emergency treatment? The cost of these treatments is not uniform and varies widely both between practices and cases in a same practice. The major factors that guide the cost are the exact condition one if suffering from.

It is also worth mentioning that usually dental x-rays and prescriptions remain included in the emergency dental appointment fee across several practices.

Most dentists maintain an emergency contact number for patients who may need emergency treatment and care outside standard business hours. You have to call at that emergency number and get in touch with the dentist. In most cases it is an answering machine which answers your queries and gives you the necessary advices on emergency dental care. Actually a dental emergency may occur any time of the day or night on any given day of the week.

Most dental practices across the UK that accept emergency cases usually remain open six days a week instead of standard five, including Saturdays. Many of them even attend to urgent cases on Sundays based on prior appointments. However, the fees on weekends are likely to be little higher than that on weekdays and normal business hours.

What is your alternative option in case you cannot contact an emergency dentist beyond normal business hours? In that case you can, or rather should, call the NHS helpline at 111. This option is likely to provide you with out of hours’ service for you almost immediately, says a dentist who charges reasonable cost for emergency dental appointments. There is also the option of walking straightaway into the A&E room of the nearest hospital where you will get the initial treatment to prevent life threatening condition that you could be suffering from because of the dental emergency issue. However it is better to get into the A&E room only under the following conditions –

·       There is a severe injury to your mouth or the face that involves severe bleeding or

·       Massive swelling in the mouth, face, lips, throat or the eye    

Dental emergency appointments and the NHS

An NHS dentist charges £25.80 for an emergency appointment and this cost covers the primary care and remedial treatment that you may need. Suppose you are suffering from a severe pain in the tooth. In that case an NHS dentist may send you off with a temporary filling. But securing a prompt dental emergency appointment at the NHS is not only difficult but also practically impossible to say. And your pain in the tooth is so severe that you cannot afford bearing the pain while waiting for an appointment from an NHS dentist. So then you go to a private dentist to get immediate relief from the pain and discomfort.  

Going to a private dental practice in this condition does not hurt your chances of getting care and treatment at the NHS in future.

There is absolutely no point in discouraging people from NHS care and treatment when oral health issues are concerned. But it is also important to understand certain facts before you consider how much does an emergency dental appointment cost at the NHS compared to a private practice and then back out from getting a prompt treatment because the cost is much higher.

·       The NHS dentists have much limited time compared to their private counterparts

·       They also have much limited resources

They are bounded by lots of limitations and so their scope of functionality is not as broad as that of any private dentist in the United Kingdom.

The NHS is more focused on providing patients with relief from urgent issues related to the mouth, like pain, trauma and swelling. Now, suppose one of your teeth suddenly chips or breaks. So your case is more cosmetic than dental. The NHS may consider it non urgent although the matter is urgent to you because it is related to the aesthetics of your smile.

Instead of worrying about how much more does a dental emergency cost at private practices compared to the NHS, you should rather focus on a few facts that private dentists provide –

·       Better availability and scheduling of appointments

·       Nervous patients get sedation easily instead of having to wait for referrals

·       Much better payment options including spreading the cost of the treatment across a period of time

·       Both functionality and appearance of your smile get enhanced manifolds