Dental Care and the National Health Service (NHS)

The National Health Service (NHS) underwent a reformation of its dental service in an effort to remove the old complicated charging system and replace it with three simple standard price bands. This all took place in April 2006. The new pricing structure is easy to understand and helps to keep treatment more affordable for all. NHS dental prices were also spared increases during 2009 and 2010 - more good news for British families.

Whilst the prices for NHS dental insurance plans are often cheaper than plans sold to cover private dental health care, and despite recent NHS surveys indicating recent increases in patients seeing dentists under the NHS scheme, many patients are still finding it difficult to find a local dental surgery currently registering new NHS patients. Perhaps as a direct result of this, more Brits seem to be purchasing dental plans which - like ours - allow for the option to receive either NHS or private dental treatment.

The stark reality is that should you need non-emergency treatment, a person registered as an NHS patient may still have to wait a longer amount of time before they are seen by their dentist. Many UK dental surgeries have limited time slots set aside for their NHS clients during the week, not great when it’s painful and you want to be seen as quickly as possible.

Over the years many more dentists have stopped offering treatment on the NHS in favour of private practice than those deciding to take on new patients. This makes it more difficult for the average person to find affordable dental treatment in their local area without the help of their dental insurance contributing towards increasing private dental treatment costs.

Things are improving though, the good news is that recent surveys suggest old trends are reversing and more people are now being seen by dentists under the NHS scheme. Excellent news for all.

What are your options?

Despite the many dentists no longer opting to take on NHS patients, there are still dentists who have kept their existing patients on their books and local PCTs are actively working on encouraging new dentists to register NHS patients.

If you have an NHS dentist, you should be fine, but should you move to a new area, you may not be so lucky. Should that be the case a good inexpensive dental insurance plan may be the answer for you and your family. The policy prices tend not to be that much different when buying insurance cover for private dental treatments as opposed to NHS cover since claim limits are usually how they are differentiated; also, by going private you will not have to wait long for an appointment and the quality of dental materials used are superior.

Check for available dentists in your area and compare dental insurance plans that will best work for you.