Pistolpete2

I have seen some fairly recent discussion regarding NHS dental charges on here. I need some fairly straight-forward work doing and tried to contact the Weymouth Community Hospital thinking that they would give access to NHS treatment. As was the case when we first arrived in Weymouth almost four years ago, I reached a dental practice who said that they were not taking on any new NHS patients, which I queried and they hummed and harred and said "that's the way it is". It seems that one can only get NHS dental here in Weymouth as a new patient if pregnant or on benefits. I'm afraid I don't get it.

SanDiegogirl

Dentists have been going private in the UK for years now. You just have to search around for those who still take NHS patients.
It's all down to costs.

NHS dentists are paid a fixed fee for patients to do the most basic work. Anything 'special', even with those who accept NHS patients, has always resulted in an additional charge.

BristolUK

And if you can get one, even if it's the other side of town and you need to go by taxi, it can still be cheaper in the long run.

BritInParis

Plenty of dental practices. Just have to find one that accepts new NHS patients.

https://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/De...cationSearch/3

Pistolpete2

Indeed! With that in mind I'm going to check as far away as Dorchester and Bridport to see what transpires. Old NHS patients - meaning have been with a practice for a while - can't have a lock on the NHS coverage here in Dorset.

TinaU

HI, I am new here. Planning to move to the UK with my two kids next year. So, apart from registering with an NHS doctor, we need to register with a dentist too? No way I can afford private treatment!

Pistolpete2

When we arrived back almost four years ago now we were surprised that dentists were not offering NHS treatment - I won't tell you the reason the receptionist gave - so we had to sign up with one on a private basis for routine checks, which was ok. They did offer a plan for routine hygienist and discounts on such things as crowns, fillings, bridges but for an annual fee. We never took that route.

Now that we need something more substantial, I've gone looking further for an NHS dentist in town (a community of over 50,000) and there isn't one. I have used the NHS dental practice search to find one and did so - about an hour away and not well rated, supposedly. The only decent-rated practice was too far away to be feasible without a car so we will have to see how my appointment goes. Even with NHS treatment, one has to pay fees but they are way more manageable and there is no charge for school-age kids.

Note that this is the case for England. Scotland is different. Not sure about Wales.

scot47

I live in a community of around 7000 people ( More in the summer season) I had some problems initially in getting on the dentist's list. put my name on the waiting list and eventually was accepted as an NHS patient. Havibg lived in rural Africa where there were no dentists locally, I was grateful that I found any dentist ! Now I get high-quality treatment as an NHS patient. I am quite pleased !

Novocastrian

Not even that. According to your experience it is the case for Weymouth. NHS dentists accepting new patients are very easy to find where I live in Newcastle. I would also add that the two local full service hospitals, the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospital are rated as "Outstanding", which they are.

Go North, young man.