Dental patient in Bristol left ‘shocked and disappointed’ by NHS dental charges

A Bristol resident who queued for days to get an NHS appointment in the city earlier this year said he and his wife were left disappointed by how much they still had to pay for some treatments.

When the new dental practice opened in St Pauls in February, thousands of people queued for the chance to finally get local treatment on the NHS. Ben Brown has signed up for the new training but told Bristol Live he hasn’t had the experience he was expecting.

Mr Brown and his wife have had toothaches during the pandemic but have been unable to find a dentist in Bristol who is open to new NHS patients. They eventually joined a private practice but were unable to pay the fees so, like many others desperate for NHS dental services, they queued for days to get an appointment when the St Pauls opened earlier this year.

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Unlike other NHS services, most adult patients have to pay for NHS dental treatment, which has increased over the years. Mr Brown said he was left disappointed after being told he would need molars extracted and would have to pay more than £70 to see a hygienist under the NHS.

“It seems so unfair to make people feel so lucky to get a dentist appointment, some people for the first time in 10 years, only to be told sorry, there’s nothing we can do about that we cannot afford,” he explained. .

“It’s not advertised as a private practice, it’s an NHS practice, but there are so many services they don’t cover. The dentist looked at me and offered to pull the tooth instead of giving a root canal and my wife was told, “If we were giving root canals on the molars, then that would be all we would do.”

Shivani Bhandari, St Pauls Dental Operations Manager, said: “Every case is different, not every patient can have root canal treatment. If they think it is complicated root canal treatment, they would be open and honest.

“It’s a mixed practice but we don’t push patients to go for private treatment, but they are legally bound to offer all options if they don’t qualify for NHS treatment. There is a banding system and not all treatments are available on the NHS.”

NHS prices are set according to a band system which is explained on the NHS website . Root canal treatment is set at Band 2, at a fixed price of £73.50, unless patients are eligible for free treatment, the cost of a hygienist is set at Band 1 (£26.80) or Band 2, in depending on the course of treatment.

As a result of the way NHS dentistry is funded, many dentists have reduced the number of NHS patients or opted out of NHS contracts altogether. “We have just opened up and are doing our best,” Ms Bhandari added.