General Chat

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My hubby forgot his dentist appointment last week. I called the dentist this morning and she advised he'd been charged. Fair enough I thought, but not for the amount she said..... £30!!!! I think this is terrible and just wondered whether anyone knows if it's the norm or not really. They won't let him book another appointment either until he's paid it. It made me feel like a thief! A gutted Helen x

Ours charge £9 for a missed appointment xxhugxx

Mine charges £20 if an adult misses and £10 if a child misses. Even though kids under 16 is free treatment. Joy

http://www.nhs.uk/England/Dentists/DentalCharges.cmsx Should tell you how much you can be charged. But, I think it depends on the dentist, if its nhs or private and how much in demand they are. Mine charges £10.00 for a missed appointment and a good talking to. Then again he doesnt charge full wack for treatment either, so I cant complain! I just had a difficult wisdom tooth removed, a filling and scarpe and polish for £24.00 A blumming bargain I would say. Ask the dentist how they get to those charges and where are they advertised? They are supposed to advertise their charges for missed appointments - I think. RC

Mine charges £20 if you miss or do not cancel an appointment with 24 hours notice............... Yes it's a lot - but then I suppose you have to look at it that it is lost earnings for them. Not justifying it of course - just my perspective. I'm the last person to condone dental charges after paying nearly £400 for a root canal !!!!!!

mine was £20 about 5 years ago and they had a notice up as a warning

Ann That is an awful amount to charge!!! How on earth did they justify that? They are not allowed to charge that much! Check the link I gave before. They can only charge upto £385 per course of treatment. (only is the wrong word though dont you think?) My dentist charged hubby £67.00 for a root canal. RC

Hi there, Mine has just opted out of NHS and gone private, and now asking for £25 a month from me, same for hubby, £8 a month for both children. Thats something like £700 a year, wheather we have any work done or not. sorry mate....no can do..!! so we are busy looking for another local NHS dentist..........not having much luck either. but I dont know if its extra on top of the £25 a month if you miss appointments. wouldnt dare ask...! Jac xx

Thanks for all the replies. I don't mind paying an amount, to say cover the check-up price but I just can't believe they can charge £30. I really want to tell them to stick it but like someone else has said, Dentists are so hard to get nowadays. I suppose that's why they charge what they want. *sigh* Thanks again x

RC - I know it is............... I did say 'nearly' - in fact it was about £379 - but a lot even so. I was told most of the treatment could not be done on NHS charges !! Like others - it's difficult to find a new dentist that is accepting new NHS patients - so we end up in a Catch 22 situation ........ :O((

hiya i consider myself one lucky person, cos my dentist is on the same rd as me.Before xmas a filled tooth broke, so he put some stuff on it and said if it comes out i will give you a crown.We get a letter the other week to say from april he is no longer nhs, and to call in.I went last week and signed up for denplan which is £10-50 a month, but mentioned to the dentists wife that i woulnt like my tooth to break again when he has gone private in april.S he asked me to hang on a few mins then sent me up to him, he said no worries book 2 appoinments and i will crown it for you, what a lovely man x

I rang and changed an appointment at orthodontist for step-d at least a week before it was due. they still sent out a letter charging £10 for breaking the appointment.! Was not impressed at all - I had even made a replacement appointment and they had not put it in the book so had to make another!!!!!! I accidently missed an appointment for myself at the dentist and realised it the next day - I rang to apologise - they said not to worry as they knew it was a genuine oversight. And this chap is one of the very few NHS dentists in the area. Brilliant guy :-))