Residents without an NHS dentist can pay up to nine times more for treatment, it can be revealed.
As more and more dentists in Lincolnshire convert to private provision away from NHS care, an additional cost is imposed on many residents who need access to a dentist, sometimes more than double that of NHS treatment.
As the cost of living rises, the pressures and strains on the health system continue, and many areas of the NHS have felt it like dentistry.
Recent figures reveal that around 75% of Lincolnshire’s eligible population did not have access to an NHS dentist in the second half of last year and five dental practices have either canceled their NHS contract or switched to private provision in the last 12 months.
This has prompted more people to explore possible private dental care, but this of course comes with an added cost of jumping onto the long NHS waiting lists.
The NHS website provides a search tool for people to look for dental offers in a specific area and the search in Lincoln shows a worrying trend.
Of the 13 Lincoln-based dental practices shown in this search, five show that they do not accept new NHS patients, two only accept patients under 18 and three only accept for specialist care.
The remainder did not have a recent update for provision.
However, free NHS dental care is only eligible for certain groups, including people who are pregnant or have had a child in the last 12 months, under 18 or under 19 in full education, who are in an NHS hospital and your treatment is carried out outside the hospital dentist, you are on low income benefits or you are under 20 and dependent on someone who is on low income benefits (income support, jobseeker’s allowance, pension credit guarantee etc.).
There are three payment bands for NHS dental care, ranging from £26.80 to £319.10 depending on the scope of work required.
Band one is £26.80 and offers examinations and advice as well as x-rays, diagnosis, scales and polishing, corrections of marginal fillings, treatment for sensitive teeth and roots and fitting of false teeth or braces.
Band two is £73.50 and incorporates everything in band one, along with fillings, root canal extractions, gum and oral surgery, tooth transplantation and fracture.
Band three is £319.10 and includes cover for both of the previous bands, plus fitting false teeth, restoring damaged teeth with inlays and pins, crown or bridge treatments and orthodontic appliance treatment.
Your dentist can also recommend emergency treatment for a one-off cost of £26.80, which covers things like dental banding, the extraction of up to two teeth, the drainage of an abscess, the repair of crowns and bridges, and the fixing of a tooth that is he is knocked out.
In comparison, private dentists can offer a range of services or monthly subscription packages, although this comes at a price.
As an example, private rates for a dental practice in Lincoln, seen by Local Democracy Reporters, show the difference in NHS and private cost schemes.
Monthly subscriptions range from £11.49 to £38.16 depending on the extra benefits you get from each particular package, while the treatments themselves can vary from £60.50 for routine tests to £3,500 for an implant procedure.
Here are some of the distinct differences between NHS and private care.
On the NHS, something like a root canal costs £73.50, but when you go private you can pay up to £630 for the same treatment – almost nine times more – while urgent appointments cost £75 for private patients and £26.80 on the NHS.
If it’s an extraction you’re looking for, NHS prices are around half of what this private practice offers from £142, and crown placements are more than double — jumping from £319.10 on the NHS to £686 when done privately.
Even simple procedures like x-rays or cleaning and polishing can even triple in cost when removed from the private path.
Just 50 NHS dental practices remain in Lincolnshire at the time of reporting, with East Lindsey boasting the most of any area in the region.
The breakdown is: East Lindsey 11, Lincoln 10, South Kesteven 10, West Lindsey 5, Boston 5, South Holland 5, North Kesteven 4.
Lincolnshire’s Integrated Care Board admitted to county councilors at a recent Health Scrutiny meeting that access to dental services “still remains a challenge” in Lincolnshire.
Indeed, committee chairman Coun Carl Macey said: “Access to NHS dental services is probably one of the areas I have been most excited about as a councillor, especially in Skegness, where residents are contacting local NHS dentists and letting them know that they just they do not take on any patients.
“They’ve often gone to private dentists, where in Skegness they actually say private dentists are full and you can’t see a single private dentist.
“It’s fantastic that we have these documents in the future, but we’re not helping the man or woman on the road. Communication seems to be one of the weakest areas.”
A practice in Lincoln is the latest to alert its patients to a move away from NHS care and into the private sector.
Connor Gent, a 21-year-old land surveyor from Lincoln, says he was told by his dentist at Lincoln Dental Practice, located in the Carlton Center and managed by Rodericks Dental Partners, about going private from a mix of NHS and private dental care offers .
He received a letter saying patients have until September 12 before the switchover is complete, but added that he had not been given any information about other places offering NHS dental service in the area.
This, he says, has resulted in both he and his mother being unable to find a new NHS dentist, and has left them both worried about what the future might hold if they develop a toothache.
“I wasn’t told where to go and I don’t know where I’m going,” he said.
“Unfortunately I might have to pay the monthly rate for something I use maybe twice a year, if that. My mom, however, is less optimistic and not sure what she’s going to do.”
Rodericks Dental Partners has been contacted multiple times for comment, but no response was received by the time of publication.
