A comparison of prices at private dental surgeries across the UK has found the average cost of a non-surgical extraction has surged by 32% since 2022
Private dentists are profiteering from the NHS crisis by hiking their prices, new research shows.
A comparison of prices at private dental surgeries across the UK has found the average cost of a non-surgical extraction has surged by 32% since 2022. Patients are paying as much as £775 for root canal work, £435 to have a tooth out and £325 for a white filling.
The Mirror has launched the Dentists for All campaign for a return to universal NHS access and reported on Brits having to go into debt to get cheaper private dental treatment done abroad. Many others who could not afford that have told of ripping out their own teeth. We revealed virtually no dentists in England are now taking on new NHS adult patients.
Patients are paying between 14% and 32% more for the same treatments, according to research by MyTribe Insurance, which tracks the cost of private health insurance.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “For patients struggling to access NHS dental care, and for those who choose to go private, the dramatic rise in private dental costs places essential care out of reach for many. This creates a dangerous cycle where patients bounce between an inaccessible NHS system and unaffordable private care, while their oral health deteriorates. The stark reality is that many are left with no viable route to essential dental treatment.”
MyTribe analysis of data, shared with the Guardian, related to six common treatments at 450 private dental practices across the UK. A routine checkup has gone up 15% from £48 to £55. The average cost of a white filling went up 23% from £105 to £129. An extraction went up by 32% from £105 to £139. A scale and polish is now £75, up from £65. An initial consultation for a new patient is up 23% from £65 to £80. The average cost of anterior root canal treatment has increased by 14%, from £350 to £400.
Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association, said private practices were charging higher prices to help cover the cost of treating NHS patients because of a failed payment contract which sees them make a loss on some more complex patients. He said. “Private practices have an option to reflect cost increases in their prices. NHS charges are fixed but a generation of poor funding means many treatments are now being delivered at a financial loss. Private dentistry has effectively cross-subsidised loss-making NHS care.”
Labour had promised to renegotiate the NHS contract which pays dentists the same amount for three fillings as 20 and was branded “not fit for purpose” by the Health Select Committee. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ’s recovery plan earlier this year effectively kicked meaningful contract reform into the long grass until after the General Election.
Save NHS Dentistry petition
Sign our petition to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century
Our 3 demands
Everyone should have access to an NHS dentist
More than 12 million people were unable to access NHS dental care last year – more than 1 in 4 adults in England. At the same time 90% of dental practices are no longer accepting new NHS adult patients. Data from the House of Commons Library showed 40% of children didn’t have their recommended annual check-up last year.
Restore funding for dental services and recruit more NHS dentists
The UK spends the smallest proportion of its heath budget on dental care of any European nation. Government spending on dental services in England was cut by a quarter in real terms between 2010 and 2020. The number of NHS dentists is down by more than 500 to 24,151 since the pandemic.
Change the contracts
A Parliamentary report by the Health Select Committee has branded the current NHS dentists’ contracts as “not fit for purpose” and described the state of the service as “unacceptable in the 21st century”. The system effectively sets quotas on the maximum number of NHS patients a dentist can see as it caps the number of procedures they can perform each year. Dentists also get paid the same for delivering three or 20 fillings, often leaving them out of pocket. The system should be changed so it enables dentists to treat on the basis of patient need.
Have you had to resort to drastic measures because you couldn’t access an NHS dentist? Are you a parent struggling to get an appointment for a child? Email [email protected] or call 0800 282591
The overall NHS dentistry budget for England has remained at around £3 billion for a decade but has seen a £1 billion real terms cut over this period due to inflation. It has become increasingly made up of the contribution from patient charges which have gone up by 45% in the last decade.
It comes after the Mirror revealed Britain’s biggest private dentistry chain is raking in tens of millions of pounds in profit while its NHS work shrinks. MyTribe identified stark differences in the cost of private dental treatment in different parts of the country. For example the most expensive white filling in the UK this year cost £198.90 in Watford but just 17 miles away in Luton it can cost £70. In Milton Keynes an extraction there costs £242 but just £75.93 in Dundee.
The three most expensive root canal treatments were in Cambridge at £660, Watford at £609 and Bournemouth at £550. The cheapest were in Aberdeen at £250, Bangor at £250 and Belfast at £250. A root canal cost £366 in Northern Ireland compared to £775 in the East Midlands. Having a tooth out costs £435 in the east of England and £350 in the south-east and south-west.