I didn't plan to "shop around" for dentists last week. I just want a decent service from an NHS dentist, and I accept I have to pay something towards it. But if my experience is anything to go by, it's not just my teeth that are in a mess – so is British dentistry.
Dentist One, Monday. I call the dentist I've been registered with for years, as I have mild toothache. "We've struck you off our NHS list as you haven't been since 2007. We'll only take you if you go private." How lovely. I'll find another NHS dentist, then.
Dentist Two, Wednesday, found in phone book, will do NHS and private. After three x-rays and an examination, he says: "You need a root canal specialist, it's very complicated work and a lot of dentists don't do it very well. I'll refer you to one in Wimpole Street. Then come back to me for the crown." Er... will this be on the NHS? "No, there's a three-year wait for this sort of thing on the NHS." So how much do I have to pay? "About £1,100 for the root canal work and £500-£600 for the crown."
Dentist Three Wednesday, one hour later. A quick search on Google, and I find another dentist offering NHS service. His diagnosis? My teeth are fine. All I'm suffering from is gum disease, but antibiotics will do the trick. A scale and polish thrown in, I get the bill. A total of £16.50, or about 1/100th of what I'd been expecting to pay an hour ago.
Relieved (and more than a little angry that I could have been £1,700 poorer unnecessarily), I head off to Edinburgh for a long weekend, where I'm going to the film festival.
Dentist Four Friday. After an agonising night of pain, I've made my own diagnosis. No way is this gum disease. I go to a dentist near the hotel. The staff are delightful and find me a slot quickly. An x-ray shows three cracks, one which the dentist says is clearly visible. And there's no sign of gum disease. He does some remedial root canal work, deadens the nerves and treats the pain. He tells me my root canals are very straightforward, and the required work relatively simple. The cost – I have to pay privately – is £100.
Dentist Five Wednesday, back in London. I've found another NHS dentist (I'm not too confident about going back to the first or second dentists). I show him the x-ray and the notes from the Edinburgh dentist. He does a full examination, agrees it's relatively straightforward and offers to do the root canal work, the crown and the filling on the NHS. The bill will be £198.
So in a week, I've had dismissiveness (dentist one); overcharging (dentist two); incompetence (dentist three); total professionalism (dentist four) and what I should have got in the first place, straightforward NHS service (dentist five). I've been told it's going to cost (a) £1,700, (b) £16.50 and (c) £198. I've been told I've got gum disease and "difficult" root canals, when I haven't. My confidence in dental professionalism (apart from the Edinburgh experience) is shot to pieces. And I'm still narked that my former NHS dentist can just kick me off the list. Would we accept it if GPs dropped you for not going to the surgery more often?
Dentists take £2bn from the NHS budget, yet if my experience is anything to go by, it's impossible for consumers to know if they're getting decent service.
