Free Dental Care? Or scam?

[itamia55]

I know as pregnancy women we supposed to be entitled free dental care. But why they still charge me for the dental hygienes? any dentist in the group tell us what type of dental care that we are actually entitle for free please?

[WeeMrsH]

It’s NHS dental treatment that is free during pregnancy. If you’re at a private dentist they will still charge their fees. Hope this helps.

[itamia55 in reply to WeeMrsH]

They accept NHS patients & on the NHS list. Im not sure its 100% NHS treatment.

[Lovefood1984 in reply to itamia55]

You’ll also need to show your maternity exemption card too, if you haven’t got one your GP or midwife can fill the form in for you x

[itamia55 in reply to Lovefood1984]

yes i have got one and the reception also got my detail.

[Lovefood1984 in reply to itamia55]

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. I know I only pay when I go as I’m NHS but husband pays a monthly fee as he’s private. I guess you’ll have to ask as I’d expect if you are fully NHS they shouldn’t have charged you 🤷‍♀️ Hope you manage to get it sorted!

[itamia55 in reply to Lovefood1984]

thanks anyway x

[Hidden]

Maybe your dentist is NHS but hygienist could be private and therefore would have to pay?? I’ve got a private dentist so had to pay anyway

[kt_11 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah that’s the case at my dentists. I’ve just had to pay for about £1500 of private dental treatment whilst on the waiting list for NHS at the same practice. Signed up when I was 14 weeks pregnant. My little boy is now 7 months old and me & my exemption card are still waiting! 😔

[kt_11]

At my dental practice the dentists take NHS patients but the hygienist is private. She doesn’t work for the NHS at all therefore this can’t be claimed with your maternity exemption.

Not sure whether this is just at my practice or whether this service is just not offered on the NHS anywhere.

It’s not a scam though.

[itamia55 in reply to kt_11]

yeah that's exactly what i met. I have paid my filling before I'm pregnant and going to have check up my bleeding gum during I'm pregnant, and offered a private hygienist which cost me another fortune.

Never got opportunity to use free dental care.

[kt_11 in reply to itamia55]

You should still be entitled to your free dental care until your baby is 1 year old so whilst it might be too late for the filling you’ve had done, you might still benefit from it?

[Annh17]

It’s wrong, only get it free if your set up as an nhs patient. I’m private so not entitled to free dental care. And around where I live, no dentists are taking on nhs patients. If your entitled to free dental care, you should get it, whether your private or not

[Hidden in reply to Annh17]

It’s just not that simple. A private practice won’t have a NHS contract so are unable to get paid for treatment they would provide.

There just isn’t the money available for more practices to see Nhs patients.

If a dentist in my area wanted to open a nhs practice they have to bid for a contract with the local commissioning group, who just don’t have the money to hand out new contracts....

[Annh17 in reply to Hidden]

My dental practice takes nhs patients aswell as private. The system is wrong

[Hidden in reply to Annh17]

Yep Private practices can have a nhs contract too but the majority will have a very small contract.

[Hidden]

I’m a dental hygienist. This is such a grey a area in the NHS . As a hygienist I am not allowed to have a performer number which only dentists are allowed to have. A performer number is needed so a dentist is able to get paid from the NHS.A scale and polish and periodontal treatment is part of nhs treatment but the dentist will most likely to do the treatment themselves rather than refer to a dental hygienist. The reason is that the fee they receive let’s say £10 for arguments sake, for an exam/check up, is also just £10 for an exam and scale and polish. If they referred to the hygienist they will then need to give the hygienist some money to pay the hygienist, they basically end up out of pocket, so it makes sense for them to do it themselves.

Some practices refer you to the hygienist, under the NHS and they just take the hit.

Some practices don’t, but if you are a NHS patient you should be offered a scale and polish but not privately.

This is the main reason why the current NHS system is not working, as practices become out of pocket with the money they receive for treatment they provide.

I would love to treat patients under the NHS, but they won’t let us have a performer number as that would mean they would have to give us a pension!

[rejuvaaesthetica]

Beware of dental scams that can affect your health care -- and your wallet. ... are relatively pain-free and only the expected treatments are done.