£53… My dentist appointment today cost me £53!
That’s crazy. It was for 3 x-rays that cost me £24 (£8 per x-ray) and a general upfront cost of £30. It’s no wonder why us Brits have a bad reputation when it comes to our teeth. I also tried seeing if whether my company provided dental insurance and unfortunately they do not, which sucks as that would have helped.
Fortunately, that also covers an additional consultation which I have on Monday night @ 7pm. I’m also hoping the money I paid today covers at least one good dental clean. I shuddered at the thought of asking in case there was an additional fee that I would have to eventually pay.
This is quite a shock to the system as this would have been free had I stated that I was on Job Seekers’ Allowance, but I’m not in the business of lying, so I shoveled the £53 despairingly out of my bank account and felt great pains when I tapped in my pin number. Or, if I were still in Taiwan this would have cost me just £5, due to the fact that the government in Taiwan have a similar setup to the UK’s NHS, but the difference is that the Taiwanese government covers a lot more of the costs when it comes to your teeth and general dentistry.
I miss Taiwan in that regard. The cheapness, low cost of living, and generally your health being a priority. I’ve tried to prioritise my health, but with the salary I am on, I can in no way cover the costs for what I need doing to my teeth. Instead, I’m going for the bare minimum approach that will cost me £400 (for a decent crown) or £600 (for an even better crown) if I really have the guts to shovel that much money from my newly created Cash ISA into my current account.
It’s sad times.
I found an article on this very subject via the BBC that states the following:
41% of people don’t go because of the cost, 28% because of the pain and 25% say they can’t find an NHS dentist.
I suppose I would place myself in that 41% group.
It’s unfortunate as I would like to get my teeth fixed or at least have my oral hygiene in a much more stable state. I guess I’ll have to keep saving! I’m hoping I get a promotion, as that would make this affordable for me, but I am not too sure if that is likely (fingers crossed). Also, just for my own sake or any others reading this, here’s a link to NHS dental charges — that seems to settle any charges that you may have to pay if you go to an NHS dentist. 🙁
In light of this, I may have to look at other options and shop around. It seems the “Band 3 course” would cover a crown and would be around 100% less that what I was quoted at the dentist I went to today.