yay, my new glasses will be ready next week! they've got a funky bright red frame. 460 euros (with phototropic lenses), so i'll have to pay 110 euros, my insurance pays the rest

Excellent.

I have a new tooth (185 quid). These were my dentist's words, upon opening the packet containing my new tooth:

"Oh, I don't think it's a good colour match. It's not dark enough."

Cheeky sod.

i got chucked off my nhs dentists list because i couldnt pay the £300 it was going to cost ( i literally didnt have a enough for rent never mind teeth) , and i argued they could fix the problem for less!!!

Yes, I've since heard that other people were offered a gold tooth for around 50quid. Mind you, mine's near the front so I don't think I'd have wanted that.

Exactly how does this NHS dentist thing work? Does the NHS NOT PAY for dental work but pays for other things? How do you get an NHS dentist? Are there options for privae insurance and private pay for dentists?

I assume that the NHS subsidises dental treatment. I did check a few private practices, but they were charging upwards of 800quid for the same job.

I once had a very expensive and very sexy dentist, I think he was German. He looked like the guy from ER, the tall, dark brooding one (no idea of his name). Having my tooth drilled by him was quite an experience......

He played the character Dr Luca

I quite like Luca too

But my dentist looks like a chubby teenager. I must be getting old.

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I'm going to the dentist tomorrow, and I know it will cost a small fortune. The Visa card will get a hammering. :-(

The cost of some treatments are shockingly expensive.

Like you SillyBilly, I have put off going the dentist for so long that I'll face lots of treatment. I guess I'll receive a lecture and made to feel like a 6 yr old.

Another good reason to regularly go to the dentist is to keep on an NHS list, unlike me who had to find a private dentist.

Yes....am off for a 6-month check up next week but have a feeling I am going to need another filing at least...some funny aches and pains in my teath recently, which probably isn't good. Good luck!!

I nearly got chucked out of my NHS dentist recently. I tried to re-schedule an appointment and got told that because I'd made 3 re-schedules and/or cancellations in my time there (over several years), I was no longer eligible for NHS treatment. First I'd heard of that rule! But cos I'm halfway through a course of treatment that I've already paid for, the dentist is letting me off "this time".

Well, in this area getting an NHS dentist is notoriously diffficult. However, help was at hand last year when a national chain (who I'm about to bad mouth, no pun intended), set up here. So off I went and joined. For my £12 NHS fee I went in, the dentist (one of many in this branch) sat me down, got her little mirror out, quickly went around and said everything's fine, dismissing me in under 2 minutes. Now, I've had a few dentists down the years and my teeth have never been fine - what about plaque build up? A lecture on flossing? Some x rays on your first visit? A scrape and clean perhaps? None of these things, just £12 for 2 minutes work.

When I go to the dentist I expect a lecture! Anyway, somewhat perturbed by this, I went again 6 months later to see if the experience was to be repeated. I arrived 5 minutes early and observed all the people in the waiting room be called out to their respective dentists at the same time. 2 minutes later they all reappeared from the rooms, queued up in an orderly fashion to part with their money and sent on their way. Then it was my turn and same again.

Speaking to other people, even though your £12 is meant to cover a few treatments (x rays, scraping, polishing to name a few), it turns out you have to pay extra for these at this national chain. I was so appalled I walked around the corner to an ordinary, local dentist, asked if they were taking NHS patients and luckily they were. My first visit involved a checkup, a prod at my fillings, x rays, a scrape, and (the best bit) a lecture on dental hygiene. 20 minutes work for for £12. I was a happy man.

So if you have a good NHS dentist, keep onto them, and watch those national chains that market themselves as bringing NHS care to the country when in fact they do nothing except quickly deprive you of your £12. Grrrhhh, rant over.

Glad you got it sorted, Sylvester. But I'm curious: which part of the UK are you in? In England my NHS treatment has never been less than 48 quid for a check up, and adding on X-rays, cleaning etc usually brings it up to the hundred mark. Are you in Scotland? Apparantly it's cheaper there.

Juno, are you paying £48 for a check-up on the NHS? That seems really steep for supposedly subsidised dental treatment. I go to a private dentist who charges around the same. Sylvester's £12 seems too cheap.

The government really need to force dentists to be more transparent with their costs.

I've now signed onto Denplan. Although my dentist may well kick me off the Denplan scheme this afternoon when she sees how long it's been since I last attended :-(.