
Britain’s teeth aren’t that bad – but what of their rotten history? - pepys
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/18/britains-teeth-dentistry-american-wits
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switch007
What is rotten is overcharging by dental practices. The NHS fee structure is
extremely simple [1], yet because people do not research the charges,
receptionists are able to easily mislead people.

Often the dentists do NHS and private work and they either tell flat out lies
such as "that's not covered on the NHS", and/or suggest their
brother/sister/best friend does the work privately) or just makes up random
fees.

[http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1781.aspx?CategoryID=74](http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1781.aspx?CategoryID=74)

~~~
10dpd
I don't know why this is being downvoted, this is completely accurate for the
English NHS where the UDA system is used (Northern Ireland and Scotland have a
different fee per item system).

Many English NHS dentists encourage patients to return for multiple treatments
instead of doing all the work in one treatment.

~~~
IanCal
I'm not sure what you mean, things are charged by the course, no?

[http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages...](http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages/nhs-
dental-charges.aspx)

>You will not be charged for individual items within a course of treatment.
Depending on what you need to have done, you should only ever be asked to pay
one charge for each complete course of treatment, even if you need to visit
your dentist more than once to finish it. A course of treatment is finished
when your dentist considers good oral health has been achieved.

Have I misunderstood what you meant?

~~~
ymse
I'm guessing that was GPs point, that receptionists and doctors will happily
fail to inform patients of this, and rather make separately charged
appointments.

While I haven't been to the dentist yet, after living in UK for a year I can
testify that the bar for cheating or misleading customers is _very_ low.

As an example, taxi drivers usually pick a longer route than necessary,
sometimes driving around the whole city. Especially if they perceive that you
are not local.

~~~
switch007
Yes, that was exactly my point. And you are right abut the bar being very low!
It drives me crazy

~~~
IanCal
A record of the work done will be on file, have you taken this to the CQC or
regulatory body?

~~~
switch007
I appreciate the onus is on me to provide evidence, and you've perhaps
interpreted my comments as personal experiences only. I was referring to of
cases of people I know - at least 3 instances this year alone - and I was not
saying that every practice overcharges everyone.

However I myself have not been ripped off by an NHS dentist - mainly because I
am aware of the bands. I would certainly take it further if they tried to.

~~~
IanCal
I guess I'm finding it just surprising, I've never experienced anything like
that, nor have I ever heard of it from anyone I know. I know plenty of people
inside the NHS too, as well as simply many people who will have used these
services. I'd have expected to see more problems if there really was a "very
low bar for cheating customers".

There are regulatory bodies specifically for dentistry as well as for the NHS
and sales and advertising. I would heavily suggest that they report this,
there seems to be places to do so and I consider this an extremely important
issue to solve if it's happening.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that your friends experiences are so vastly
different from my friends.

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robk
Missing teeth is one thing but British orthodontics are far less commonly used
than in America. America also has a far higher negative stigma against gaps or
unstraight teeth.

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nakedrobot2
They ARE that bad. Anecdata perhaps, but come on - Americans really do have
whiter teeth. At least the "privileged class" does. Downvote me to hell if you
like still, I have lived both in UK and US for a decade and yes it is true,
British teeth are nearly as bad as Japanese teeth (who don't use any flouride
in their toothpaste, and it shows by the age of 40 or 50)

~~~
noja
Hollywood white teeth == healthy?! How? To me they look bizarre, do normal
Americans really have teeth like that? (serious question)

~~~
swozey
I'm an American with $10k or so into Orthodontia to make my teeth straight (I
had gaps that were a big self-confidence issue for me) but no, seeing someone
with insanely bleached white teeth definitely stands out in my head and always
looks strange to me. I think there is a pretty big line between Hollywood
White and Smoker Yellow.

To give a perspective, if it's needed, when I was in middle school (6th-8th)
just about every single one of my friends at that point had either had, or was
currently wearing braces of some sort.

I've now had braces 3 times (Invisalign actually) because my teeth won't stop
moving. If I go a few days without wearing a retainer (I wear it nightly) they
look different. A month or two without (I've lost the retainer before) and I'm
going for round 4. Not sure if this is a genetic thing, or what, my cousins
and sister have had the same thing happen, but I know plenty of other people
who have never worn their retainers and barely had any movement.

~~~
ahoy
"Braces" culture is interesting. I grew up in the rural southeast of the US,
and while braces weren't unheard of they were uncommon. I have friends from
new england who reported the opposite - most children, even those from poorer
families, had braces.

~~~
swozey
Driving to the orthodontist was a major pain for my parents, so maybe that had
something to do with it. They had to take off work early, pick me up at
school, take me to the Ortho and wait around for an hour while the braces were
aligned - EVERY month. I'd imagine it's even more of a pain for those in rural
areas who have less options. The orthos next to schools made out like bandits.
But my parents were also Military, so maybe that's just my experience.

