At John Cuddigan and Associates, all patients can choose between NHS dental care, Private care or a mixture of both. We work with you to provide the care plan that’s right for you.
Private dentistry focuses on the clinical aspect of dental health care, along with improving how a person’s smile appears.
Private dentistry prices are not fixed (unlike those under the NHS) and there is no limit to the number of appointments or the types of treatments available. You will have wider treatment choices available to you because treatment options will not be restricted (unlike the NHS). Because we are not limited to the number of private patients we see, we are able to offer a wider choice of appointment times and a shorter wait for appointments.
What are the main differences between NHS and private dentistry?
Private
- Private treatment gives us complete freedom to provide the very highest standard of treatment and materials. We have no restrictions on the type of fillings or denture we provide or how often we see you. As cosmetic treatment is not available on the NHS this means the materials/treatments which produce the best appearance are often not used in NHS treatment.
- More evening appointments are available to private patients and appointments are also available on Saturdays..
- Private work such as dentures, crowns, bridges and implants are sent to private laboratories where experienced technicians hand make the item to the very highest quality.
- Private treatment is especially good if you are anxious about your treatment or have complex dental needs
- Appointments are longer to allow plenty of time to complete your treatment at a more relaxed pace and also to give more time for tailored preventative advice.
- The children of our private patients (under 18) will be treated as NHS patients (no charge for standard checkups/treatment) by the private dentist in order to keep family groups together.
NHS
- NHS patients are treated with the same care as our private patients though the government does impose some restrictions and fixes the patient charges nationally.
- NHS treatment is designed to be cost effective for mass use but naturally this means more cost effective materials and laboratories are used
- Treatment needs to be functional on the NHS and not for cosmetic reasons.
- NHS cleaning is designed to ensure gum health and not to specifically remove all stains
- Orthodontic treatment for patients over the age of 18 is not available on the NHS
- Appointment availability may be limited. You may not be able to get appointments outside school or work hours. You may also not be able to see more experienced dentists or specialists who choose to work outside the NHS.
- The government imposes limits on the amount of NHS treatment each practice can provide. Once we reach our limit we may not be able to offer any more NHS treatment until the next financial year.
- Tooth whitening is not available on the NHS
- Specialist referral on the NHS may not always be available and you will have to be placed on a waiting list if accepted
Budgeting for private dental care
John Cuddigan and Associates offer two ways to pay for your private care
1) Pay As You Go (see cost list below) or
2) Denplan (a monthly payment with a Dental Care Plan which provides regular checkups, scaling and polishing, treatment, special benefits and discounts) .Please see our Denplan page for further details.
| Private Fee list (2017) | ||
| Routine Examination (checkup) | £35 | |
| Routine Scale and Polish | £32 | |
| X-rays (each) | £8/16/24 | |
| Periodontal(Gum) treatment | from | £90 |
| Amalgam (Silver) fillings | from | £80 |
| Composite(white) fillings | from | £90 |
| Root canal | from | £180 |
| Extractions | from | £90 |
| Extractions(complex and surgical) | from | £140 |
| Crowns | from | £450 |
| Dentures | from | £450 |
| Tooth Whitening | from | £350 |
Note: this list is not a full list of all treatments available but a guide to the private costs of our most frequent treatments available. Please ask for a full, detailed and up to date cost list, which is available from our reception team.
JOHN CUDDIGAN & ASSOCIATES