What is NHS Dentistry

The national health service provides a dental service for the whole population. The provision is there to provide routine along with emergency care. Dental practices historically could apply for an NHS contract which would allow them to provide NHS care to patients. The treatment costs are subsidised by the NHS. This means that the patient pays a small amount towards treatment and then the NHS will top it up. Some patients are eligible for complete payment by the NHS and do not have to pay towards the treatment.

Accepting New NHS Patients?

Daily we get asked the same question. Why are practices not accepting NHS patients near Stanmore. If you followed the news recently there was a lot of coverage of this.

The way the system works is that dental practices are awarded a NHS contract. The practice is allocated units of dental activity (UDA’s). This is the number of credits for the year that the practice can use to treat patients. Let’s say they are allocated 300 units for the year.

Each examination will use 1 credit, so once the practice has done 300 examinations, they have no credits left to treat any more patients.

The practice cannot turn to the government and ask for more credits.

This is a very simplified version of the system, but essentially the problem within Stanmore and many other areas in the country is that practices have hundreds and hundreds of patients on the books. Each of these patients is coming for examinations each year and using their credit. This means there are no more units or credits left to be allocated to new patients. The solution ideally would be asking for more credits, but unfortunately at the moment the government does not have the ability to do that so dentists are stuck.

Is NHS and Private Dentistry the Same?

At Marsh Lane Dental all our dentists have provided NHS dental care. Are we like to think that we treat each patient with care and dignity. We all agree there is one significant difference between NHS and Private Dentistry.

This big difference is Time.

At Marsh Lane Dental, a new patient examination will usually take around 40-50minutes. This can include, a thorough examination, x-rays including latest technology low dose head scans and 3D images if needed. High quality digital SLR photographs along with in-depth written reports for complex cases.

Each patient gets tailored advice for cleaning, visits with the hygienist and detailed discussions about their teeth, x-rays and treatment plans.

Having this time to discuss and understands each patients means we can enjoy our jobs more, get to know each of our patients and really focus on their aims and goals.

The other big advantage is that we can invest in technology and customer service. We are very proud of the fact we have 250+ 5Star google reviews. We are hundreds of delighted patients. We have the best scanners, and x-ray machines. We have online booking systems and online payments systems along with finance packages.

The other benefit is that we have everything onsite, there are resident experts in different fields of dentistry. You rarely need to be referred for difficult extractions as the hospital surgeon comes to us. You can see the root canal expert the next day. You can have our resident Implant experts see you at 7pm to suit your timetable.

We are huge fans of the NHS system, and all our dentists still pay some part in providing NHS care. We also enjoy building relationships and spending time with our individual patients and ensuring they are cared for above and beyond.

Does Marsh Lane Dental Do NHS?

We have asked for NHS contracts so that we can have units to allocate to patients. At the moment we are waiting on a reply to see if we can