Good dental hygiene is important in maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle. There are two types of dental health services that you can choose from to keep your teeth and mouth in a good state. You can avail of treatments from a private dentist in London or an NHS dentist. Both have their distinct advantages over each other, so we understand if you are having a hard time to choose between the two.
This guide aims to compare both oral health services in order to help you decide on which type of dentist will be perfect for you and your dental needs.
NHS Dental Services
This is a dental service provided by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It goes without saying that dentists under NHS offer treatments at an affordable rate. However, there are limited options for dental treatment since they only administer functional ones. This refers to bridges, crowns, fillings and dentures. White fillings, veneers and implants are also often administered, but only on special circumstances.
Simply put, NHS dentists are restricted by the NHS guidelines regarding what treatments can be offered to their patients. Often, these are only services that have a reasonable or clinical function and not ones that are for cosmetic reasons or preventative reasons.
Furthermore, there are also reports that the government imposes a limit on the number of NHS clinics you can cater to. Once this limit has been reached, dental treatments may not be available until the following year. They also work and operate only during traditional clinic hours, so they are unlikely to see patients during emergencies outside the working hours.
While the NHS does offer lower dental treatments, there seems to be a challenge in making appointments as well. Because of the number of people trying to avail this affordable service, there is a high number of patients every working day, which often leads to the unavailability of appointments for others.
Lastly, NHS dentists works within a budget that brings about cost-efficient laboratories, machinery and treatments. While these dentists can definitely get the job done, there are a lot of limitations when it comes to their resources that they can only cater to a definite number of people and offer a few dental treatments that are solely for restorative purposes.
Private Dental Services
Unlike NHS dentists, private dentists do not have any restrictions as to the dental treatments they can offer. They have a wider scope of treatment options including preventative oral health care and cosmetic dentistry. They are also able to tailor your treatments according to your needs.
Their working hours are also flexible. This means they can be made available for appointments during the weekends, non-working hours or emergency situations. Appointments are also available in a matter of days or even at the most convenient time for you, unlike in NHS clinics wherein you have to wait a couple of weeks just to visit the dentist.
While all the factors mentioned above sound amazing, however, the catch is that private dentists are more likely to charge higher rates than NHS dentists. This is because private clinics are not funded like NHS ones. All of their resources and equipment are shouldered through personal funding, so treatments are also offered at higher rates.
However, this does not mean that you can blindly pay your private dentist for treatments that are unavailable in NHS dental clinics. Feel free to do some research. If you are interested in going to a private dentist, you can compare prices and rates from different private dental clinics until you can decide on the one that suits your financial ability.
