Title: My Journey Finding a Dentist in the UK
After living in Britain for a while, it was time for me to find a dentist – my teeth started to ache a bit, you see. If you’ve ever moved abroad, you’d understand, how intimidating it can feel to find new professionals; a doctor, an optician, or a dentist that I needed to find.
So, it took me a couple of weeks of phone calls and emails before I could find an NHS dentist who was accepting patients. For those not in the know, NHS dentists have fixed prices, generally lower than private dentists. You might pay £25.80 for a dental checkup, £70.70 for any fillings needed, and if things go south, the cost goes up to £305.80 for complex procedures. Not bad, huh? But there was one hitch – getting an appointment was like finding gold dust!
Out of curiosity and need, I explored private dentists. My American friends might wonder about their prices – they’re less than in the States. I had a checkup, got some X-rays and my teeth cleaned for around $210, all in two separate appointments. First, a thorough checkup with a dentist, then a cleaning session scheduled a month later (could’ve been sooner, but I chose it this way).
One thing I wasn’t a fan of, though, was the £20 deposit before each appointment. I thought, cool, my first checkup will be cheaper by £20, but then they pulled a quick one and kept the £20 as a deposit for my next visit. Tricky, right?
But overall, getting an appointment was a breeze. Plus, it was convenient: close to home with services similar to my expensive American dentist. Shoutout to their transparent pricing visible on their website — saving me from the unpleasant surprises I used to get at my old dentist’s in the US.
In short, my first step into British dentistry wasn’t too shabby.