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NHS Treatment 

How much will I pay for NHS dental treatment?

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If you normally pay for NHS dental treatment, the cost will depend on what treatment you need.

 

Some people do not have to pay for NHS dental treatment.

 

Find out who's entitled to free NHS dental treatment in England

NHS Banding

Band 1: £26.80

 

  • Band 1 treatment includes:

  • Examination

  • Assessment and advice

  • X-rays

  • Diagnosis and treatment planning

  • Scale and polish (if clinically needed)

  • Orthodontic assessment and report

  • Marginal correction of fillings

  • Moulds of your teeth, for example to see how your teeth bite together

  • Colour photographs

  • Putting sealants or fluoride preparations on the surface of your teeth

  • Taking a sample of cells or tissue from your mouth for examination

  • Adjusting false teeth (dentures) or orthodontic appliances, such as braces

  • Treatment for sensitive teeth or roots

 

Band 2: £73.50

 

Band 2 includes all treatment in Band 1, plus:

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  • Fillings

  • Root canal treatment

  • Removing teeth (extraction)

  • Sealant to fill small holes or grooves in your teeth

  • Adding to your false teeth (dentures), such as adding a clasp or a tooth, or adjusting them, such as relining and rebasing

  • Removing the tip of the root of a tooth (apicectomy)

  • A bite-raising appliance to correct your bite (does not include a laboratory-made appliance)

  • Using healthy tissue from the roof of your mouth to cover an exposed root (free gingival grafts)

  • Surgery on the tissue connecting your tongue, lips or cheeks to your jaw bone (frenectomy, frenuloplasty or frenotomy)

  • Treating severe gum disease, cleaning bacteria from the roots of your teeth (root planing), deep scaling and polishing

  • Gum (periodontal) surgery including reshaping or removing gum tissue (for example, gingivoplasty, gingivectomy and operculum removal)

  • Oral surgery, such as removing a cyst, soft tissue surgery to the mouth, gums or lips and surgery for buried root, unerupted tooth or impacted tooth

  • Oral surgery to remove bone from around a tooth (alveolectomy), to remove bone growths around the teeth (exostosed tooth), or bone resection surgery

  • Removing the soft tissue at the centre of a tooth called dental pulp (pulpotomy)

  • Splinting loose teeth, for example after an accident (does not include laboratory-made splints)

  • Transplanting teeth

 

 

Band 3: £319.10

 

Band 3 treatment includes all treatment in Bands 1 and 2, plus:

 

  • A fixed replacement for a missing tooth or teeth (bridge)

  • A type of cap that completely covers your real tooth (crown)

  • False teeth (dentures)

  • Restoring damaged teeth with inlays, pinlays and onlays

  • Orthodontic treatment and appliances such as braces

  • Other custom-made appliances, not including sports guards

  • Veneers and palatal veneers, which are new surfaces for the front or back of a tooth

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Treatments not available on the NHS

 

Cosmetic treatments to change how your teeth look are not available on the NHS.

This includes teeth whitening, as well as braces or veneers that aren't medically needed.

 

Costs of further treatment

 

If, within 2 calendar months of completing a course of treatment, you need more treatment from the same or a lower charge band, such as another filling, you do not have to pay anything extra.

If the additional treatment needed is in a higher band, you'll have to pay for the new NHS course of treatment.

After 2 months have passed since completing a course of treatment, you'll have to pay the NHS charge band for any further NHS dental treatment.

Certain treatments are guaranteed for 12 months from the date they were completed.

 

These are:

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  • Fillings

  • Root fillings

  • Inlays

  • Porcelain veneers

  • Crowns

 

Treatments provided under this guarantee must be similar or related to the original treatment.

 

Treatments available free of charge

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You do not need to pay a dental charge if:

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  • you're having stitches removed

  • your dentist has to stop bleeding from your mouth, for example, after a tooth extraction

  • your dentist only has to write out a prescription – if you pay for prescriptions, you'll have to pay the usual prescription charge of £9.90

  • your false teeth (dentures) need repair - if they cannot be repaired and you need new ones, you'll have to pay for these

 

The NHS Business Services Authority has more information on the cost of replacement dental appliances, such as dentures, bridges and braces.

 

 

Cost of referral to another dentist

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If you're referred to another dentist to complete your treatment, the amount you pay is dependent on the type of referral and whether the NHS treatment is carried out as 1 course of treatment.

Your dentist will inform you how much you have to pay.

If you're referred to a private dentist (and you accept this option), you'll:

  • pay the appropriate NHS banding charge to the dentist who referred you

  • also pay a fee for the dental work carried out by the private dentist.​

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