Dentists are back in the news this week, this time following a survey carried out by ‘Which?’ magazine, calling for greater clarity regarding charges for dental treatment. At The Grove we understand that costs are a huge reason why people avoid seeking dental care and so we aim to help alleviate this worry through good communication of ‘the bottom line!’
At your examination your dentist will listen to your concerns and discuss various treatment options that may be available. The dentist will advise you of treatment options available at the practice and may suggest options available elsewhere, for example implants. We will advise you of any costs and also if these are NHS or private. We will offer all options so that each individual patient can make an informed decision about which treatment route they wish to take. The costs discussed in the surgery will be printed at reception and provided to each patient. We will ask you to read the estimated costs and sign to confirm that you understand your treatment costs. On rare occasions when something unexpected should happen causing the Treatment Plan to change, the dentist will discuss this with you and issue you with a new estimate.
The Which? survey states 31% of patients were put off having treatment by dental costs. We are aware of this barrier to dental treatment so we have designed our own range of monthly payment options to make treatment affordable. Our complete care option starts from 42p per day, and covers all routine treatment to secure dental health, giving you complete peace of mind. Details of these payment plans are available in leaflet form at the practice, so please feel free to call in to collect one and discuss any questions you may have with our staff. Alternatively you can access information through our website.
We are fully compliant with with our NHS regulators and Health Inspectorate Wales (private regulator) with regards to transparency of patient charges. NHS band fees are on display in public areas of the practice and our private fee list is available at the practice or on our website.
With regards to cosmetic treatment, dentistry has advanced exponentially and we are able to offer a wide variety of options for patients. We will discuss fees with you individually to tailor treatment specifically to your requirements.
Finally, in our most recent patient satisfaction survey, 95% of our patients were completely happy with the way their treatment was explained. This to us means that we still have room for improvement!
Please let us know if you are not clear on any charges so that when it comes to it – we all know the bottom line!