Important Patient Update: January 2024
At Family Dental Centre your dental health and care are our top priorities. We want to share some important news about our services.
Due to limited NHS funding (Units of Dental Activity), we’re facing challenges in accommodating all patients solely under NHS provisions. To ensure we can continue providing quality care to everyone, we will be offering appointments on an independent basis while maintaining the same pricing as the NHS.
This adjustment will help us sustain our services until the end of the financial year on March 30th. Rest assured, our commitment to your dental health remains unwavering, and we strive to ensure accessibility and affordability in our care.
We understand this change might raise questions, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. Your understanding and support during this period are greatly appreciated.
Thank you for entrusting us with your dental care, with warmest regards from the whole team here at Family Dental Centre.
Our Commitment to Fair Charges
The practice provides a full range of both NHS and Private dental care. To ensure complete clarity and transparency with costs an estimate will always be provided to every patient to confirm and sign following an examination and prior to any further treatment. A copy will be held on file and the other returned to the patient. The estimate will clearly indicate whether the treatment being recommended is NHS or Private and the exact cost of treatment. The practice will always make it clear which treatment/s you are entitled to have under the NHS, and which treatments can be carried out as Private.
NHS Bands and Prices (2024-25)
From 1st April 2024, if you are not exempt from charges, you will pay one of the following banded rates for each course of NHS treatment you receive.
Band 1
- Cost is per treatment.
- Covers an examination, diagnosis and advice.
- If necessary, it also includes X-rays, a scale and polish and planning for further treatment.
Band 2
- Cost is per treatment.
- Covers all treatment covered by Band 1, plus additional treatment, such as fillings, root canal treatment and removing teeth (extractions).
Band 3
- Cost is per treatment.
- Covers all treatment covered by Bands 1 and 2, plus more complex procedures, such as crowns, dentures and bridges.
Urgent Consultation
- If you require urgent care, you will only need to pay a charge of £26.80, and most urgent treatments can be done in one appointment.
- Once your urgent course of treatment is complete, you may be advised to make another appointment for a separate course of non-urgent treatment.
Our NHS Patient Policy
Patients are removed from our NHS lists if they do not attend the practice within a two-year period or fail to attend or late cancel more than two appointments they have made. These policies are in place to help improve access for other patients that are seeking regular dental care and to prevent the wastage of valuable and limited NHS resources.