Treatments and Prices

For all the information on our fees, how and when we update them and some tips on avoiding misleading deals, please have a look at our Fair Pricing Policy

The Current fee guide gives you all the guideline costs for common treatments here at the Natural Smile.  Its is almost impossible to give you a totally accurate cost from a fee guide, there are just too many variables in each person and in each treatment.   A good example to illustrate this will be the cost of a filling.  A small filling uses less material and so will be cheaper, a filling at the front of the mouth will be easier for the dentist to get to and therefore take less time, the opposite is true of molars and wisdom teeth.

PAYING FOR YOUR TREATMENT

This information is designed to explain the different payment options for dental treatment. It’s major source material is from Money Saving Expert (MSE), a website created by Martin Lewis. It was always an independent website and claims still to be (by way of a contractually binding Editorial Code) since it was bought by money supermarket in 2012.  I should also point out that we would never recommend going abroad for dental treatment, unless you have fully considered all the implications of having a dentist in a different country for example; possible return trips to the dentists to resolve any problems that may occur, what are your dentists standards and qualifications?  What are your legal rights for redress in the country you are in?

Prevention is better than cure

The best way to reduce your dental bills is to take good care of your teeth and gums! At the Natural Smile we believe that preventative care means teeth for life, and all of our treatments are geared toward the preservation of your natural teeth. Our dentists and hygienists will give you all of the information and encouragement that you need to take the best care of your teeth, and hence reduce the cost of dental treatment, in the long term.

Where ever treatment is indicated by the dentist, you will be given a detailed plan and estimate which will also show medium and longer term treatment needs helping you to plan your treatment and decide on payment options that suit you.

If you do need dental treatment, we hope that you will find that the quality of care is such that the treatment is excellent value for money and once it is complete that you should only need to come back to us for routine maintenance.

Pay As You Go

About three-quarters of all private dental treatment in the UK is paid for on a fee per item basis, with the patient directly paying the dental practice, so most of us get by quite happily without insurance. Furthermore, if your teeth are generally in good condition with few treatment needs, paying hundreds of pounds a year for dental insurance is money down the drain.

If that is the case then Pay As You Go is a good deal for you. However those likely to need regular ongoing treatment might like to consider one of the other options explored here.

0% Finance

We offer 0% finance over 6 or 10 months for certain treatment plans to help spread the cost of treatments.  There is a quick and simple application process, please let us know of you would like to explore this option, of course terms and condition apply!

The Natural Smile Practice plan.

Our practice plan allows you to spread the cost of your routine care, get discount off of most treatments, and provides you with the piece of mind of world wide dental accident and insurance cover, find out more here 

Dental insurance

Insurance plans cover general dental treatment, injuries and emergency work, plus serious oral diseases, however cosmetic dentistry is excluded, so don’t expect your policy to pay for teeth whitening, porcelain veneers or dental implants.

Pre-existing conditions typically aren’t covered under dental insurance. You may be able to get cover for some basic treatments – such as checkups and a scale and polish – but anything more serious won’t be covered.

The definition of a pre-existing condition depends on the insurer, but most say it’s anything you’ve had in the past year, with the exception of oral cancer. Some insurers will require you to have had a checkup within the last past year to get a policy, so always check.

Many dental insurance policies require you to pay something towards your treatment costs, say a quarter of all spending up to a limit of £500 a year. Also, as with private medical treatment, the cost of, and demand for, private dental treatment increases with age, so older people should be especially keen to double-check every policy.

Please follow the link to the Money Saving Expert Website to find the cheapest insurance for you.

Use a healthcare cash plan.

Cash payment plans are the most popular healthcare in the country covering several million people. Most healthcare cash plan operators are non-profit organisations founded prior to the NHS, to help the UK’s ‘ordinary working folk’ meet healthcare costs. Technically the plans are insurance policies which pay out when you incur healthcare costs.

Health Care Cash Plans are a good low cost way to cover dental costs. With these little publicised schemes, if you pay for NHS or private treatments for a range of things, like osteopathy, hospital stays, dental or optical treatments, you can reclaim the cash up to set limits. These plans are best for those likely to claim for other treatments too. For full details see the MSE link HERE

Self-Insure.

One sensible alternative to buying dental cover is to self-insure. Instead of paying £20 a month for dental insurance, stash away the same amount in a high-interest savings account When you need to make a claim, use this cash pot as a pay as you go (see above) to pay for your treatment. As an added bonus, if you don’t need any treatment, you get to hang on to your cash and the accrued interest, too! One risk with self insurance is that if major treatment is required, before significant funds are built up, you may not be able to afford the treatment.

A note on the source information

The major source of information for this information is Money Saving Expert (MSE). An independent website run buy Martin Lewis who regularly appears on BBC Radio Two. His full website is HERE

All text in italics is a direct quote from the MSE dental insurance article

Other sources of information in this article are the British Dental Health Foundation

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *