For a lot of those seeking out a reliable dentist in the public sector just doesn’t cut it anymore and there are a number of advantages to choosing private dental care. If you are considering making the change it is crucial that you know the differences between the two and the potential advantages. This way you will be able to make the most well-informed decision you can.
Differences Between Public And Private Dentist Care
These days it is quite a common debate as to whether or not private dental care is worth the cost and if it detracts from support for the NHS dental services. To put it simply, private dental care is care that is given to those who are willing to pay that bit extra for their dental services.
Public dental care is available on the NHS and as such is publicly funded and thus aimed more at the mass distribution of dental services. A private dentist is funded privately and so there are a number of treatments they can provide which aren’t available on the NHS, like different types of dental implants. This is because the NHS dental services need to be more functional than that of a dentist who is privately funded and is thus at greater liberty to perform cosmetic, non-essential, treatments.
The NHS has a much larger roster of patients to get through as well, whereas private dentists tend to have a much smaller number of patients and so appointments tend to last longer. With private dentists you will be given a thorough evaluation of the different treatments on offer as well as a written estimate of the cost, so that you will not commit before being fully informed.
Naturally, NHS care will not incur this extra cost and is ideal for families on lower incomes. Generally speaking, private dentistry is a less crowded service and there are very few restrictions on what treatments can be offered since the person is paying extra for the privilege.
The Advantages Of Using A Private Dentist
There can be a great number of advantages in choosing to go private with your dentist treatment. First of all, as touched on before, there is a much wider variety of treatment options available to you if you choose a private dentist. All cosmetic treatments are not provided by the NHS and so if you want teeth whitening to improve your smile, or want white fillings instead of more visible silver amalgam fillings, you will need to go private.
One of the biggest advantages of private dental care is that the waiting times for appointments are a lot shorter. This is because NHS dentists have a much greater influx of patients on any given day or week than a private dentist, and thus they will take a lot longer to be able to fit you into their busy schedules.
Dentists in the private healthcare sector can see you quickly and they also have more time to offer you as they will not have as many patients to see the same day. Therefore the level of care and attention to detail is more pronounced and effective with private dental care.
Finally, the lack of funding restrictions means that private dentists don’t need to be selective about what equipment they can afford to splash out on. This means private dental clinics often have the latest in cutting edge dental technology.
Contributed Content
