Surge in private dentist charges prices patients out of treatment

Private dentists are cashing in on the scarcity of NHS treatment by hiking their charges for fillings, checkups and extractions to ""eye-watering"" levels, research has found.

- Denis Campbell

Private dentists are cashing in on the scarcity of NHS treatment by hiking their charges for fillings, checkups and extractions to "eye-watering" levels, research has found.

Patients are paying as much as £775 for root canal work, £435 to have a tooth out and £325 for a white filling due to fees for common dental procedures soaring since 2022. Fees for many treatments have risen more than inflation in the past two years as more people seek non-NHS care, with the average cost of a non-surgical extraction up by 32%, a comparison of prices at private dental surgeries across the UK has found.

Patient groups warned that some people with dental problems were missing out on care altogether because NHS help is so hard to access and private treatment so expensive.

"For patients struggling to access NHS dental care, and for those who choose to go private, the dramatic rise in private dental costs places essential care out of reach for many," said Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association.

"This creates a dangerous cycle where patients bounce between an inaccessible NHS system and unaffordable private care, while their oral health deteriorates. The stark reality is that many are left with no viable route to essential dental treatment."

After two years of rising prices, patients are paying between 14% and 32% more for the same treatments, according to research by MyTribe Insurance, which tracks the cost of private health insurance and also different types of paid-for health care across the UK.

Their analysis of data covering six common treatments, from 450 private dental practices in 52 UK towns and cities, found that the average cost of:

A white filling has gone from £105 to £129 - up 23%

An extraction has risen from £105 to £139-a 32% increase.