Private Dental Insurance Plans in the UK

Lets go back to post war Britain when a marvelous creation called the National Health Service (NHS) was born. There was nothing else in the world to rival it and it was the envy of many other nations - truly free healthcare for all citizens of the nation paid for by people's income taxes and national insurance contributions. Dental treatments and regular preventative dental check ups were part of this service.

Fast-forward to modern day Britain and we have an NHS under significant financial pressures due to reduced budgets and an increasing population to treat, so it's not surprising that the government expects citizens to contribute towards the cost of the more routine services such as dental check ups and surgeries. Add to the mix the fact that Dentists, who run their own surgeries privately, are in dispute with the government about how they get paid for carrying out NHS dental work and we begin to see how it has become so difficult to get registered as an NHS patient at a dental practice today.

Patients are now expected to contribute sometimes up to 50% of the cost of their NHS treatment and as this has become more expensive, coupled with the fact that NHS dentists are hard to get registered with, more and more people are seeking private dental insurance plans to meet the bills.

It is important to differentiate between "private dental insurance" and a "dental insurance plan". Private Dental insurance is exactly that, a policy that provides payment for the full cost of any and all treatment required either at a private dentistry practice or private dental hospital. Often such policies are part of a wider health insurance scheme provided by some employers. On the other hand a dental plan is typically a "cash-back" scheme where you pay a monthly premium dependent upon the level of cover you want and then claim back a percentage of any treatment costs you incur.

People do need to be careful that they know the difference and that they understand exactly what they are getting for their money before taking out a dental policy. Both types of policies are available to individuals and families in the UK, from an increasing number of providers.

George McGonigal

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