Many patients ask about dental finance before they start their treatment. Here Andrena and Laura, two of the staff at our Glasgow practice explain how our dental payments work and answer patients' most popular questions.
Yes there are two main options here. You can Pay as You Go or you can apply for dental finance.
With Pay as You Go the cost is spread out throughout your treatment.
For example, if you are having an implant done the cost of the implant would be £1050 at that appointment then your next appointment would be a further payment.
That way you spread the cost of the full course of treatment over the appointments needed for that appointment.
So even if your full treatment plan costs say £2000 or £3000, half of that may not be due until three or four months down the line.
Yes, for example, this also works with the short term orthodontics such as Six Month Smiles where you would make an initial payment when you get the braces fitted and then smaller further payments as part of the overall treatment cost on your subsequent visits. In fact the same sort of financial arrangement can work whatever kind of cosmetic dentistry treatments interest you.
Sometimes patients pay more at one visit so they are in credit ahead for the next visit. Also you can pay by cash, cheque or credit cards and people like the flexibility.
You usually have a choice of 12 months interest free, or you can spread it over 24 months or 36 months with interest.
First we need to see you for a consultation, to find out what treatment you need and then when we have a figure to work on.
We can give you the quote and if you are happy with that we send you an email link with the finance application already set up with your details and the term on it.
You just fill in the rest of the short application at home and you will be told more or less straight away if you are accepted for finance.
We currently work closely with Finance4Patients who are based locally in Scotland to process financial applications quickly.
It is the same company handling the dental finance but over the 12 months it’s currently 9.9% interest.
If the application is successful there’s not really much more paperwork. The finance company takes care of the payment and we just arrange your appointments with you for your treatment.
Most people go for the 12 months interest free - particularly for the bigger treatment plans such as dental implants or multiple porcelain veneers.
We receive a lot of questions at Appletree Dental Care via this website. Feel free to contact us with your own!
Here Dr Brendan Murphy answers some questions about the cost of cosmetic dentistry from our inbox.
Question: I would like to find out what's the rough cost of a dental implant - Jacqueline, Glasgow
Answer: In answer to Jacqueline's question about the cost of an implant tooth or an implant crown - the costs vary from £1850 to £1950 and the difference is really are regarding the porcelain we use and some of the laboratory procedures. There are sometimes additional costs involving grafting. If we need to use what we call local graft materials then they would cost £250 but that's not necessary for everybody. It can be more necessary for patients who have had their teeth taken out some time ago.
Question: I have heard about Six Month Smiles. Can I spread the cost over a period of time? - Robert, Glasgow
Answer: The payment plans for Robert, who is looking for Six Month Smiles, are broadly speaking two options the first option is to pay as you go which would normally involve a £700 down payment and then £300 for six months if he's only having one arch, say for example, an upper jaw or a lower jaw treatment then the costs are £2000 which are spread over six months in terms of a £500 down payment followed by five £300 payments. The other option for six month smiles is you would take finance which can be taken out over as little as one year and for as long as maybe three years or four years and the interest rates may vary on the longer terms but broadly speaking the one year is the best option because it is zero percent finance.
Question: I would like porcelain veneers. Are there payment options available? - Jennifer, Bearsden
Answer:Jennifer, who is looking for cosmetic dentistry involving porcelain work. Most of those treatments are taken out over a period of 12 months to 18 months in terms of the payments and again finance on interest free up to one year is quite an attractive option for that too.