The NHS in Scotland is committed to helping every dental patient maintain a healthy and stable mouth.
Please note: the current and ongoing situation means that we are currently not registering new NHS patients in our Glasgow practices.
Dr Robert Kirke, a dentist at Appletree Dental Care in Glasgow, describes the range of dental treatments available on the NHS and how they help you maintain healthy teeth and gums.
If you have any dental decay, we provide small fillings. These may be metal amalgam for your back teeth but you can get white composite fillings for your front teeth. These white fillings blend in better with your other teeth.
Sometimes patients come to us with well-worn or fractured teeth. In this case we may crown the teeth. This usually involves a small metal jacket placed over your tooth. We will then add a layer of porcelain over this, particularly if it is front tooth, and this will be shaded to blend in with the teeth on either side of it.
Most dental treatment under the NHS is designed to help you maintain a healthy pain-free mouth and if you attend the practice every six months - or three months if necessary - it is very unlikely that you will need more advanced treatment.
If you have missing teeth causing spaces in your mouth, you can get partial dentures - usually acrylic - on the NHS. These dentures can be very discrete and will fit well if correctly made.
You are also covered for gum disease under the NHS. We can do an NHS scale and polish and we usually do that with our patients every six months. However we may schedule these appointments for every three months for patients with more serious gum disease.
Occasionally we need to extract teeth. And if a tooth has an infection or has particularly bad decay, we may provide root canal treatment. Again this is covered under NHS treatment.
If you are not entitled to free NHS dental treatment or any other help with your dentistry charges, you have to pay 80% of the cost of your NHS dental treatments up to a maximum of £384 per course of treatment.
However these fees change regularly and can vary according to how many teeth are involved as well as the stage of dental treatments.
Although prices are set centrally and not by us, you can get a good idea of how much you will pay as an NHS patient by asking our reception staff in the Glasgow practice.
Here are some example prices for NHS dental treatments. They were correct at time of writing but for up to date NHS prices it is best to contact the staff in our Glasgow dental surgery.
Clinical examination, advice, charting (including assessment and recording of any malocclusion and monitoring of periodontal status) and report including the examination of a patient in connection with trauma, where the patient is in a capitation or continuing care arrangement with the dentist
No charge
Provision of a care and treatment summary for a patient, other than a patient only accepted for occasional treatment, when requested by a patient/parent who has indicated an intention to change dentist, showing information about the patient's dental health and/or treatment which would not be readily available from visual examination.
From £3.36 per report
Radiographic examination and radiological report. These vary according to size and type of film plate.
From £3.36
Advice on diet and on oral hygiene techniques, and normally requiring more than 1 visit per course of treatment.
From £7.48
Application of fissure sealants as a primary preventive measure to pits and fissures. Price per tooth.
From £6.76
Application of topical fluoride preparations to all teeth for patients who show evidence of a high risk of rapidly advancing dental caries.
From £32.08
Scaling, polishing and simple periodontal treatment, including oral hygiene instruction Per course of treatment.
from £10.76
Treatment of periodontal diseases requiring more than 1 visit including oral hygiene instruction, scaling, polishing and marginal correction of fillings. Per course of treatment.
from £26.12
Treatment of chronic periodontal diseases including root-planing, deep scaling and, where required, marginal correction of restorations, irrigation of periodontal pockets, sub-gingival curettage and/or gingival packing of affected teeth, and all necessary scaling and polishing.
From £33.32 for 1-4 affected teeth
Gingivectomy, gingivoplasty and similar procedures, with post-operative management. The first 2 adjacent teeth in one jaw
From £18.40
Simple excision of soft tissue to lengthen crowns in connection with veneers, crowns, bridges, dentures, and/or obturators.
From £6.76 per tooth
Raising and replacement of a mucoperiosteal flap with any necessary curettage, root planing and bone resection
From £40.68
Free gingival grafts including raising tissue from a donor site and preparation of a recipient site, with post-operative instruction and management
From £65.48 per graft
Permanent fillings, including any dressings, pulp capping, or other preparatory treatment
From £7.32
Tunnel restorations in permanent or retained deciduous teeth, undertaken to conserve sound tooth structure as an alternative to treatment.
From £14.24
Additional fee for patients with an exceptional medical condition for the replacement of 1 or more amalgam fillings.
From £8.92
Treatment of any surface of a permanent tooth using glass ionomer cement, where the tooth would otherwise be extracted.
From £12.32
Facing or refacing a permanent upper tooth anterior to the first premolar, normally for patients aged 17 years or over, and including acid etch retention, other necessary preparation of the enamel and temporary coverage of the tooth.
From £87.32
In permanent teeth and in retained deciduous teeth, normally for patients aged 17 years or over, inclusive of all preparation, dressing, pulp capping, pins incorporated in castings, cores fabricated in the mouth and temporary coverage during construction).
From £56.64
Normally for patients over 17 years. Fees are inclusive of all preparatory treatment, dressing, pulp capping, pins incorporated in castings and cores fabricated in the mouth.
From £87.32
Administration of a single intravenous sedative agent or inhalation sedation, using a dedicated machine capable of delivering a fixed maximum level of nitrous oxide and a fixed minimum level of oxygen when providing inhalation sedation, by a doctor or a dentist other than the dentist carrying out the treatment to include any preliminary investigation and blood testing.
From £21.48
Provision of dentures in synthetic resin, including all necessary backing and tagging. Full upper and lower dentures.
From £148.60
For conditions of the gingivae/oral mucosa (including pericoronitis, ulcers and herpetic lesions), including any necessary oral hygiene instruction and/or the issue of a prescription.
From £6.52
For the most up to date list of NHS dentist prices you can also consult the full document on dental remuneration in Scotland here
We believe top quality dentistry should be available to everyone in Glasgow. And we also believe it should be affordable. You will see from our cosmetic dentistry prices we are determined to keep private dental teatments manageable for as many people as possible but even so, dental treatment would still be out of reach of many if it wasn't for the NHS in Scotland.
We give out patients at Appletree the same quality of service regardless of whether they are seen privately or as NHS patients. You get the same treatment rooms, the same dentists and the same cutting edge technology when you need treatment.
Registered as a NHS patient with Appletree and you will be entitled to the full range of dental treatments available to ensure your dental health including free dental checkups twice a year.
Phone us now for an appointment. Andrena will take a few details and arrange for you to see the dentist at the first opportunity.
Or you can complete our contact form with your enquiry and we will get straight back to you.
Either way, if you have an questions about NHS treatments and prices, fire away. Our team will be happy to provide you with all the answers.
Some treatments are not available under the NHS iN Scotland except under very exceptional circumstances. These include: