Hexham Dental Clinic

Many thanks for taking the time to feedback to us about your experience at our clinic. I’m sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. Feedback such as yours helps us improve our service for all patients.
Sadly, the NHS requires patients to pay for dental treatment unless they are exempt for any of the following reasons: Income Support, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, Universal Credit and meet the criteria, a valid NHS tax credit exemption certificate or a valid HC2 certificate.
The NHS sets the fees centrally and we have no control over who or what we charge. As you correctly state, the current NHS fee for a crown is a band 3 course of treatment which is currently £282.80. I understand though why this may seem expensive as a pensioner on a small fixed income.
Having reviewed your examination notes and clinical images, I can understand why a crown was recommended to you and I can understand why alternatives to an NHS crown were offered to you. We always aim to give patients options where possible, and many of our patients prefer to have cosmetic alternatives to the NHS treatment option but this is an individual choice.
As with many clinics, we have a huge backlog of patients requiring treatment as a legacy from the last 2 years of restrictions that have been imposed on dental clinics as a result of the pandemic. Our clinic has been, as advised by the NHS, prioritising emergency and remedial treatments over routine examinations and non-urgent treatments and as such, routine examinations have been delayed.
I’m glad to hear that your dentist was polite and the staff attentive. I’m sorry you feel the need to find another dentist but wish you well with your future dental health.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Sykes, Partner, Hexham Dental Clinic.