need some advice regarding dental care in Uk.. pls help!!?

hi im a healthy 28 yr old who needs scaling n polishing done (last done a year ago) i moved to UK with my husband recently and i have no idea about how to go about it and my husband also doesnt have much of an idea about the costs and procedure to get it done by NHS. private would be too expensive im assuming. or is it better to get dental insurance? we wil be leaving UK by june next year tho.. dont know if any1 has any idea abt this.. pls help!!
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You need to register with a dentist first, either private or NHS. Look in the phone book for one near you, or contact the NHS regional office and ask for a list of dentists. Ring up the selected dentist and ask to register as a patient. No doubt they will tell you if you need to join an insurance scheme, or what the levels of charges are if they are private. You should be aware that even treatment on the NHS is not completely free, unless you are on a very low income. There is usually some level of charge, depending on the work. You might find you need a check-up with the dentist before you can get a referral to the hygienist for scale and polish. A check up on the NHS will usually cost you about £16. You can then ask the dentist about hygienist services offered through his practice. I am registered with an NHS dentist but scale and polish is not offered as an NHS treatment by this dentist, so I have to pay for it as a private patient. It costs about £40 each time. Which I consider is reasonable. Update for second response: I've seen the £16.50 quoted as well, but I think it means per appointment, and most dentists would schedule a separate appointment for scale and polish. Which would mean, if done under the NHS, it would be anther £16.50. I don't know why my dentist does not do scale and polish on the NHS, he just doesn't, but I think I get good treatment there and I do not consider it too expensive. Why not ring a few of the private dentists local to you and ask them to quote for scale and polish? Also ask them about their insurance plans. As a comparison, my husband is registered with a private dentist and pays dental insurance - supplied through that dentist - around £20 per month. In a year, he gets 2 check ups and 2 scale and polish visits included as standard in that, and part of other treatments paid too, if required. Hope this helps.
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