Dental Choices » Dental Guides » NHS Dental Charges 2024
Any and all NHS dental treatment costs one of three charges: £25.80, £70.70 or £306.80.
The NHS dental charges usually go up by a few pounds each April, but went up substantially more (8.5%) in 2023.
The revenue raised will not go to your dentist or towards improving your care. Amid a cost-of-living crisis, this hike is covering government cuts.
Our patients shouldn’t have to pay more just so Ministers can pay less.
British Dental Association #TaxOnTeeth
Rather than paying for each individual item of treatment you receive, you pay for a ‘course’ of treatment. Each course of treatment falls into one of five ‘bands’:
NHS dental charge bands 2024:
Urgent Treatment – £25.80
Emergency appointments and any emergency or urgent treatment you need that cannot be postponed.
Band 1 – £25.80
Dental checkups and if your dentist finds you need any X-Rays or a basic clean (scale) then these are included at no extra cost.
Band 2 – £70.70
Everything in Band 1 plus NHS treatment provided directly by your dentist (such as fillings, deep cleaning, simple root canal treatments, extractions), and simple changes to dentures (such as adding an extra tooth or relining the fit surface).
Band 3 – £306.80
Everything in Band 1 and Band 2 plus complex NHS treatment requiring the help of a dental lab such as crowns, veneers, bridges, dentures and mouthguards.
Help with NHS dental charges
If you have a low income, you may be eligible for free NHS dental treatment. You can check if you are eligible, and you can apply for help towards the cost of NHS dental charges.
NHS dentistry – Value for money and limitations
The true cost of the treatment provided is usually much more than you are required to pay. NHS dental treatment is heavily subsidised by public funds and by each individual dentist’s goodwill, and therefore excellent value for money.
The NHS has a duty to provide you with the most cost effective treatment possible. This is so the limited budget available from the government can help as many patients as possible. NHS dental treatment aims to provide the cheapest appropriate treatment, therefore some options are not routinely available on the NHS:
- Sometimes an appropriate treatment option is ‘no treatment’ (eg leaving a space when a back tooth is extracted).
- Cosmetic treatments such as cosmetic fillings, crowns, veneers, onlays, inlays, dentures, bridges and implants are only available as a private option when there is another cheaper functional alternative available on the NHS.
- A polish is not considered essential to maintain your oral health, and so should be a private treatment option.
- Tooth whitening is a cosmetic treatment and so only available privately. The only exception to this is if you have a single tooth which has already undergone root canal treatment, when no alternative treatment options are more appropriate.
Setting the record straight on NHS dental charges
The British Dental Association wants to set the record straight on the increase of NHS dental charges:
The revenue raised by this increase [in patient charges] doesn’t go to dentists. It will do nothing to help the practices struggling or the millions of patients unable to secure an appointment.
Ministers are simply making our patients pay more so they can pay less.
These hikes are never a substitute for sustained government investment.
British Dental Association #TaxOnTeeth
If you feel unhappy about NHS dental charges in England then you should use your power to improve NHS dentistry by writing to your MP.
When you don’t have to pay again for NHS dental treatment
There are some situations where you may not have to pay again for NHS dental treatment.
