NHS dentist recommendations in Leeds/Bradford area

[wyterabitt]

I have a couple of pretty bad teeth I have been ignoring for a long time and one has now reached a point where it is not going to get better (it has hurt a few times in the past, then got better).

The reason I have not been back to a dentist is because of a really bad experience with an incompetent dentist who left me in a mess (the swelling was nearly the size of a tennis ball on the side of my face as a result of her screw up) over 10 years ago. Annoyingly I had never even been slightly scared of the dentist before this, now I can't stand the idea.

I can't afford to go private right now, so does anyone know a good one to try for a nervous patient with a bad experience who also has some bad teeth (only the back ones for some reason, most are fine).

 

[vicki]

Hi and

We do have a few recommendations for the Leeds area and also one in Keighley and these can be found in the Yorkshire and Humber area of the recommendations section here:

Yorkshire and the Humber

Dentist reviews and listings for dentists in Yorkshire and the Humber who have an interest in helping nervous or phobia patients overcome their fears.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Unfortunately, most of these recommendations are private rather than NHS, however it may still be worth maybe giving one or two a call, because not all private dental practices charge the same. To give you an idea of costs, an initial consultation in the West Yorkshire area can cost anywhere from about £35 to £60 at a general private dental practice. If it's somewhere in Leeds or Bradford city centre or it's a specialist practice, the cost is usually higher.

The reason that most of the recommendations on this site are private rather than NHS, is that although there are some very good NHS dentists out there, it can be quite difficult to find somewhere that is accepting new NHS patients as well as someone who is good with nervous patients. Generally speaking, NHS dentists don't have anywhere near the same amount of time to spend with a patient as a private dentist would and so although most NHS dentists are usually doing their best, sometimes they can't always spend the time that a nervous patient might need. Although going private doesn't always guarantee you a good experience, it does increase the chances because they have more time to spend with you and they're running a business, so they have to look after their patients and keep them happy, otherwise they wouldn't go back .

I spent 10 years as a patient at a large NHS practice in West Yorkshire where the dentists never stayed more than a couple of years and 6 month checkups lasted 10 minutes (or sometimes less). To cut a long story short, I ended up going private because the NHS practice wasn't interested in providing the treatment I needed and most of the dentists didn't have enough experience to deal with complex cases anyway. Since changing practices, although a checkup now costs about £40 (instead of about £18 on the NHS), it lasts about 30 minutes (instead of a 10 minute rush job) and it's a lot more thorough.

If you visit the NHS website at: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist and put in your postcode in the search box, it will give you a list of NHS dentists in your area and tell you whether they are accepting new patients or not. Even if it says that a practice isn't accepting new patients, it's still worth giving them a ring because the information on the NHS website isn't always up to date and availability does change on a regular basis.

Good luck - let us know how you get on !