Poor dental treatment ‘can lead to extra charges for patients’

A new report from Citizens Advice has indicated that many patients are paying to fix damage caused to their teeth by dentists.

The charity's figures showed that it helped people in England and Wales with 4,000 dental care problems last year, up by nine percent from the year before, with substandard service highlighted as the biggest issue.

An analysis of 354 of these cases revealed that three-quarters involved treatments that caused the patient further problems, including healthy teeth being cracked, fillings coming out or dentures fitting poorly.

It was also shown that in 23 percent of cases, patients said dentists refused to offer a refund or a free-of-charge repair, despite rules stating that dentists should pick up the costs if they are at fault.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Dentists need to make sure that they aren't charging patients for their mistakes, and that they provide patients with clear information about how they can claim compensation if something goes wrong."

However, the Oral Health Foundation has refuted the Citizens Advice statement, saying the vast majority of dental treatments in the UK are carried out without issue, while noting that most dentists are proactive about addressing any problems.