Private vs NHS dentist: what you actually get for the difference
NHS charges are £27.90, £76.60 and £332.10 — but cosmetic work isn't covered. What private dentistry costs in Tameside, and what you actually get for it.
NHS dentistry is banded, capped and limited to treatment that is clinically necessary. Private dentistry is neither banded nor capped, and it covers what the NHS excludes — whitening, veneers, adult clear aligners, and your choice of materials. For straightforward treatment the NHS costs far less. For everything else, private is the only route. Below: the 2026 NHS charges, our own Tameside prices, and how to decide between them.
That is the whole comparison in one paragraph. The rest of this page is the detail behind it — because “private or NHS” is really three separate questions: what is covered, what it costs, and how long you wait.
What the NHS actually covers
NHS dental care exists to keep your mouth, teeth and gums healthy. That single test — clinically necessary — decides almost everything. If a treatment is needed to restore or maintain your dental health, it can normally be provided on the NHS. If it is cosmetic, or your dentist does not consider it clinically necessary, it usually cannot.
Your dentist has a duty to tell you which parts of a plan can be done on the NHS and which can only be done privately, and what each would cost. Here, everything is private, so you get one plan and one price with nothing to untangle.
What NHS treatment costs in 2026
NHS dental charges in England are set in three bands. If you need treatment from more than one band, you pay the highest band charge — once.
| NHS charge | Cost | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | £27.90 | Examination, assessment and advice, X-rays if clinically needed, fluoride, simple scaling for gum disease, minimal adjustments to dentures or braces |
| Band 2 | £76.60 | Everything in Band 1, plus fillings, root canal treatment, extractions and minor oral surgery, sealants, denture additions, extensive gum treatment |
| Band 3 | £332.10 | Everything in Bands 1 and 2, plus crowns, inlays and onlays, dentures, bridges, and orthodontics where it is clinically necessary |
| Urgent appointment | £27.90 | Assessment, X-rays, a temporary dressing, emergency root canal work, re-fixing a crown, draining an abscess |
The rule that matters most: you pay once per complete course of treatment, not once per tooth or per visit. Three fillings finished in one course cost £76.60 in total. Come back within two months needing further treatment in the same or a lower band and there is no extra charge. That is why NHS dentistry is genuinely good value for straightforward work — and it is worth understanding before you decide anything.
NHS charges are reviewed every April. These are the figures in force at the time of writing, and the current rates are always published on nhs.uk.
Who pays nothing at all
You get free NHS dental treatment if you are under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education; if you are pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months; if you have had a stillbirth in the past 12 months; if you are being treated by a hospital dentist; or if you receive War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments for an accepted disability.
You also qualify if you or your partner receive Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit (with or without Savings Credit), or Universal Credit below a set income threshold — and dependants under 20 qualify with you. If you are on a low income but not exempt, the NHS Low Income Scheme can cover part of the cost through an HC3 certificate.
One detail people miss: exemption applies to NHS treatment only. If you choose a private option, even as an exempt patient, the private part is chargeable.
What the NHS will not do
This is the honest list, and it is the main reason people end up going private.
- Teeth whitening. Not available on the NHS at all.
- Veneers for appearance. Not available. (A crown or filling that is clinically needed is a different matter.)
- Adult clear aligners. NHS orthodontics for adults is limited to cases where treatment is clinically necessary, assessed against a standard threshold — wanting straighter front teeth is not, on its own, enough.
- Your choice of material. The NHS may offer a metal-coloured crown on a back tooth, or an amalgam filling where it is clinically suitable. An all-ceramic crown or a white filling on a back tooth is usually a private option.
- Cosmetic hygiene work. Scaling is Band 1 when clinically needed. If your dentist says it is not necessary, you pay privately for it — or go without.
- Implants. Not routinely available on the NHS; provision is limited to specific clinical circumstances through specialist services.
What private dentistry actually buys you
Not better intentions. The same clinical standards apply to every dentist in the UK, private or NHS. What changes is the range of what is available and how it is delivered:
No banding. You pay for the treatment itself, so the recommendation is what suits the tooth rather than what fits a band. That matters most on big decisions — whether to save a tooth with a root canal and a crown, or replace it with an implant.
Choice of material and technique. All-ceramic rather than metal, composite matched to your own shade, an onlay instead of a full crown. These are clinical choices with different trade-offs, and privately you get to weigh them.
Time — and continuity. Longer appointments, and the same clinician across the plan rather than whoever is free. For nervous patients that single change is usually the difference between finishing treatment and abandoning it.
Availability. No waiting list, no “we will call you when a place comes up”.
Cosmetic treatment, full stop. Whitening, composite bonding, veneers, adult aligners and smile design are private by definition. There is no NHS version to compare against.
A written plan and price before we start. We do this on every treatment, and it is worth asking any practice for.
The access question, answered honestly
For many people the real problem is not the choice — it is that there is no choice, because they cannot get an NHS appointment at all.
The NHS’s own guidance is that you can ask any NHS dental practice for an appointment, and that a practice may ask you to join a waiting list before you are seen. It also says that you may find it difficult to find a local dentist offering NHS appointments, and that if you cannot find one, you can contact your local integrated care board — in Tameside that is NHS Greater Manchester — which commissions dental services in the area and may be able to tell you where to get an appointment.
If you are in pain and cannot get seen, call NHS 111. The NHS aims to offer urgent dental treatment within 24 hours or within 7 days, depending on your symptoms, and within about an hour if an adult tooth has been knocked out.
Waiting is not neutral. A small cavity that gets treated is a filling; the same cavity left for a year is often a root canal, and sometimes an extraction. If you are stuck on a waiting list with something already sore, that is worth a conversation rather than another six months.
The same treatment, on the NHS and privately
| Treatment | NHS charge | Private at Radiant Dental |
|---|---|---|
| Check-up, including X-rays | £27.90 (Band 1) | £65 — including X-rays, a written plan and an oral cancer screening |
| Scale and polish | £27.90 if clinically needed | £80 — free on membership |
| White filling | £76.60 per course (white on front teeth; amalgam is usual on back teeth) | From £200 anterior, from £230 posterior |
| Root canal | £76.60 per course | £500 to £600, depending on the tooth |
| Extraction | £76.60 per course | £195 to £215 |
| Crown | £332.10 (a metal-coloured crown on a back tooth may be offered) | £850 for zirconia or Emax |
| Bridge | £332.10 | From £735 per unit |
| Dentures | £332.10 | £700 to £1,900 depending on the type |
| Braces or clear aligners | £332.10 if clinically necessary; free for under-18s who qualify | Invisalign® from £2,500 |
| Teeth whitening | Not available on the NHS | £330 for custom trays and gels |
| Veneers | Not available on the NHS | Composite from £300 per tooth |
| Dental implant and crown | Not routinely available on the NHS | £2,500, including the crown |
Read that table the right way round. Where the NHS can do the treatment, the NHS charge is lower — often several times lower. What the private column buys is the choice of how it is done, and treatment that the NHS does not offer at all.
Also worth knowing: the private column is our published list price, not a quote. You can see every figure on our price list before you set foot in the practice, and we will always tell you if something can wait.
Where private costs less than you would expect
Two things narrow the gap more than people assume.
Membership spreads the routine care. From £17 a month, Plan Plus covers two comprehensive check-ups including X-rays and two hygiene appointments; Plan Elite is £24 a month for four hygiene visits. Members also get 20% off general treatment. Compare that with paying £65 for an exam and £80 for a scale and polish each time and the arithmetic is not as one-sided as it looks.
Big treatments come with real value built in. Every Invisalign® course includes free whitening worth £330 and six Vivera® retainers worth £450 — £780 of extras — and 0% APR finance through Chrysalis spreads the cost over 12 to 60 months, subject to status. Ask us for the numbers on your own treatment and we will put them in writing.
How to decide
- Routine care, and you can get an NHS appointment? Take the NHS appointment. We mean that.
- You need a filling, a root canal or an extraction and the NHS waiting list is long? Weigh the wait against the risk of the problem growing. If it is already painful, waiting is the expensive option.
- You are in pain today? Call us on 0161 330 1178 — we hold same-day emergency appointments Monday to Thursday and Friday mornings, and an emergency appointment here is £65 including the assessment and X-ray.
- You want whitening, bonding, veneers or adult aligners? There is no NHS version — it is private wherever you go, so compare practices on plan and price rather than on the word “private”.
- You have been putting off a check-up because you are anxious or embarrassed? That is most of what we do, and it is a conversation, not a lecture.
Radiant Dental is a fully private practice on Stamford Square in Ashton-under-Lyne, with free parking at the rear off St James Street. If you would like to know what your own treatment would cost, book an examination or call 0161 330 1178 — you will get a written plan and a price before anything begins, and no pressure to decide on the day.
Sources: NHS dental charges and exemptions from nhs.uk (charges in force from 1 April 2026, reviewed each April). Our prices are our own published price list at the time of writing.