When is nhs dentistry free

This covers everything listed in Bands 1 and 2 above, plus crowns, dentures, bridges and other laboratory work. Learn more about NHS dental charges. If one or more of the criteria listed below applies to you when your treatment starts, you'll be entitled to free NHS dental care. You're also entitled if you or your partner — including civil partner — receive, or you're under the age of 20 and the dependant of someone receiving:.

Medical conditions do not exempt patients from payment for dental treatment. You'll be asked to show your dentist written proof that you do not have to pay for all or part of your NHS treatment. You will also be asked to sign a form to confirm that you do not have to pay.

Pregnant women and women who have had a baby in the last 12 months get free NHS dental treatment. You may have to show proof, such as a maternity exemption certificate MatEx , a maternity certificate MATB1 , or your baby's birth certificate.

If you gave birth more than 12 months ago, you will not be entitled to free NHS dental treatment. Tell your dental practice you want NHS treatment when you make an appointment. When you arrive for your appointment, you'll be given a form to fill out — if you do not have to pay, put a cross in the appropriate box.

If you have a valid HC2 certificate or tax credit exemption certificate, write in the certificate number. If you have a valid HC3 certificate, write in the certificate number and the maximum your certificate says you can pay.

You'll pay either what appears on the certificate or the actual charge, whichever is the least. Dentists went from seeing around 15 to 20 patients a day to over Patients had to be turned away, and hospitals also experienced a rise in cases. The initial hope had been that there would be less emphasis on prosthetics for older people and more conservative treatment for children.

However, the demand for dentures was incredible. In the first nine months of its existence NHS dentists provided over 33 million artificial teeth, a figure that would rise to Extractions still formed a large part of dentists' work — 4.

With the rise in work, dentists' incomes also rose, and the NHS became a more attractive proposition. By November , official figures claimed that 83 per cent of practising dentists had signed up. More people were being treated than ever before, which had been a main objective of the new service, but this success came at a huge financial cost. Dentists' fears about the sustainability of the service were justified.

Within two years of launching the NHS, the government cut the rates of item of service payments three times, and did so without consulting dentists. By , the NHS was already running out of money. To help alleviate this, charges for dentures, the first charges of any kind for NHS treatment , were introduced causing much debate in government and the public arena and leading to the resignation of Aneurin Bevan, the Minister who had been crucial to bringing the NHS into existence.

If you claim Universal Credit as a couple, the earnings limit applies to the joint income of you and your partner. If you meet these conditions, you will automatically receive an NHS tax credit exemption certificate. NHS tax credit exemption certificates. You are entitled to free NHS dental treatment if, at the time you are accepted for your course of treatment, you are pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months. HC2 certificates. Your certificate tells you how much you have to pay towards your charges.

HC3 certificates. You can claim money back for dental treatment, NHS travel costs, sight test, glasses or contact lenses if you receive War Pension Scheme or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments and the treatment is for your accepted disability.

You're entitled to free NHS prescriptions and NHS wigs and fabric supports if you have a war pension exemption certificate and the treatment relates to your accepted disability. You currently have JavaScript disabled in your web browser, please enable JavaScript to view our website as intended.