Essential guide to dental health on a budget
Dentist bills are a necessary evil if we want to keep on top of our oral health and make sure we still have our teeth when we reach old age. Some treatments are relatively cheap (particularly if you use an NHS dentist in the UK), but other problems and treatments can prove very costly. With that in mind, we thought we’d create a guide to dental health on a budget to ensure that you can keep your pearly whites fit and well without breaking the bank.
- Keep Oral Hygiene Levels High
The easiest way to keep your oral health costs low is to keep your oral hygiene levels high. Most of us manage to brush our teeth twice a day. The problem is that, in our modern age of sugary foods and drinks, just brushing our teeth twice a day aren’t actually enough to stop tooth decay completely. Ideally, we should brush our teeth after every meal and floss after every meal. We should also use mouthwash regularly to help reach those harder to reach areas. When it comes to brushing, we should spend five minutes each time rather than just whipping around our teeth in a mad dash to get to sleep.
- Keep Regular Check-ups
Whilst you have to pay for a dental check-up, the reality is that you can avoid a lot of problems further down the line if you make sure you attend twice yearly check-ups. In the UK on the NHS these cost £25 a session, but even without the NHS you should not expect to pay more than £60 for a check-up. When private crowns and fillings can cost several hundred pounds or more a time, regular check ups are a good way to make sure that you are keeping your teeth and gums healthy and avoid more costly work in the future. The best bet is to find an NHS dentist
- Find an NHS or equivalent dentist
Finding an NHS dentist can be difficult, but it is absolutely the best way to lower your healthcare costs. NHS reduced rates mean that fillings cost just £50, which privately might cost £150 each. If you know you need treatment, it is worth locating an NHS dentist even if they are a little further a field. You can search NHS dentists online or ask to be referred by your local GP.
- Budget plan for dentistry
If you want to take the sting out of dental bills, then make sure you budget for them. In our household, we put £40 a month aside for medical-related costs. After a few years, this becomes a nice pot in case you ever need to pay for larger treatments. Budgeting effectively might not reduce your costs, but it’s a great way to make sure you aren’t suddenly hit with a bill you can’t pay or are unable to afford essential treatment at all.
- Change your diet and lifestyle
Changing your diet is one of the best ways to improve your oral health. It decreases the risks of tooth decay and gum disease massively. Processed sugars are rampant in foods and even worse in juices and fizzy drinks. If you can significantly cut down your intake of these foods, you will massively improve your overall health and your oral health. At the same time, tea and coffee are one of the most common ways that we stain our teeth. If you are worried about the aesthetics of your smile, then reduce your intake of these to keep your teeth looking white. In terms of your lifestyle, the big no-no is smoking. Smoking increases your risk of gum diseases and is, of course, bad for your overall health. If you can give up you will be doing your mouth, and your wallet, a massive favour.
- Find a cheaper dentist
If you can’t find an NHS dentist make sure that you compare prices and services on offer at a range of local practices. You can use Yell or WhatClinic to find a practice near you and check their prices. There are no universal price structures in dentistry outside of the NHS , so you may want to again travel a little further a field if it means you can reduce costs drastically.
Alex is a professional writer with a keen passion for oral health, thanks to years of problems.
