Dastardly dentists (and vets)

MY NEPHEW was quoted over £2,000 for dental braces but managed to get the treatment for £250 in Morocco while on a short break. Even with the cost of the return flight and other charges, a substantial saving has been made. He is going back in three months. With return flights from Stansted of £30-£60, he figures the most the trip will cost is £200.

In an emergency he will have to see a dentist in the UK. But overall he will make a significant saving.
JY, Perry Barr, Birmingham

I AM a dentist. I thought the article by Hunter Davies was full of tired old clichés that the profession is constantly trying to wade through.

Dentists are required to display lists of prices. We are also required to give an estimate for a course of treatment more tailored to a patient’s exact needs. If you don’t like the price, you can go elsewhere.

NHS dentistry fees are consistent across the country. If you don’t like them, you should complain to your MP. We have no control over them.

Private dentistry fees vary across the country. A “high end” practice in central London will have prices — and running costs — to match. A white crown may cost about £1,200.

A small family practice in the north of England will charge less for private work. Running costs will be lower, but that dentist will still have to pay many thousands per year for indemnity, registration and compliance with the regulations. A white crown will cost perhaps £300.

If people wish to go abroad for work such as implants, they are free to do so. But they should be mindful of what aftercare regimes are in place. Who is responsible should the implant fail? Do you need to travel back to Malta or wherever? Should the NHS pick up the tab? (Clue: no, the NHS doesn’t cover implants, and it will be extracted.)
RB, by email

IT SEEMS to me that this was a rare case in which the patient, not the dentist (“doctor”), touched a nerve!
JM, by email

Our father, who art in the TV room
I AM the treasurer for a small church that occupies multipurpose premises (Have Your Say, last week). Several years ago, we received a letter from TV Licensing addressed to a Mr Zhao. It noted that he had recently bought a TV and needed a licence for this address.

I wrote to TV Licensing pointing out that the address clearly showed it was a church. Apart from God, nobody lived there — and we didn’t have a TV or any means of receiving a TV signal. All this was to no avail.

We received the usual escalation of increasingly threatening letters, to which we replied giving the same information — until we reached the stage when they threatened a random inspection of the premises at a time of their choosing. I pointed out in my reply that they might well find the premises locked. I suggested that if they wanted to make an inspection, they should contact me and I would be there. I heard nothing further until the next year, when the whole cycle began again — this time in the name of a Mr Xiauo.

This carried on for a number of years and it became clear to me that the timing of the notices was linked to the beginning of the academic year at local universities. It seemed clear that the church’s address was being used by students buying a TV who were unwilling to pay the licence fee. I wrote to TV Licensing telling them what I suspected. Since that time I have heard no more.

If you are determined and persistent, and are not easily intimidated, you can handle this. My concern would be about those who are frightened and distressed by such aggression, and whose health may be impaired as a result.
RL, Loughborough, Leicestershire

Beware energy ‘savings’
I WAS appalled to learn that Ofgem, the energy regulator, has chosen to impose a fine on prudent customers — who buy energy from solvent suppliers — to pay for the foolish who choose the minnow suppliers that bring nothing to the market (“Will you be out in the cold if your energy supplier tanks?”, December 4).

It should be the duty of Ofgem to ensure the solvent energy suppliers remain so and to place warnings against those that are insolvent.
BE, Farnham, Surrey

YOU should warn those readers who use energy comparison websites not to believe implicitly the advertised savings from switching.

If one is on a fixed-term contract, the comparison to be made for a new supplier is not with the cost of that fixed contract. Rather, it is with the standard variable rate on to which the customer would be moved by the current supplier at the end of the fixed term. This will be the most expensive tariff and so the advertised saving will always exceed the saving, if any, on the fixed-term tariff.
AG, Woking, Surrey

Stop blaming pensioners
I AM a female baby boomer (“Triple lock gets Treasury’s vote . . . until election day”, November 27). I was not university educated and I worked all the time while looking after my family.

While I worked, I subsidised children from wealthy backgrounds who received free university tuition.

I subsidised the generation before me who received a pension but who had not made 30 years’ contributions.
I don’t remember anyone discussing the unfairness of all this.

But then, as now, I suspect most working families were busy “just managing”.
MK, Accrington, Lancashire

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