Signs of a Good Dentist

You’ve got a treatment plan in your hand, maybe a quote for £1,800, maybe a printed NHS form with “Band 3” circled, and something feels off. Perhaps the price is higher than you expected. Maybe you weren’t sure what half the words meant, or the receptionist mentioned a payment plan before anyone explained why you needed a crown at all.

You can tell a lot about a dentist from that piece of paper. This page covers how to read it, what a good dentist puts on it, what a poor one leaves off, and how to use ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to check it before you sign anything. If you’re still choosing a practice from scratch rather than judging one you’ve already seen, start with the broader guide to choosing a dentist and come back here once you have a plan to look at.

The treatment plan is the best evidence you have

Reviews on Google tell you whether the receptionist was friendly and the waiting room was clean. They tell you very little about whether the clinical advice was sound. The plan does. It’s the one document where the dentist has to commit, in writing, to what they think is wrong, what they propose and what it costs.

The General Dental Council’s Standards for the Dental Team require dentists to give patients a written treatment plan and cost estimate before starting anything beyond a simple examination, and to update it if the plan changes. On the NHS in England, the written plan for Band 2 and Band 3 treatment is the FP17DC form. Private practices use their own formats, but the obligation is the same.

So a dentist who won’t put it in writing has already failed the first test.

What a good plan contains

Set your plan next to this checklist. A practice that does things properly will tick almost every row without being asked.

Those tooth codes trip people up. UK dentists mostly use Palmer notation: the mouth is split into four quarters (UR, UL, LR, LL for upper right, upper left, lower right, lower left) and the teeth are numbered 1 to 8 from the front. “UR6” is your upper right first molar, the big chewing tooth roughly below your cheekbone. Some practices use the international FDI system instead, where the same tooth is “16”. Either is fine. What matters is that every item has one.

Signs you’re dealing with a good dentist

They explain the problem before the solution. You should be able to repeat back, in your own words, why each tooth needs work. If you left the surgery knowing you need “a crown on the back one” but not why, ask them to explain it again. A good dentist won’t mind.

They show you the evidence. Bitewing x-rays and intraoral photos are routine now. A dentist who turns the screen round and points to the shadow of decay is giving you the chance to check their reasoning. You’re entitled to copies of your x-rays and records under UK GDPR through a subject access request, and most practices will just email them if you ask.

They offer the cheaper and the “do nothing” option. Almost every restorative decision has alternatives. A cracked molar could get a crown, an onlay, a large filling, or come out. Leaving a small, stable area of early decay and monitoring it with fluoride is a legitimate clinical choice. If the only option on the table is the most expensive one, ask what else would work.

They’re honest about NHS availability. If the practice holds an NHS contract and you’re an NHS patient, they must offer clinically necessary treatment on the NHS. They can also offer private extras alongside it, such as a white filling on a back tooth where the NHS would use amalgam, but they shouldn’t present private treatment as your only route when an NHS version exists.

They refer when it’s beyond them. A general dentist who says “this root canal has curved roots, I’d rather send you to an endodontist” is showing good judgement. Only dentists on the GDC’s specialist lists can call themselves specialists (in orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral surgery and a handful of others). “Special interest in implants” is a marketing phrase, not a qualification.

They don’t rush you. There is almost no routine dental treatment that has to be decided on the same day. Pain and infection are urgent. A six-unit veneer case is not.

Red flags in the plan or the conversation

• A discount that expires within days, or finance offered before the clinical explanation.
• Cosmetic work (whitening, bonding, veneers) bundled into a plan for a dental problem, without being clearly separated as optional.
• Lots of fillings planned on someone who has had few problems for years, with no x-rays shown.
• Crowns recommended on teeth with small fillings that aren’t cracked or painful.
• Reluctance to provide copies of x-rays, or irritation when you mention a second opinion.
• The person treating you doesn’t appear on the GDC register.

None of these proves you’re being ripped off. Two or three together are a good reason to get a second opinion.

Checking the basics in five minutes

Before you think about the clinical advice, confirm the dentist and the practice are what they claim.

1. GDC register. Search the dentist’s name at the GDC “Check a dental professional’s registration” page. You’ll see their registration number, qualifications, any specialist listing, and any current conditions or suspension.
2. Regulator rating. In England, look up the practice on the CQC website. Dental practices aren’t given an overall rating like GP surgeries, but you can read the inspection reports and see whether they met the standards. In Wales use Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, in Scotland Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and in Northern Ireland the RQIA.
3. NHS status. Search “find a dentist” on the NHS website to see whether the practice holds an NHS contract and whether it’s currently taking new adult patients.

Sanity-checking the price with real numbers

NHS charges in England are fixed nationally. For 2025/26 they are:

You pay one band per course of treatment, not per item. Three fillings and a root canal on the NHS still cost £75.30 in total. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different systems, so check the NHS website for your nation.

Private prices vary a lot by region, with London typically 20 to 40% higher. Rough ranges you’ll see in 2026:

A quote at the top of a range isn’t automatically a bad sign. Specialists, better lab work and longer appointments cost more. But a quote well above the top of the range should come with a reason.

A worked example: asking ChatGPT to review a plan

Say you’ve been given this private plan:

UR6  Root canal treatment          £780
UR6  Zirconia crown                £950
LL7  Composite filling (MOD)       £210
LR5  Composite filling (O)         £150
     Hygienist visit               £85
     TOTAL                        £2,175

Strip out your name, date of birth and NHS number first. Then paste something like this into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot:

I'm a UK adult with no dental knowledge. My dentist (private, in Leeds)
has given me this treatment plan. Please:
1. Explain each item in plain English, including what the tooth codes mean.
2. Tell me whether these prices look typical for private UK dentistry in 2026.
3. List any alternatives I could ask about, including NHS options.
4. Give me 5 questions to ask the dentist before I agree.
Do not tell me whether I need the treatment; you can't see my mouth.

[paste plan here]

A typical useful response will explain that UR6 is the upper right first molar, that “MOD” means a filling covering three surfaces (mesial, occlusal, distal) and “O” means just the biting surface, that the root canal and crown prices sit in the normal range, and that the full course would be £75.30 for the fillings and root canal on the NHS, or £326.70 with the crown included, if an NHS place were available. The questions it suggests will usually include things like “Is the UR6 crown needed straight away, or could it wait after the root canal?” and “What’s the prognosis for the UR6 if I go ahead?”

That last question matters. A root-canal-plus-crown package on a molar can cost more than £1,700, and if the tooth has a poor long-term outlook, an extraction and implant or bridge might be the better spend. A good dentist will give you a straight answer on prognosis. A vague one is useful information too.

Treat the AI output as a list of questions, not a verdict. These tools can’t see your x-rays, they sometimes get prices or NHS rules wrong, and they will occasionally state something with total confidence that isn’t true. Use them to understand your plan well enough to have a better conversation with the person who has actually looked in your mouth.

When to get a second opinion, and how

Get one if the total is over £1,000, if you were offered only one option, if the plan includes extracting healthy-looking teeth, or if the earlier red flags apply. Ask the first practice for copies of your x-rays and the written plan so the second dentist doesn’t need to repeat them. Expect to pay a standard private consultation fee of £50 to £100.

If the second dentist agrees, you can go ahead with confidence. If they disagree sharply, ask each one to explain the difference. When the gap is about clinical judgement rather than money, that’s often where you find out who you trust.

If something has already gone wrong with private treatment, the Dental Complaints Service handles private complaints for free. NHS complaints go to the practice first, then the integrated care board, and in England finally to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Before you book anything, ring the practice and ask one question: “Could you send me the treatment plan by email so I can think about it?” Whether they say yes, and how they say it, will tell you more than any review.