Fees and payments

Fee setting and Payment Choices

How much does quality dental care cost?

LCIAD does not have a set “fee per item” fee structure but rather a time and costs-based fee calculation method which may be different to most other practices. What we charge depends not only on what we plan to do, but more significantly on how we plan to do it and the steps required to get to a given result.

As an example: Patients often ask us how much we charge for a dental implant.

With respect, this is not the right question. We do not sell implants. We provide advice and necessary treatment to solve dental problems that you may have. This may of course require one or more dental implants, but it may also require many other things related to replacement of a missing tooth including consultation, information collection, planning, disease control, bite stabilisation, bone and tissue augmentation, planning of implant positions, manufacture of surgical guides and provisional restorations and then finalisation with defintive restorations on the implants. The order in which this is carried out also has a bearing on long term success especially where there are risk factors in an individual patient.

Accordingly, we consider all of the clinical care and steps that you may require to get you from your current condition to the end of treatment. Once we have met you, seen your dental situation, discussed your requirements, studied your case in detail and planned exactly what we are going to do step-by-step, then we will customise a written estimate for you, at that time under those particular circumstances. There are therefore simply too many variables and possible treatment items available to provide a meaningful list of fees. This is also why we charge additional fees for the private time we spend to really study your case and write comprehensive reports to provide you with the best advice outside practice hours.

Dealing with insurance claims

We are often asked by patients to provide itemised bills for them to be able to reclaim fees from their insurance.

Unfortunately, most insurance companies are based on the old NHS method of remuneration where each item of treatment has an attached fee. This is carried over from a bureaucratic approach to “fee per item” treatment and simply is not how modern dentistry is approached or carried out. We therefore made a clinical decision a long time ago not to have our patient care influenced by how an insurance company feels we should structure our clinical care sequences and procedures based on arbitrary lists of items that may be decades out of date.

We do not sell items of treatment. We do not have a fee for a filling, or an implant or indeed any other item of treatment. We have a fee based on professional time, experience, knowledge and skillset. In our view, every patient is different and every item of treatment requires a case-by-case approach which we avaluate and estimate clearly for in advance of any treatment. For us, a fee per item structure is akin to a barrister charging for paper and ink rather than their knowledge and skillset.

We ask you to pay for the knowledge, experience, time and skill of the clinician. The practice pays for the dentistry and all related costs.

Fee structuring

Whilst we break down in detail what has been done in a particular visit or for a particular phase of treatment, this is based on the time we have taken and the preparatory work that we have had to do in your absence in our own time rather than being a list of items charged at a given rate. We feel strongly that we are a profession and not a sale point of commodities. Fees charged are professional hourly rates which we set and regularly review based on costs that we incur in providing you with the service that we do. This can vary tremendously from patient to patient and case to case.

We always provide individual, customised, written estimates in advance of any elective treatment for your approval and signed consent after gathering sufficient information from your consultation appointment(s). We provide a guide below to allow an appraisal of ballpark figures prior to attending the practice so that you’re aware of the levels of investment likely to be involved for the standard of work we provide. (Please note that these are guidelines based on current fees and should not be taken as quotes).

Please be assured that we always endeavour to be as cost-effective as possible especially in the long term. Our fees are calculated based on actual time and costs to us of carrying out a particular plan of dental care to a particular standard. The scope of work that we carry out, especially where extensive, full-mouth dentistry is being carried out, is often tremendously time-consuming and labour-intensive, including time spent on your case in your absence, and our fees must necessarily reflect this. However we always believe that the long term value of quality diagnosis, advice and ongoing documented care easily makes up for the initial investment and this is the foundation on which LCIAD’s success over 2 decades is built.

• “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” – Benjamin Franklin
• “You seldom improve quality by cutting costs, but you can often cut costs by improving quality”  – Karl Albrecht
• “There is nothing more expensive than cheap dentistry” – Patient who’s work we had to rectify after having had extensive dental work carried out abroad

Flexible Ways to Pay

WE OFFER:

• Phased payments in advance of each phase of treatment
• 50% in advance, 50% halfway through treatment
• Payment plans extending from 12 months interest-free and up to 60 months interest-bearing (Tabeo Finance). Please note that LCIAD must receive all monies prior to elective treatment commencing.
• 7.5% fee reduction for full advance payment of estimates over £10,000
• We can also discuss other arrangements depending on the particular estimate and timetable for any given case.

We provide bank details for BACS transfers together with written estimates after consultation.

We regret that we do not accept cheques or American Express for payments.

Important announcement regarding “Confirmation of Payee” and Metrobank 

As a result of banking regulations that came into force in March 2020 and the introduction of a scheme known as “Confirmation of Payee,” we have recently experienced an increase in the numbers of new patients that are wary of making payments to LCIAD

When LCIAD’s details are entered into the payee box, some banks state that they are unable to verify us as a valid company or entity. Naturally this arouses suspicions with some new patients to LCIAD and we have had patients unwilling to make initial payment to us for consultations.

This is because Metrobank, who is LCIAD’s bank, have not been obliged to join the scheme. Please be assured that LCIAD is indeed a valid business registered with Companies House.  The letter on the link below explains the situation in more detail for your information together with a link to LCIAD’s Companies House registration.

Metrobank Confirmation of Payee (COP)

I aplogise for any inconvenience to new patients to the practice until this issue is fully resolved by the banks.

Dr Koray Feran BDS MSc FDSRCS FCGDent FICD
Clinical Director