I have been living here long enough that it was time to find a dentist. I was also struggling a little with some tooth pain.

I don’t know if you’ve ever moved abroad, so I don’t know if this is normal or I’m a total weirdo, but in the grand scheme of things that have intimidated me, finding a dentist, doctor, and getting new eyeglasses have hands down been the most intimidating.

I spent a few weeks calling and emailing around and trying to find an NHS dentist that was taking patients. I also did not move quick enough the first time I got an email reply that they were accepting new NHS patients and I called them to make an appointment 4 or 5 days later and the space was already taken.

So I started to look into private dentists.

And my American friends might be wondering the difference.

An NHS dentist has prices capped at a certain amount, usually cheaper than private dentists. So for an examination of my teeth, I would’ve been charged £25.80 and if I needed any fillings (any number of them), it would’ve cost an additional £70.70. If I needed really intense dental work like crowns or bridges, it would’ve been £305.80.

Essentially, an NHS dentist should provide perfunctory dental care at a very reasonable price.

But getting an appointment was madness.

So I thought, I’ll just check the prices of private dentists.

And they are still a little cheaper than America. For about $210 I had a checkup, X-rays and cleaning.

Some weird things about this was that it had two be two separate appointments, a proper checkup with a dentist and then a second appointment a month later for a cleaning – the cleaning could’ve been sooner but that worked best for my schedule.

I also don’t love that they take a £20 deposit for the initial appointment but always keep £20 of deposit at all times, so I thought my checkup would be £20 less, and it was, but then I was immediately charged £20 as a deposit for my next appointment.

I’m not a fan of that.

However, it was super easy to get an appointment, I was able to set it all up over email and went to the dentist by the end of the same week I tried to make the appointment.

The office is not too far from where I live. Overall, it’s super convenient and the quality of care felt very similar to my American dentist, who is really very expensive.

I also like that their prices are on their website, so I know how much I’m going to pay in advance. The last time I got two fillings at my dentist in the States, it cost around $700 and I had no idea what it was going to cost as I walked into the office. It’s like spinning a roulette wheel from hell.

So overall, solid first British dentist experience.