NHS Services & Rules
Do I need to pay again for NHS dental treatment?
By The Local Dentist Editorial · Updated 15 July 2026
The course of treatment is the unit, not the visit
NHS dental charges are per course of treatment: everything your dentist identifies at the examination and sets out on your treatment plan, however many appointments it spans, sits under a single band charge — £27.90, £76.60, or £332.10 in England. Five fillings cost the same Band 2 charge as one. You should get a written treatment plan (form FP17DC) whenever your course goes beyond Band 1 or mixes NHS and private items; keep it, because the two-month and twelve-month protections below all date from what it records.
The two-month rule
If, within two months of completing a course of treatment, you need more NHS treatment in the same band or a lower one, you should not be charged again. Finished a Band 2 course last month and a different tooth now needs a filling? That is within the window and within the band — free. Need something in a higher band during the window? You pay the difference between the bands rather than starting from zero. The window runs from the completion date of the previous course, which is another reason the paperwork matters — if you think a practice is wrongly charging you a fresh band charge, ask them to check the completion date on your record.
The twelve-month guarantee on repairs
Fillings, root fillings, inlays, and crowns placed on the NHS carry a form of guarantee: if one fails within 12 months, the same practice must normally repair or replace it free of charge. The exceptions are narrow — a different tooth, damage from trauma, or a failure the dentist warned you about and recorded at the time (for example, a tooth flagged as guarded prognosis). The guarantee ties you to the practice that did the work, so go back there first; a different practice can charge normally. If the original practice refuses a repair you believe qualifies, ask for the reason in writing and use the practice complaints procedure — then NHS England or your ICB if needed.
Where people genuinely do pay twice
Some second charges are correct. Urgent treatment is its own course at £27.90 — if the urgent appointment patches you up and you then need definitive work, the follow-up course is charged normally. A new problem more than two months after completion is a new course. Failed restorations outside the 12-month window are chargeable. And if you simply do not return to finish a course, then come back months later, the practice may need to open a new course for what remains. When a charge feels wrong, the sequence is: ask the practice to explain it against your treatment plan, then complain in writing, then escalate to NHS England or your integrated care board — overcharging for NHS treatment is taken seriously.
People Also Ask
I finished treatment three weeks ago and now need another filling — do I pay?
No. A filling is Band 2, and more treatment in the same or a lower band within two months of completing a course is free. The practice checks the completion date of your last course.
My NHS filling fell out after four months — is the replacement free?
Normally yes, at the practice that placed it — NHS restorations that fail within 12 months must usually be repaired or replaced free, unless a recorded exception applies (trauma, a different tooth, or a warned-about poor prognosis).
Do I pay the full Band 3 charge if I need a crown right after a Band 2 course?
Within two months of completion, you pay the difference between Band 2 and Band 3 (£332.10 − £76.60 = £255.50 in England), not the full Band 3 charge on top of what you already paid.
Does the urgent-care charge count towards my next course?
No. Urgent treatment (£27.90 in England) is a standalone course. Definitive treatment that follows — a permanent filling, root canal, or crown — is a new course charged at its own band.
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This article is general information for UK patients, not clinical advice, and NHS rules and charges change — confirm current rules on nhs.uk or speak to a dentist before acting. For severe facial swelling affecting breathing/swallowing, uncontrolled bleeding, or trauma call 999 / go to A&E; otherwise NHS 111 for urgent dental access. Price figures are indicative benchmarks from our methodology.