I am so glad that I am still hanging on to my two day a week NHS dentist, and his standardised costs:

Band 1 - £15.90: exam, x-rays, scale and polish

Band 2 - £43.60: band 1 plus extraction, filling or root canal treatment

Band 3 - £194: band 1/2 plus bridges, crowns and dentures

If you need anythign else done, in the same band, within two months of the first treatment, you are not charged again, and multiple appointments for the same work only attract the one charge.

I know I am so lucky to still have an NHS dentist (touch wood, I only ever need check ups, so that is £15.90 every nine months that I pay), and dread the day I will have to pay a private one, but I am too fussy to not go, so always will do.