Patient reviews of the Tewkesbury practice

I was first appointment of the day and hygienist was over 5 minutes late in getting me in.

Excellent service great staff only negative was the cost.

the hygienist and dental nurse were very chatty and friendly, they provided me with great advise on how to better care for my teeth.

only negative was that the the procedure was a bit messy, water went everywhere over my face.

Staff excellent treated well.Have got friends to sign up in the past but probably have trouble getting others to now

I feel that the team were not ready, kind of in a muddle and even though eventually invited in to start my treatment, the team were all over the place. In hindsight not enough numbing was applied, as is written in my notes, nor were they switched on with applying this, but the hygienist was cut and rude. I have fortitude with pain, and I got them to move on with the treatment because its costly in my time and money, but sadly a bit of empathy was lacking. At this moment I actually not sure if I want to come back. Personally I think some additional training is required about how to talk to customers, and how to be ready to deliver that service. Please put prices up on the wall. It’s getting to be shocking. Oh and filling this form in on a mobile…. not very easy as was your medical form to fill in. So I cant review my words easily. All a bit heath Robinson….

I have been going to the practice for most of my life, and found this appointment the worst experience ever

I feel that the cleaning was uncomfortable, painful and rough, I have had pain in one side of the mouth ever since

It made me think I wanted to change my plan to cancel all future hygienist appointments

I told the receptionist this when she asked how my appointment was

I could not complete the questionnaire online, some problem.

Frequent changes of staff and not being able to see a qualified dentist on this visit make me unsure about this dental practice. Things have gone downhill since becoming part of spa dental instead of being privately owned.

Too many mails and messages after you cancelled twice. Medical data input incorrectly.

Price not as price list and no explanation

Overall very poor

Not the best Hygenists experience I have had at this surgery. The whole place had a feel of being a temporary set up. Nothing seemed to have been prepared- no mouth rinse in place, the person operating the suction machine poorly skilled so I was constantly feeling choked with water. I hadn’t even been made aware that my actual dentist had left. I hope the replacement dentist performs better than this. I have been a patient for around 24 years and never had a problem before.

The practice was not open when I arrived and appointment a little delayed

I came to Ledbury not Tewkesbury

I saw a new dentist to me and he was friendly and personable. However, I really did leave the surgery wondering whether he was a real dentist, a student dentist or a complete imposter! He introduced me to the dental assistant who then asked me a couple of standard questions – do I smoke etc. The dentist then told me that I needed a couple of X- rays as it had been two years since my last ones. I was given a pair of safety specs and the two X-rays were completed in, at most, one minute. The assistant then left and the ‘dentist’ proceeded to do the polish I had requested. (My hygienist appointment had been cancelled.). He smeared the paste over my top teeth then spent a bit of time trying to fix the correct brush into the polishing machine. I was not given a bib. The paste was dissolving before the actual ‘polish’ took place. It lasted, at most, ten seconds. It was rough and cursory – to say the least! With no bib, the bits flying out went over my top. I was then asked to rinse my teeth but there was no cup. The dentist found one. He then prodded a couple of my back teeth fillings. The hygienist then returned and she and the dentist seemed to be filling in my records. The dentist noted the chip on my bottom tooth (the reason I’d requested this check up) BUT gave her the wrong tooth. I corrected him. I was then told that all was ok. I had not even realised a full check up had taken place. At NO stage did the dentist check my gums, my tongue or every individual tooth. I did not see my X-rays and I genuinely wonder whether the dentists did either!! If he did, I have no idea when he looked at them. He told me all was fine. I asked when he had done the check up and he replied he’d done it. I was in there for nine minutes and this cost me £99. This is appalling. I’ve been with this dental practice for a number of years and I expect this experience to be dealt with or I shall move practices. As I began this review , I walked out of the surgery wondering if I was the victim of a joke as the treatment was so laughable. I have previously always had very good treatment here. What on earth is going on?

Excellent service, but was NHS, so I am paying for it !

Sadly I will be leaving the Spa dental practice because of escalating costs. We saw a sharp increase during the pandemic, with the increased costs of PPE, but the costs never returned to pre-Covid levels. In fact they continued to increase exponentially. My dentist has now left the dental practice group and is now based at another practice altogether. I have had to seek alternative dental care provision, following a very high quote that I received at my Spa Dental appointment on Friday. So far the quotes I have received from three other practices (in Tewkesbury, Gloucester and Upton) are all around half of the cost quoted by Spa Dental. Despite the payment plan options, the material point is that the costs are too high to begin with.

The only negative I have is the following. My appointment with the hygienist was cancelled in February due to her leaving the practice. I was asked if I would like to go onto a waiting list for contact when a slot became available and I said yes. When I hadn’t been contacted after 2 months I rang and got an appointment the following day.

Staff turnover seems to be an issue at Spadental, with both dentists and hygienists. On my recent visit I was told that I would no longer see a dentist but a dentist practitioner!! This is not what I am paying for and I am considering moving to a different dental practice.

I was offered an earlier time on the day, which suited me. However the Hygienist after 5 mins of treatment was telling me I needed to make another appointment (£90 for 30 mins) to do all my teeth. As they were on their own, the process seemed a lot slower. I was really put off by the constant clock watching, as if they couldn’t wait to get me out of the door. Not a great experience.

30 minutes for £90 the dentist needs to be a professional!!

Was not advised as to the cost of my tooth extraction which was a lot more expensive than I thought would be the case. The dentist said it wasn’t the easiest extraction did this add to the cost?