Last year, my dentist went private and because I like and trust him I stayed with the practice.

The dental plan I pay for costs me £10.75 per calendar month and this includes 2 six monthly check-ups, 2 six monthly hygienist appointments and some sort of insurance.

I thought I wasn't getting much for my money until this last lot of treatment.

I rang the doctor with a raging infection and he left some antibiotics with reception for my husband to pick up an hour later; the following week he removed the tooth, took away my partial denture which had another tooth added. and the next day I went to the surgery to collect that.

When I went to pay the bill, the receptionist said that it was £28 something and I queried it as I was expecting it to be really expensive.

However, she went and asked, came back and assured me that yes, that was correct.

So, I'm quite happy that I went privately. My husband's treatment on the NHS recently cost him much more than mine in total.