Root Canal and crown?

Bf109

Hi all, wondering if anyone can help. I did post this on the end of another thread but I need an answer soonish so decided to start a new thread!

Anyway -

I need a route canal and have been quited £295 for a private appt. But this doesnt include a crown or filling.

Now how much can I expect to pay for this? If the cost of the crown is too high, can I get some stop-gap measure and then get it done overseas (ie. when I go visit my folks in South Africa) a couple of months later?

I'd really appreaciate anyone's help here!

I can afford £295 for neccesary work but cant really be doing with another £500 for a crown! They dont really have diamonds and rubies in them afterall!

Olympika

I posted on the other thread but I was due to pay £350 or so for my post-RC crown. My RC cost was about teh same as yours though I don't know if that makes any difference...

BattleToy

Can anyone tell me how much it costed you to get the above treatment done?

After talking to my dentist last week, I would have to pay consultation (90.00 pounds), root canal treatment (around 500.00) and crown treatment (600.00).

It is so difficult to get a place as NHS patient in any dental clinics. Now, I am forced to be a private patient.

How can I cut these cost down as it is so expensive?

Toothsmith

If you got a place at an NHS practice, the likely outcome would be Extraction (42.60 Pounds). By the NHS' own figures, complex treatments have gone right down, and extractions and dentures are way up on what they were 3 years ago.

Those prices sound par for the course for a specialist endodontist doing a root filling on a back tooth. If it was a straight forward root filling, a general dentist might be able to do it for nearer the £350 mark. And then the cost of the cown on top.

If the tooth's not important to you, then have it out.

BattleToy

Toothsmith wrote: »

If you got a place at an NHS practice, the likely outcome would be Extraction (42.60 Pounds). By the NHS' own figures, complex treatments have gone right down, and extractions and dentures are way up on what they were 3 years ago.

Those prices sound par for the course for a specialist endodontist doing a root filling on a back tooth. If it was a straight forward root filling, a general dentist might be able to do it for nearer the £350 mark. And then the cost of the cown on top.

If the tooth's not important to you, then have it out.

Thanks for your informtion, Mr Toothsmith.

What does it mean the complex treatment as I will have root canal for my front tooth? I don't feel pain of my front tooth but the endodontist commented that it was about time to replace it as the crown is more than 10 years old and the root was not clear properly.

I am worry that it will go wrong after the root canal treatment. After reviewing other people's comments about their root canal and crown treatment, it seems their dentists made thing wrong.

loulou123

Ive got a similar issue, my nhs dentist has told me i need tooth out, as they are not prepared to do a root canal as it is complicated. (last year i had major dental surgery by the way.) Wasnt too happy at loosing a tooth, after all id been through so mentioned it to hospital when i went for a review. They agree that if at all possible i shouldnt have it out, as in my case it is an important tooth.

They suggested i get a referal to a endodontist at the hospital, but that this may take 8-10 months before i get any treatment. So my only other option is to get a private dentist to do it, i was quoted (at a guess by the doctor at the hospital) £500-£600 for the root canal alone.

So my options are wait X amount of months, pay the money or have the tooth removed. Personally im looking to borrow the money off my mum, as i really dont want to lose the tooth.

Im afraid the only options i can see for you, is to either have the tooth removed or to pay the money privately. Unless your private dentist can refer you to your local hospital to have it done.

Toothsmith

If a dentist has actually said to you "I'm not prepared to do that on the NHS because it's complicated" Then you have grounds for a complaint to the NHS (Assuming the suggestion was that they would do it if you paid them privately. If they considered it a too complex root filling for them to do anyway, then that's OK).

They really need to be more careful about how they phrase things.

If a treatment is 'clinically necessary' then you are entitled to it on the NHS if you are an NHS patient. Technically, the PCT should have a specialist service in place for complex root fillings as well, but hardly any do.

The dentist cannot refuse to do something clinically necessary on the NHS, but offer it to you privately.

BattleToy

I am going to have my tooth done in private dental center next week as I can't wait for too long to get a treatment in NHS hospital. It will be my christmas present for myself.

loulou123

Toothsmith wrote: »

If a dentist has actually said to you "I'm not prepared to do that on the NHS because it's complicated" Then you have grounds for a complaint to the NHS (Assuming the suggestion was that they would do it if you paid them privately. If they considered it a too complex root filling for them to do anyway, then that's OK).

They really need to be more careful about how they phrase things.

If a treatment is 'clinically necessary' then you are entitled to it on the NHS if you are an NHS patient. Technically, the PCT should have a specialist service in place for complex root fillings as well, but hardly any do.

The dentist cannot refuse to do something clinically necessary on the NHS, but offer it to you privately.

Not sure if this is aimed at me or orginal poster, but im going to answer it anyway!

My dentist, will not do it privately, they just will not do it at all! In their opinion the only thing worth doing is taking it out.

So the hospital consultant (who by the way, did an xray and said yes the roots are quite twisted, but he had seen much much worse treated sucessfully) said my best options is to wait for an NHS referal - possibly 10 months or more, or to pay another dentist to do it privately.

corky40

During a routine check my NHS dentist said a filling had a hairline crack in it.
The options were:
1) have a filling at approx £50, but this would mean drilling out more of my tooth and was not recommended
2) have an NHS crown at approx £200, which was a better option because a crown covers the whole tooth and protects against any future damage
3) a private crown at approx £400, which had a longer guarantee and would be a better colour match.

I chose the NHS crown.

The dentist prepped my tooth for the crown and I made an appointment for the crown to be fitted. Over the next couple of weeks I was in pain and had to take pain killers. The crown was fitted.

Now my dentist is saying the pain could be caused by the nerve having been exposed and I may need root canal treatment, which he would do by drilling through the crown.

a) where do I stand with having paid £200 for a crown on the basis that it was a complete casing for my tooth (which would protect the tooth) but now he wants to make a hole in it?

b) Am I now liable for costs of root canal surgery, which is only required because he exposed the nerve?

Toothsmith

If it's within 8 weeks of the crown being fitted, then my understanding of NHS regs is that there would be no further charge, as it will be counted as the same course of treatment.

Having a hole in your tooth leaves weak bits of tooth around it, which can break off. Making a hole in a crown doesn't really weaken it to any great extent, so replacement of the cown is functionally not really necessary, and the NHS only does 'function' - not cosmetics.

Having a heavily filled tooth crowned will always throw up the possibility of it being the 'final straw' for the tooth, and it will curl up it's toes and die. It's not really the dentist's fault, just a standard known risk. Really, he should have explained the risks beforehand (Then it doesn't look like an excuse!) and hopefully he would have taken an x-ray beforehand as well, which should have shown that there were no dormant problems there before he started.

If there was no x-ray taken, then the dentist would fid it hard to defend himself.