Is my dentist trying to pull a fast one?

jgallcash

I got an emergency appointment today as i have got the beginning of tooth ache. I am a fee paying NHS patient and have only visitied this new surgery for a check up and scale and polish about 3 months ago.

The dentist was lovely and showed me an x-ray that clearly showed the problem. A big shadow on a tooth that had a previous tooth canal showed that i had an infection. For now she has given me some antibiotics so that it doesn't get worse until my next appointment next week.

She has told me that as this is a 're-root canal' and is a complex peice of work, she doesn't think they will be able to carry out the work on the NHS and that it would be private work carried out by a more experienced dentist.

The options are to re do the canal at a cost of approx £400 plus a crown costing approx £200 or the other option; which she suggested, was to remove the tooth and have a replacement one cast at a cost of £2000

There is no way that i could afford either of these options and i'm worried that the only option they will give me as an NHS patient is to remove it for £45ish.

After explaining this to NHS direct the have told me:

"You will be able to have all treatment provided under the NHS that your dentist feels is clinically necessary in order to keep your teeth, gums and mouth healthy. If your dentist says that you need a particular type of treatment, you should not be asked to pay for it privately."

this is quoted from a department of health publication HERE

I dont know how to tackle this one as reading the above it seems to me that they could just say that they are only willing to remove the tooth on the NHS, that any other option would cost.

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this one please? I'm worried sick

robpw2

not a fast one just teeth

maytaurus

Have a look here;
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=277380

bumpoowee

robpw2 wrote: »

not a fast one just teeth

2/10. When I saw the title of this thread I was looking forward to somebody making a much wittier joke about it. You let me down.

jgallcash

Really useful guys.

elsien

I'd suggest posting on the health and beauty forum - there's a couple of dentists who may be able to advise you better. Add your query onto the thread posted by maytaurus, above.

moonrakerz

bumpoowee wrote: »

2/10. When I saw the title of this thread I was looking forward to somebody making a much wittier joke about it. You let me down.

........only at two thirty !........

the old ones are still the best ones !

bingo_bango

jgallcash wrote: »

Is my dentist trying to pull a fast one?

No. Just a sore one.

I'll get me coat.

dacouch

moonrakerz wrote: »

........only at two thirty !........

Chinese dentist?

naz101

hi guys,

the dentist is well within their rights to do this.
re-root canal treatments are hard to do. And your dentist has been honest enough to admit she cant do it. she is willing to refer you to a specialist(most likely) who specialised in this kind of work.
however, if you have a dental hospital near you, you have the option to be referred there. The waiting lists to get treated are usually long and most likely it will be students who perform the procedure while being supervised.
with reagrds to extraction, you can have the tooth replaced with a partial denture, a bridge(depending on the situation) or an implant. an implant is the only permanent opt and does cost a fair amount. but you do have the opt of getting a partail denture or a bridge if the dentist thinks this is possible(depends on a number of factors)

hope this helps