root canal treatment - NHS and private costs & pros and cons

Bettyboop

Toothsmith wrote: »

It was April 2006 when the contracts changed L.D, and there are a fair few child only contracts around. 3 of the 5 dental practices in my town have them, and I could have had one if I'd been stupid enough to have anything to do with it!!

They are being gradually phased out though, and April this year may well see quite a lot ending when the 3 years 'income guarentee' for dentists comes to an end.

There really isn't such a thing as 'independent' Betty - it was a pseudonym for 'private' designed not to scare the horses so much!!

Bearing in mind the average quality of NHS root fillings though, I would sooner pay £200 for a job that was likely to save the tooth than £43 for something that would be likely to flare up again within a couple of years and need another £43 to take it out.

If the NHS option is tempting, then I'd just spend one lot of £43 and just have it out. Or even just ask how much it is to have it out 'independently'.

Will do, Toothsmith. Thank you. I am swaying more towards having it out but wonder how my mouth is going to to feel with one less tooth. In your opinions are root canals mostly successful or not? How long do they last? I am mainly worried about it not working and then eventually the tooth has to come out....this is scary enough. Have seen my GP today about some treatment for my needle phobia! It's ruining my life to say the least. The tooth with the problem is in the upper gum on the left hand side?

Toothsmith

Root fillings are very technique sensitive.

People like specialist endodontists run at success rates as high as 95% of teeth treated are still there 10 years later. But a specialist would charge in the order of £500 for a molar tooth.

General practitioners like me have lower success rates, but the time spent cleaning and disinfecting the tooth, the use of rubber dam to isolate the tooth (V.Important) and care spent on getting a good seal of the root filling material all increase the chances of success.

Ask your dentist if he uses rubber dam. Ask what length the appointments are. You need a good 60-90 mins to do a molar tooth effectively.

Bettyboop

I have since managed to find an NHS Dentist. Having a root canal/extraction will cost £44.60 as apposed to £225! Can someone please tell me other than the difference in cost what is the difference treatment wise? Toothsmith mentioned a few points but I was wondering would the NHS be doing a route filling the exact same way a Private Dentist would? Do they use the same products? I need to decided fairly soon if I am going to change from my 'Independent' dentist to NHS for fruther treatment and checkups. Thanks, again.

Toothsmith

It's very hard to say, as there are some good NHS dentists, and there are some bad private ones.

As a generality though, I would say that it would be very unlikely that a root filling on the NHS would be done with the same care, attention and products as one done privately.

suki1964

Having gone from private to NHS I have to say I cant complain about the treatment I have received.

However I cant say that Im getting the same treatment I would have got if I were private

My private dentist was was " pro active". She looked at the whole picture , my habits and phobias and my compliance to treatment and treated my mouth with all that taken into consideration. A lot of work I had done was preventitive - lots of deep cleanings etc. The treatment I get now is to fix whats broken. Need a filling - not a problem. Tooth removed - there you go - no problem - and cheap as chops (compared to private costs) Like I said I cant complain about the treatment I get, just miss the treatments I was getting that would have kept me with a few more teeth in my head.

I have had a tooth root filled NHS and a good few private. I as a lay person couldnt tell you if one is better then the other. All I know is so far all of them are sound. And the last one with crown cost a few hundred less then the one before.

But if I could afford private dental costs Id go back private

coldstreamalways

If you imagine having a Root Canal Treatment is like making a cake.

Think of the ingredients you can use, if you want to make the bestest cake possible, you'll buy premium flower, use butter for the icing, you'll use free range eggs and organic milk etc. If you want to make the cheapest cake possible, you'll use value flower, eggs from battery hens, marge for the icing etc etc.
Think of the equipment you'll use (for in root canal treatment, you can only use it once), for the really special cake, you'll use a wooden spoon to mix it all up, if you're making a cheap one and you only have a fork, not a wooden spoon, you'll use that instead because you don't want to spend the money on some equipment that you're only going to throw away. Apply this to the other paraphernalia required in cake making.

For the special cake, you may well set aside an afternoon to make it so you can make each stage to the best of your ability. For the cheap one, you'd probably squeeze it in between doing the shopping and the gardening.

The end result is a cake in both cases, I know which one I would prefer to eat though.

MoaningMyrtle

My three root canals on the NHS have been perfect, no problems at all.

iluvjohnsarg

I had a terrible NHS dentist as a child, and then avoided a trip to the dentist for 15 years until I HAD to go. I've since had a terrible private dentist, but thank god I now have a excellent one.

He's very sensitive to my phobia and when I had an abcess and needed a root canal on a molar I nearly went into shock! Anyway, he gave me extra drugs and 90 minutes later I was smiling. It cost about £250 3 years ago, but it was preferable to having the tooth removed and having a gap, which could later be sorted with a crown.

Good luck OP!

bigspender55

Hi this is my first post on the board but I hope someone can give me some advice.

I've had root canal treatment done on a back tooth twice by normal NHS quite a few years ago. A year ago this started getting infected. My new private (expensive) dentist has that the root canal work that had been done was poor and that I need to get it redone by a specialist as they have the equipment to get right into the roots to clear it up. This is going to cost about £1000.

Because of the sheer cost, I have put it of for a whole year now. The infection and pain come back every month or so and then, usually passes after a few days (perhaps due to my use of natural treatments). But recently it's been coming back more regularly and stronger and I'm feeling like I've been whacked in the face and that my whole jaw is aching for most of the time. I really want to get it sorted but I dont know what to do.

Due to the length of time that I've had the infection, my dentist has advised me that the chance of success by a specialist endodontist is probably now lower - approx. 70%.

I dont want to spend £1000 but if its the only way, I'll have to. My worry is that if the treatment doesn't work, I have NO money left to follow an alternative course of action. The endodontist doesn't offer any sort of payment plan. In fact its £300 just for the intial consultation. He does sound like a highly reputable endodontist and I want good treatment, but theres no guarantees with this stuff.

The only other alternative that my dentist has given is to remove the tooth and place an implant (do they give mortgages for implants?), though he thinks saving the tooth is the priority.

I would really appreciate some advice. As far as I know it, NHS don't offer RC work on the same tooth more than twice? I probably need some antibiotics but they tend to make me really ill so I am holding of (in agony). If I go with the endodontist he has a waiting list of 2 months so not sure what I'll do in the meantime.

any ideas anyone?

Toothsmith

I don't think there's an awful lot I can add to what you've been told.

The options seem to have been explained to you very well, and you seem to have understood them well.

The best chance you have at a successful root treatment is at the first go. Every time it needs re-doing, the chances of success fall. A second re-doing really is a lottery.

The cost of the root filling is about half the cost of an implant. Whether you just get the tooth out and put the money towards the implant, or risk the root filling again and the possible (probable?) loss of the tooth and THEN an implant is your decision.

There ARE companies that offer low-cost loans for dental treatment.