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

Dustykitten

I've got toothache and I'm so scared.

The pain is actually in my jaw, a bit like when you have had a cold and your teeth ache. I am not sure which tooth is causing the problem as the pain moves. Teeth do not hurt when I eat/drink/brush just the pain in my jaw. The first molar has a lot of amalgam filling and caused me problems years ago but was put down to me grinding my teeth in the night.

I know I have to phone the dentist on Monday as the pain has lasted a week on and off and is worse today. I am petrified of what he might do. I'm shaking here thinking about it and wondering if he will have to take the filling out and do root canal. If anyone can advise me please do. Thanks

shahpur

Hi can anyone please advise me .

I went to the dentist this morning , for a 6 month checkup and a pain i have in my 2nd to back top molar .

The back molar had a deep filling around 7 months ago, and as always given off a dull aching pain which has started get worst in the last two weeks ( hot and cold sensitive).

I was advised by a friend who had the same problem to ask the dentist , if it would be possible to have root canel procedure carried as this will be able to save the tooth and would cost around £48 .

When i asked the dentist she told me as it was a back molar , it would not be covered by the NHS and i would have to go to a Private Specialist which would cost she said £600?

The options the NHS would offer , would be to either have to the tooth extracted or filled again ..

My question is : is not all root Canal work covered by the NHS , or can the dentist choose not to it if it too much work is involved ?

I paid me £16.50 and was told to ring back in a couple of days with what i have decided.

Thanks in advance
shahpur

Toothsmith

He can't choose not to do it if there's too much work involved. He CAN decide it's one for referral if it's beyond what he feels he's capable of doing.

Proving it's being done for one reason and not the other is the difficult thing.

If he refused to do it on the NHS, but said he could do it privately, then he's banged to rights and you could easily make a complaint.

But by NOT offering to do it privately himself, only to refer you, then it's all a lot more complicated to prove.

My SUSPICION is that he's squirming out of doing it. maybe you could ring up the dental people at your local Primary Care Trust. If there is a pattern, and other people are complaining that he's doing this, they can look at how many root fillings he did before the new contract came in (and he was paid individually for them) If this shows a change in pattern, they they could take action.

There have been cases of dentists having to pay the private specialist fee FOR the patient when they were foumd out, so it might be worth a moan in the right ear!

shahpur

Thanks for the quick response ,

I personally think she did not want/was not caple of doing it , it was when she said " as it is a back molar we could not do it on the NHS " which got me suspicious .

I am in pain at the moment but i really do not want to lose the tooth unless it is absolutely nessercary , would it be worth trying another dental practice or would they do the same .

Also is root canal work on a single tooth normally done by a specialist ?

thanks again
shahpur

netty1_2

Hi,

The root canal should be available on the nhs - but back molar teeth can be complicated to treat and this may be beyond her capabilities/knowledge. (Due to the fine detail of the root you may need to use a microscope to see everything which only a specialist will have).

Unfortunately if you want the best advice and best results a specialist would be a good option but it costs even if you just have a consultation as the tooth may be beyond saving - if thats the case you may decide to have the tooth out on the NHS.

Unfortunateky this is a tale I have heard before especially with the new NHS system.

BTW your NHS dentist has a duty to at least get you out of pain.

Good luck.

alison999

netty1 wrote: »

BTW your NHS dentist has a duty to at least get you out of pain..

But this is ONLY while he has a 'open course' of treatment, so he needs to get in before the course is closed.

Toothsmith

shahpur wrote: »

I personally think she did not want/was not caple of doing it ,

You need to know which one!

If it's the first, that's not OK, if it's the second, then referring is the right thing to do.

Molars can be complicated, and it IS possible that she feels this one is above her skill level. It is possible though that you might find another dentist who is willing to do it on the NHS. But then it is possible that if you stap a pig to a hang glider, it could fly.

clipboard2

Sorry to hear you are in pain Shahpu. Here's a suggestion thats worked when I've recommended it to others needing 1 or more root canal treatments:

Turn up at a Dental School, and tell them you are in great pain - say you are away on holiday and need emergency treatment (helps if you eg stay with a friend/relative). They will see you and they will spend time doing what you need to relieve your pain eg the first part of the root canal treatment. You will only have to pay NHS charge - or nothing if you're on qualifying benefits eg contribution based JSA.
You then go back to your reluctant "home" dentist armed with all the Xrays/reports dental school gave you; s/he then has little option but to complete the root canal work.
Problem solved! HTH CB2

Toothsmith

clipboard2 wrote: »

Sorry to hear you are in pain Shahpu. Here's a suggestion thats worked when I've recommended it to others needing 1 or more root canal treatments:

Turn up at a Dental School, and tell them you are in great pain - say you are away on holiday and need emergency treatment (helps if you eg stay with a friend/relative). They will see you and they will spend time doing what you need to relieve your pain eg the first part of the root canal treatment. You will only have to pay NHS charge - or nothing if you're on qualifying benefits eg contribution based JSA.
You then go back to your reluctant "home" dentist armed with all the Xrays/reports dental school gave you; s/he then has little option but to complete the root canal work.
Problem solved! HTH CB2

The problem with this is that there are only about a dozen dental schools in the UK, and if you're not near one, the time factor involved in getting to and from it might well end up costing more than the private referral fee!

Plus - it's not as simple as 'just turn up and pretend to be in pain'.

Most dental hospitals appear regularly in their local papers with articles about how many people queue up outside them from the crack of dawn every morning! It's not an original idea, and they don't have the staff or budget to deal with everybody who thinks this approach is a 'good idea' every day!

donnac2558

Dental schools close their books and will not take people who just walk in. They might pull the tooth if you are in really bad pain but nothing else. You can phone up and go on the waiting list. But they may not put you on it.