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

~Chameleon~

coldstreamalways wrote: »

But he might genuinely be waiting to see if it's settled so don't jump to conclusions! I know it's very frustrating for you but this is what the NHS contract has done to dentists. Under the old system, you would have paid for the RCT and the crown (up to a maximum that I can't remember), now your dentist is almost paying for your treatment out of his own pocket! Not your fault though, blame Tony Blair.

To be honest I don't mind if he has done this to try and squeeze a few extra £££s from NHS as I know they don't receive much for the tx they do. He did a professional job on my RCT, using the rubber dam and also took 3 x-rays. I doubt NHS would have covered his costs for that.

It just puzzled me that I was booked in for crown in 3 weeks when he assumed I was paying private but decided to cancel that appt and wait once I'd battled to get it done on NHS

poolio

Toothsmith,

Thanks ever so much for the reply.

Looking at the treatment plan I think it may actually be £270 for the RCT and £500 for the crown, would that make any sense? They may have written it down wrongly.

If I stumped up the extra for a specialist, would they do the crown also, or would I need to get that done separately? Could the RCT then be done by the specialist, but the crown be done on NHS? Just trying to get an idea of overall cost for the specialist treatment.

The dentist I saw last week booked me an appointment for 1hr15mins for the private treatment - does that sound like a reasonable amount of time to you?

If the same dentist is doing both nhs and private, would the materials and techniques used actually differ at all?

The fillings are being treated separately, and I want these done on the NHS - so could I get the front ones done in white for £45?

Toothsmith

That seems a bit more sensible.

Those prices sound a bit better.

I'm sure if the dentist had thought the RCT was beyond his skills he would have suggested a referral anyway.

As to the crown - I'd go for a private one if you could afford it, but if you can't, then an NHS one on a good foundation (the private RCT) would do.

I can't say if the materials or techniques are different at that particular practice. My view is that how something is done shouldn't depend on payment system, and if a dentist can't do a job to the best of their ability on the NHS, then they shouldn't do NHS at all. If that means no dentist does NHS, then so be it. It's up to politicians to come up with a system where dentists CAN do their best work on the NHS, and the sooner this system falls to bits, the sooner that will be realised.

The fillings done done on the NHS will be white at the front, and £45ish is the right NHS price (for the lot, not each). If you had the crown on the NHS, then the charge would be £198 for the crown INCLUDING all the fillings.

devseven

hello toothsmith and other altruistic dental saints

I've read through many hundred of the posts in here, but can't see anyone who's had the same problem. I had a 15 year old filling replaced last year, the replacement never settled and was uncomfortable, so I had it quickly replaced again by the same dentist, who said that she'd gone pretty deep and that maybe I'd need a root canal in the future. I didn't have a great feeling about this dentist, to be honest.

A few months later, the tooth got very sensitive to heat and cold, particularly cold, which is annoying (but bearable). Still, I went to another dentist, who seemed more credible, if time-pressed, he said it would probably need a root canal, and he was prepared to do it under NHS. However, the tooth was just too sensitive to the cold air of the suction, even after two anaesthetic shots; we finally gave up when I couldn't take the cold air of the suction halfway through the third injection (different type?) of anaesthetic. I've no problem with dentists, and am have a pretty high pain threshold (I've had multiple knee dislocations and reconstruction ops).

Diagnosis was no way he could do job, had to refer to specialist costing £600. I do not currently have £600, I'm on sickness benefits, though hoping to get back to work soon. Can I afford just to delay treatment until I'm back to work? Is there any acceptable way of getting this treatment without paying £600, eg in a dental hospital? How will a specialist be more able to anaesthetise the area? If it's cracked, is the tooth history anyway? And so on...

Would be very grateful indeed for any advice, seems to be a minefield

Toothsmith

devseven wrote: »

Diagnosis was no way he could do job, had to refer to specialist costing £600. I do not currently have £600, I'm on sickness benefits, though hoping to get back to work soon. Can I afford just to delay treatment until I'm back to work? Is there any acceptable way of getting this treatment without paying £600, eg in a dental hospital? How will a specialist be more able to anaesthetise the area? If it's cracked, is the tooth history anyway? And so on...

Would be very grateful indeed for any advice, seems to be a minefield

Hi devseven

I did see this post, and replied to it on Friday. But - as I finished and hit 'submit reply' the forum had closed, and it was lost!!!

Delaying treatment may well be OK here, but it COULD flare up at any time. The best chance of getting it numb is when it's quiet.

Dental hospitals often have huge waiting lists,so that may not be the best bet.

You're right that if the tooth is cracked, it probably won't last long anyway. But, the specialist should notice that and advise you of the fact before he treats it - or even he'd say treating it isn't worthwhile.

Having it out is the only way you could guarentee it wouldn't give you any more trouble.

Maybe doing that with a view to spending £2k on an implant when your finances are up to it might be the way to go? That's if it needs replacing. You don't need every tooth in your head.

poolio

Many thanks again for your thoughts. I agree with your comments about the system, it does seem rather strange at present.

I went for a second opinion this morning and was told that all the same work needed doing, which is reassuring. What I didn't realise was that I could get all 4 front teeth filled in white on the NHS for £45ish total. The first dentist didn't tell me this, and was planning to do all the fillings privately at £90 EACH, costing me an estra £315.... so I've decided to go NHS for the front 4 fillings, and stick with private for all the other work.

I really appreciate your time and help.

Onid

I need a root canal and crown and asked my dentist the difference between NHS and private treatment and was told an NHS root canal costs £90 and has a 40% success rate, but with private treatment (£150) they use better equipment and have a 60% success rate. As for the crown, I can have a base metal NHS crown made in India with a high likelhood of falling out or a private enamel crown that costs twice as much but that is guaranteed for 10 years.

What I really don't understand though is why they use different equipment for NHS v. private root canals, especially if there's such a big difference in success rates. It sounds to me as if they're just trying to scare me into paying more. Am I right to be suspicious?

Toothsmith

I would say so.

I'd say 60% success rate was pretty poor hit rate as well.

purplemonkee

Hopefully Toothsmith will be kind enough to give me their view on my dental situation.
I apologise in advance for it being long storyJ
I have a NHS tax credit Exemption certificate, which entitles me to free dental treatment.
In Feb I had pain/swelling from a bottom molar (already had deep filling) and as my original dentist went completely private I had to find an NHS one.
The dentist gave me a course of Amoxicillin.When I went back and he x-rayed my teeth he said I needed RC and that molars were complicated with them having four roots etc... so he wanted to refer me to an orthodontist at a cost of £400-£600,I explained I couldn’t afford this(that’s why I’m exempt).So I was left in limbo as to what I should do next.
A short while later the pain and swelling started again so I decided to get a second opinion from another local dentist to see if he could do the RC.He told me he could see no infection on his x-ray?
He gave me Amoxicillin again, everything was alright for a couple of weeks then the throbbing started again, after giving me another course of antibiotics my dentist referred me to a Maxillo facial specialist.
I took my x-rays with me and the specialist opinion was that he could see an abscess at the bottom of root after a thorough mouth examination (to rule out anything else) he agreed I needed RC.
On going back to the dentist he said it was better to do RC with a special microscope which he hasn’t got but his colleague had but she was private. I asked if I could be referred to the dental hospital but he said the waiting list were so long.
So anyway last week he did RC and explained that he was able to do 2 roots and another he could only go half way down. He asked me to return in 2 months.
Three days later I had throbbing/swelling again. More antibiotics given but still had swelling and discomfort after a week. He has now given me a course of Metronidazole(an acquired tasteJ)the pain has gone but the tooth bone under the gum is really swollen.
He wants me to wait a while but to come back if the pain continues. He gave me the option of cutting along gums to get to roots (sounds horrific) or tooth extraction.
I would rather try to keep my original tooth if possible and I guess at 40 I am lucky that apart from a cap and this filling I haven’t had to have any major work done.
Do you think I should push to be referred to the dental hospital or do you think it’s too late and not worth it now?
Regards

border_collie

You CAN be referred now partway through as your dentist will write to them and say he is not having any success.

You may of course be treated by a post grad student under consultant supervision. The students are qualified dentists who have gone back for extra courses.

Whereabouts do you live?