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

smileykylie_2

thanks for your help - the 2 year old rct has a crown that was drilled through but he did not fill it at the time. i will think about the option to have it extracted to be honest as it is a hell of a lot of money on one tooth!!!

I know it is my fault but at the time I had been at the specialist having treatment every week and needed a break and to be honest kind of forgot about it as it no longer hurt!!!

thanks for taking the time to reply

jo6526_2

Ive read though majority of this thread and its put me at ease.

Toothsmith & other dentists have been fantastic.

My story, I moved away from scotland a year ago and registered with and NHS dentist as I knew I needed my first ever filling, I got the filling done but it didnt settle well so when I was back home few months ago I was in lots of pain (first ever toothache) went to the dential hospital and they took it out and put a replacement in but said it may need root treatment.

I went back to my dentist (I do want to go private but wanted to get everything sorted first) The problem with this new dentist is that I never get to see the same dentist each time I go, different ones all the time and im nervous about going to the dentist at the best of time. Anyway, when I went back he told me I needed another filling and put in a temporary one, I booked an appointment (today to get it and the other one replaced) over the past week ive had a pain in my jaw, really sore. When I went today he told me I need root canal in both.

He was such a lovely dentist but only works there on a friday so wouldnt be able to comit to the treatment for me.

I paid £198 today but i still feel like I have lots of questions;

a. Is it really painful
b. Why wasnt it picked up on last month that the new filling tooth would need root canal.
c. Will the dentist rush the job because he needs to work on 2 teeth, even though he's only receiving one payment.
d. What if it doesnt take to my teeth? What is a crown?
e. Should they have really taken the money upfront without treating me.

I feel really diappointed in myself that I need this kind of treatment done, I always prided myself on my teeth and at 26. Iwould love to go private but I dont really have the £ at the moment and I still have the jaw pain and really need this sorted out asap.

Thank you for listening to my rant

silvercar

Me back again!

I did stick with my dentist; didn't want to offend and he assured me it was straightforward.

After re-doing the root canal cleaning session a second time, the tooth settled down. I went back for the gutta - percha (sp?) root filling and he said it looked good. That was on wednesday. Now today (sunday) the tooth is sore at gum level, only sometimes at night and after a hot drink. Does this mean I will need the root filling redone? Or should it settle down?

I'm a bit worried that it all settled after the root was cleaned out but now the filling with gutta - percha has upset it in some way.

Toothsmith

Every time you go into the tooth it can upset it for a day or two, so it's not unusual to be a bit tender for a little while.

No one can say whether it will be good for ages, or whether it will fail and need to be re-done. I've seen rubbish looking root-fillings be trouble free for decades, and I've seen good looking ones fail soon afterwards.

If it's been done well, it has the best chance though.

silvercar

Thanks, probably best to leave alone rather than keep going back then.

I was concerned because it was feeling good on Weds and Thurs and now is a bit sore. Also the fact that hot drinks make it worse worried me because I associated that with a nerve still being in the tooth, don't know why.

Toothsmith

If you're worried - go back.

I'm just a poster on a message board - I have no first hand knowledge of your mouth.

jo6526_2

Went to get treated today, spoke to really nice dentist, He was slightly concerned I was sent away on friday with no pain relief and even more concerned I have never seen the same dentist twice in this practice.

Anyway, the tooth I need RCT is right at the back (upper left) I only got a filling done on this last year and when I asked if this should have been picked up sooner he said that it wasnt done properly in the first place. That annoyed me slightly and I started crying. The dentist in question had moved back to South Africa and was only in the surgery for 1 day.

The dentist kept talking about extraction but said that he will take the nerve out today and I can decide if I want to go ahead with RCT treatment. I told him I really dont want a extraction but he said that Private or NHS most dentists wouldnt be too concerned with this particular tooth as it requires more work than any other.

Should I stick by my decision and seek another opinion about trying to save the tooth rather than taking easy option and have it extracted.

I am going private once I am 'Fit' I feel like a second class citizen attending a NHS dentist, not one of the dentist ive seen (apart from today) took time to explain what they were doing with my tooth, it was a 'Bandage up & move on' A&E mentality.

Apologies again for another rant.

Fork86

jo6526 wrote: »

Went to get treated today, spoke to really nice dentist, He was slightly concerned I was sent away on friday with no pain relief and even more concerned I have never seen the same dentist twice in this practice.

Anyway, the tooth I need RCT is right at the back (upper left) I only got a filling done on this last year and when I asked if this should have been picked up sooner he said that it wasnt done properly in the first place. That annoyed me slightly and I started crying. The dentist in question had moved back to South Africa and was only in the surgery for 1 day.

The dentist kept talking about extraction but said that he will take the nerve out today and I can decide if I want to go ahead with RCT treatment. I told him I really dont want a extraction but he said that Private or NHS most dentists wouldnt be too concerned with this particular tooth as it requires more work than any other.

Should I stick by my decision and seek another opinion about trying to save the tooth rather than taking easy option and have it extracted.

I am going private once I am 'Fit' I feel like a second class citizen attending a NHS dentist, not one of the dentist ive seen (apart from today) took time to explain what they were doing with my tooth, it was a 'Bandage up & move on' A&E mentality.

Apologies again for another rant.

If the tooth you are referring to is your wisdom tooth, then I'm not surprised at the advice being offered to you. In the majority of people that have all three of their molars in each quarter of the mouth, the wisdom teeth are usually non functioning teeth (in the sense they don't bite together, and hence won't be missed if they were not present).

Due to difficulty in access and the complex arrangement of the root canal systems in wisdom teeth, it is extremely difficult in the majoirty of cases to do an adequate or successful root canal filling. If this is weighed up with the fact that you have atleast 1 other healthy pair of opposing molar teeth, then extraction of wisdom teeth that cannot be adequately restored is a valid and common treatment. This is further reinforced if the tooth in question has caused one serious bout of infection or 2 smaller ones.

Do you have teeth directly infront of the troubesome tooth?

jo6526_2

HI fork,

No its not a wisdom tooth, i dont think.

Its my UL7 I believe the molar right at the back, thats why im eager to hold on to it.

Unless im getting confused and the molar right at the back (third molar) is infact a wisdom tooth?

There are teeth directly next to it i.e second molar.

Fork86

jo6526 wrote: »

HI fork,

No its not a wisdom tooth, i dont think.

Its my UL7 I believe the molar right at the back, thats why im eager to hold on to it.

Unless im getting confused and the molar right at the back (third molar) is infact a wisdom tooth?

There are teeth directly next to it i.e second molar.

Wisdom teeth are the third molars (which in this case would make it an UL8), and are further back than second molars. An UL7 is the Upper Left Second Molar, and therefore should be infront of the wisdom tooth.

That is unless you don't have a wisdom tooth there (through extraction or absence). If this is the case, then your UL7 would be the tooth furthest back. If you have 2 molar teeth in front of this tooth, then it is most probably a wisdom tooth,

If this isn't your wisdom tooth, and it is possible to restore the tooth, then there is no reason why it can't be root treated. That is unless it appears to be a difficult tooth to root treat. It's hard to say without personally examining you or the radiograph of the tooth.