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

Toothsmith

If it was only done a month ago, then this will still be classed as the 'same treatment' and you shouldn't be charged another £46.

Root filled teeth usually should be crowned afterwards, but how long afterwards will be down to the dentist's judgement. Some need it straight away, some are best left a little while. That will be a band 3 £198 charge though, unless done immediately afterwards, wen it will be £198 - £46 = £152 (as you've already paid £46). The decision when to do it though needs to be a clinical one, not one to save you money.

firefox123

Hi there

I'm currently receiving incapacity benefit and need a root canal doene. I have been told i need to pay 198 for it..

Now i got 2 treatments (told i needed 4) i never paid anything in those 2 sessions as i thought the dentist had made a mistake as when i was on income support i got dental care free. the dentist as expected wasn't too impressed when i told him the 2nd time i hadn't got the money. this was 6 weeks ago the temporary filling he had put in is now out and my tooth is pain..

I honestly cant afford to get the tooth fixed i only get 160 pound every 2 weeks. I am in agony with it, espicially in this cold weather ( i think the nerve is damaged

A friend had told me about HC1 forms? that i can get it done for free is this true?

What are my other options?

Anyone help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Toothsmith

A root canal on the NHS is only a band 2 treatment, which is £46.20 (ish). For it to be a band 3 treatment (£198) the dentist has probably decided it needs a crown straight away (Which is sometimes necessary.)

I can understand the dentist being a bit pigged off that you hadn't brought the payment. You had been told you would owe it - and from what you've written, you just decided they'd made a mistake. You should have clarified it there and then so that you knew, before you let the dentist do the work, whether or not you would have to pay. Have you found out yet if it was an error or not?

Once you're back on good terms with the dentist, you could ask him if the crown needs to be provided straight away, or whether you could wait a little while.

If you wait, it will be £46.20 now, and then £198 when you get the crown. By doing it all in one band 3 treatment, the dentist was probably trying to save you the £46.20.

Get things clear, pay what you owe (if you owe anything) and agree a treatment plan with the dentist.

brook2jack

Incapacity benefit does not entitle you to free dental treatment but is does. You may get some help by filling in a hc1 form which you can pick up from the dentists or doctors but you need to send it away now as it takes time to process. You will have to pay if you haven't got the certificate through.

Even if you have the tooth out you will have to pay £43 ish and can claim it back if you get an exemption certificate.

There is no way to get the treatment for free until you have your certificate.

The moral of the story is if you are told there is a charge for nhs dental treatment you will have to pay it unless you are in an exempt category and have signed and ticked the relevant boxes on the dental forms. Most dentists will ask if you are on benefits and can tell you if you qualify or about hc1 forms .

thatdarnguy

Hi all, I'm in quite a bit of a quandry.

I'm 29, and currently I'm with a private dentist on a denplan essentials package - I pay £15 a month and get a discount on work as well as 2 checkups and 1 hygenist visit a year for that.

Since signing on to Denplan, I've had 2 wisdom tooth extractions at the cost of ~£70 per tooth and have been advised that I need 1 new filling and two teeth re-filled at £62 per filling. Since then, one of those teeth abscessed and now I've been told that I need a root canal to save the tooth. The problem is, I have a grand total of 3 molars in my bottom jaw, one on the left, with a gap between it and my pre-molars and on the right I have a partially closed gap between my molars and pre-molars from a previous extraction and 2 molars together, the absessed tooth is my rear-most tooth on the right hand side.

I've been told that root canal treatment will take 2 1-hour long sessions @ £300 per session. That is with discount. The dentist then proceeded to tell me that it will keep my tooth alive for 5-10 years max, and still has a chance of failure. So... £600 for 5-10 years and a strong possibility of failure. Along with another £120 of filling work that needs done. That's £720 that I can't afford, Ouch.

I've been soul-searching for options and recently called up a newish dentist that opened up mid-last year to see if they're taking on NHS patients, and they are - but I can't register until mid-May at the earliest. £200-300 to save the tooth for 5-10 years I can swallow, but £600 really is a massive amount of money for me, especially for something temporary. I've been thinking about it and I think I'd prefer to save that money, and add to it to perhaps get an implant down the line.

The alternatives I've been given are to have the tooth removed and see how I manage, I've also been offered metal partial dentures for 3 teeth for £600 as an alternative, but I just really, really don't fancy dentures. I think there's room for a bridge between my left hand molar and pre-molars too, but I don't like the idea of almost destroying two good teeth to put crowns on with the bridge. The idea of a Maryland bridge is more appealing, but it seems to have a much higher necessity for maintenance and it sounds pretty expensive... I haven't actually discussed the bridge option with my dentist yet, perhaps I should see how much they'd be...

My next appointment is this wednesday and this is when I need to let my dentist know if I want to go ahead or have it extracted... He says I can live with 2 molars on one side and one on the other quite happily, I've been living like that for almost a year now and until the pain of the abscess, I was managing just fine. I really don't know what to do, any words of encouragement or advice would be most, most welcome.

Thanks all!

Toothsmith

It seems like you've got a pretty good grasp on the pros & cons of all the options there.

I think there are a few more things you need to discuss with the dentist, as the specifics of your particular case are the thing that would make the difference for you.

I could help with the generalities, but as I said, you seem quite well informed, so it wouldn't add anything to what you already know.

You just have to choose. There is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer, just what suits you best at this time, and what doors to close and which to leave open. That's something for you to discuss with your dentist though.

ouch123

Hi, I was wondering if toothsmith could give me some advice.

I had 2 RCT 14 years ago left jaw (1st and 2nd bicuspid) and last August one of them (2nd) popped out whilst I was chewing gum (stupid I know!) I had to wait 5 days to see my dentist (not the original one who did the RCT as she has retired), as a result I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep the crevice clean.

The dentist cemented the crown back in but later that day I found that I couldn't chew as the crown seemed to bash against 1 of my upper molars, I went back to the dentist and she filed a large piece of the crown off so my bite was better. The crown however didnt look right - it seemed to be sitting too high and was slightly twisted to the left.

Approx 3 weeks later I noticed a blood blister on the gum next to the RCT, this popped and a short while after a white blister formed. I immediately went back to the dentist (seeing another dentist at the practice as I had lost confidence in the new one), he informed me that I had developed a sinus tract and that it might just heal itself, if so I can try a new crown, if not I will need to have the tooth out and either have a bridge or implant. His preference is a bridge (although this will be difficult as the tooth next to it is also a RCT, there is then a gap from a previous extraction of the 1st molar, with the 2nd molar being partially filled). He also filed more of the crown off to improve my bite. He took x-rays which he told me were normal no sign of an abcsess but the crown did look like it was sitting to high. At that point the boil/abscess had healed.

Since then my original sinus tract has healed (this was on the front of the gum) but within the last week I have developed a white pus filled blister on the back of the gum below my tongue. I had pain for about 3 days and this has now gone since the boil has formed.

I was wondering what could be the likely cause of the infection (could it be because the crown isn't sitting right??) and whether my dentist is right ie. the tooth will need to come out and be replaced with a bridge or implant. Is there no alternative?

If it does need taking out do I need to get a replacement or can I just leave it? If I leave it will there be any long term implications to the RCT that hasn't failed?

Also should I be paying for the work as it seems to be too much of a coincidence that the problems have only started since my crown was put back in incorrectly?? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any help and assistance

Snuggles

Wow, that seems incredibly expensive! I've just had root canal treatment done privately, and it cost £112 for two sessions which lasted about 45 minutes each. It was a front tooth (don't know if that makes a difference) but it was quite tricky as the tooth already had a crown on it.

Maybe that's the difference - does the cost include a crown?

brook2jack

Front teeth have (mostly) one root and most dentists can easily treat the majority of these.

Back teeth have 3,4,5 or more root canals and to be done well can be very tricky needing the use of clinical microscopes.

That's why molars are more expensive.

thatdarnguy

I know, £600 does sound like alot more than any other prices I've seen around on the net by a good £200 or so, except for when referred to specialists. So I'm not best pleased. The price includes a filling only, no crown.

Do you think I should phone the NHS dental practice I'm going to be signing up with in May to see if they could squeeze in a root canal earlier, even if they did it privately rather than NHS, or will that be an exercise in futility?

I'd definitely do it, despite the cost, if I knew the tooth was going to last after that, but only to delay the inevitable by 5 years (up to 10 at a stretch he said), it seems totally futile and I'd rather spend the money on a more permanent solution - which I hope a bridge would be, but then again I have no idea what this dental practice will charge for a bridge, I think it starts from £500ish, I dread to think how expensive the adhesive/maryland bridge would be though, I think that'd be my favoured option, if it was feasible.

Or then again, I might just suck it up for a while with only 2 molars, whilst saving for an implant... Decisions decisions!