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

kazmeister

I understand the overheads of the dentists and that they have to charge what they do to cover their outgoings and earn a living. What I dont like is the fact that I cannot afford necessary dental work. None of my work has been for cosmetic reasons it was done out of necessity and was advised to be the best options for me at the time of my treatments. I have, what was once described by a former dentist "cr*p teeth" despite doing my best to prevent problems. I have worked all my life paying my taxes and national insurance only taking a 3 month break when having each of my 2 children and would have expected the state to ensure management of funds I have paid into the pot to allow me to have the necessary treatment for a nominal fee having already paid towards it.

kazmeister

following on from my earlier posts I have been back to my own dentist to start sorting out the problems.

I do have an abcess under the bridge at LR4. This was drilled through the top by am emergency dentist about a month ago, cleared out and a temp filling put in. This had obviously flared up again which is why I was in pain over the weekend. Dentist has reopened today and left open to drain and I have antibiotics and appt to refill (temp) on friday. My question for the dentists is, will my nerve be exposed during this time as I am already frightened to eat or drink anything in case it sets it off. I wondered if my dentist thought the other one had taken it out once I was on my way home.

My treatment plan is
Antibiotics today £5
Split bridge initially between 4/5
Root filling for LR4 (Have 2 appts for this 45mins and 30 mins)
Temp crown on 4 - Total to pay at this stage £145
Split bridge at original join between 5/6
Extraction of 5 as there is substantial bone loss around this £42
New 2 unit bridge anchored on 4 which is root stable covering 5 £540

Total £732

So to the original poster I guess what you are paying does sound like a lot!

nineteenseventyseven

In Scotland, the total fee payable to the practice for a simple filling on the Nhs is just over eight pounds. The actual dentist will earn a grand total of approx 4 pounds for this after the practice owner recieves their share. Not much for trying to provide a reasonable standard of treatment on an anxious child, for example.

Is it any surprise that most high street dentists need to provide more and more private treatments to subsidise these ridiculously low fees.

schrojen

Back to original question, I got the same issue, tooth chipped, dentist did temp filling and referred me to specialist who wants 875 quid. Did my own research on these endos in London and now have several quotes. One being from a specialist (registered as per prev thread) in perfect smile Harley street "only" wanting 350 and 20 for a consultation.This is making me a bit suspicious as thats pretty cheap ?My other options are around 600.I have insurance which pays up to 300 pounds only. So what to do ?
I was gonna go to a big practice in Islington called b dental. But this one is half the price and seems to have all the specialist equipment as well.

Help!!!!

welshdent

The main thing is it is done RIGHT. That means ... IMO ... with rubber dam isolation and sodium hypochlorite to clean inside (I know ... some dentists will disagree with me on this one but I am a bit of a stickler )

I CAN say its very time demanding to do it. I dont know who the specialists are to be able to say what is good value or not. I know there are some guys who are practically artists at this sort of work. Ultimately though if it is a straightforward tooth, if it is well cleaned out and well filled and sealed it should work. Maybe ask if your dentist knows the cheaper specialist? Ask for some professional opinions. We dont get financial rewards for referrals so your dentist shouldnt mind ... I know I wouldnt. They could explain why they prefer the original guy over this other chap.

schrojen

oh I know, ive had root canal treatment on NHS once b4,took 8! visits...
Both of these are saying abt 2 hrs and possibly 1 more appointment after.
really not sure what to do, as far as I know both have similar equipment, methods etc.My dentist hasnt heard of her unfortunately. They refer all cases to the one with crazy prices who does nothing but endo stuff (hes called Tony Druttman

welshdent

I have managed thanks to the wonders of google been able to find both of them before you mentioned their names ... I dont know either of them but Tony Druttman has been in the game quite a while and has been high up in endodontic politics so to speak and edits the journal I get delivered. I would say you are on to a safe bet that he will do a good job. HE trained at the eastman which is an excellent post grad teaching hospital.

The other dentist I believe is the blonde lady? The prices and practice seemed to coincide with your information. Less experience but that doesnt necessarily have to be a problem if they are capable. I am afraid I dont know anything about the qualifications she has gained but I am sure she must have net the required level to gain acceptance to the specialist list which isnt easy to do in itself, ceratinly for a UK graduate because I have looked

welshdent

gazing up at those blue eyes of hers for 2 hours may not be bad mind LOL

zkb100

After a bit of advice...

I had a filling done by a new nhs dentist (quite young) and up until she started drilling she told me it was a small hole. I had asked for a composite filling as it was only slightly more in cost and did not know about any of the problems associated.

As she was drilling she told me the hole was actually now quite big - this didn't fill me with great confidence! She continued with a white filling though. Following that filling I had sensitivity problems so she suggested she re-fill it again but having spoken to a dentist friend, she told me to get a temporary filling to let the tooth settle. I asked her to do this which she did but again not great confidence in having to tell her what to do.

Temporary filling was great, no problems. Then went back for further white filling, again no suggestion that maybe I should have an amalgam one. Following this one, more sensivity problems. She told me I would need a root canal.

I seeked a second opinion as was convinced the tooth was ok since the temporary filling had been fine. Next dentist says he thinks I won't need a root canal, x-rays look fine etc. He re-filled the tooth and in the process noticed that she had left steroid in the tooth, there was still decay under the filling, the tooth had been over flowed with lining so there was nothing for the filling to bond to and finally she had grazed the tooth next to the one that was filled. In her defence it is apparently a technically difficult filling to fill but still it sounds like she did a pretty poor job.

Had further filling done by new dentist and seemed fine until I went for a run two days later - triggered something off and nerve started to bleed. Really painful so went back and dentist says I need root canal. Argh. Now deciding whether to go private or nhs as have been offered both - however after reading these posts I am thinking private!

I am a bit disappointed that I have gone through this as think that maybe if I had had it filled properly in the first instance the nerve may have been ok. I have complained about the dentist to the practice because she was very unprofessional with lots of other things too but should she really be able to get away with making so many mistakes in a filling?! Not to mention that I have had to pay twice for the filling (private and nhs) and now having to fork out for a root canal. Should I be complaining to someone higher up or is it easy to make the kind of mistakes mentioned above?

Thanks for all the helpful advice on here - all very interesting.

Toothsmith

I've started off with what I thought was a small filling, and with one thing and another (namely decay being more than it seemed, and a bigger than usual nerve chamber) it ended up needing root filling.

It is one of those things that makes you swear under your breath - but it can happen to anyone (occasionally) so don't be too hard on her.