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

Toothsmith

My honest opinion is that referring an NHS patient privately to a 'colleague' within the practice is very dubious with respect to the NHS contract.

An NHS patient is entitled to all services normally carried out on the premesis on the NHS.

Having said that, re-root treatments are complex, and the dentist would be quite within his rights to refer it to a specialist claiming he didn't have the experience to treat the tooth effectively.

Having the tooth out probably wouldn't cause too many problems, but without examining you, I couldn't give you an accurate assessment of that.

SarahJk_3

I was really struggling to get a NHS dentist and in the end I registered at my parents 200 miles away. I needed a dentist for root canal work and my regular private dentist quoted a minimum of £800 which I just could not afford. I have been having treatment since August. I am still in pain and still have a temporaray filling. I have had three 40 mins appointments to work on the tooth but I am not confident in this new dentists abilites- she keeps asking for help from the other dentists! Also I have to wait 6-7 weeks between appointments as she is so booked up. She also keeps asking me if I want the tooth extracted. Should I go private and is it a good thing to switch in the middle of a treatment?

Toothsmith

It's obviously a bit tricky, and I would say that the NHS practice seems to be trying it's best - with that amount of time spent on the 3 funding points that they will get for the treatment, they will be well out of pocket on it - and would probably much prefer you to have it out.

With that longer wait between appointments though, they are probably flogging a dead horse.

If the tooth is really important to you, then I would get a referral to a private endodontist (root filling specialist).

donteatthat

Toothsmith is right. If you want to keep the tooth you need to go private. Root canal work is not adequate in the NHS and it sounds like there is either a complicated tooth and / or an inexperienced dentist - I am sure she is doing her best for you though.

domdent

this tooth now has a very poor prognosis (expected long term success)Depending on your age and position in your mouth Be prepared to lose itIs rubber dam being used ?Magnification either glasses with lenses or a microscope?http://www.endoexperience.com/patients.htmlvisit this site for patient education on root treatment

SarahJk_3

Hi Thank you- yes a rubber dam is being used and I agree they are doing thier best. I have an emergancy appoinmtent on Friday and I will ask her to refer me to a specialist as I really do not want gaps in my teeth. I did think that some of the pain may be caused by the filling as it is very high and flat- I grind my teeth and I can taste chemical cotton wool leaking from it. Have a great Christmas and thank you all for taking time out to reply to me.

Peelgirl76

Hi Toothsmith, thanks for all the invaluable info you give on this topic, which I've been reading today after spending a miserable Christmas with tooth pain. A brief summary of my woes - aged 48, all back teeth filled when young, no major tooth pain/trouble until Sept this year when one of my lower back teeth became really painful to bite on. My Dentist (NHS/Private, been with him 20 years) diagnosed infection underneath and gave me antibiotics followed by large replacement filling. This was excruciating despite anaesthetic top ups - in fact I started crying so he had to stop and book me in the following week to finish, felt a right baby! He said that should last me a good few years - unfortunately he was wrong! The infection flared up again in Nov (more antibiotics from emergency dentist) and then again mid-Dec. Got into see my usual dentist this time, who gave me third lot of antibiotics to take me over Christmas, but said I can't have any more and must now consider root canal or extraction. But I'm terrified of more work on that tooth, especially after reading all these posts!!! What I want to know is, would having the tooth out be such a bad thing? I know it's my decision at the end of the day, but I'm thinking, it's not visible, and it's already had 2 large fillings which I assume have already weakened it. Won't more root canal work make it even weaker? Or am I just being a complete coward?

Toothsmith

Root canal work will probably weaken the tooth a bit more - in fact, root filled teeth are normally crowned fairly soon afterwards, to strengthen them up again.

Done well, it should last a fair few years. Done badly, and it will be nothing but trouble.

If you haven't lost any other teeth, then being one down shouldn't make to much difference. If you do have other gaps, then the importance of this tooth can only really be assessed by a dentist who can actually see it!

Peelgirl76

Thanks for your prompt reply, am going to see my dentist next week to discuss next steps. I've no other teeth missing so am erring towards extraction - just can't face more pain.....!

maria1981

Hi, I hope you could give me some advice.

I am 27 and when I was young I lost 2 bottom molar teeth next to each other (left side) and 1 top molar (right side). Back then it was easier to pull teeth out that to save them.

About 6 years ago I had all my teeth fixed except those two gaps and I am in no pain and haven`t been since.
Recently I went to see if I can have my amalgam fillings all replaced, crowns redone etc and since I have moved area I needed to find the best dentist I could. NHS was out because they still prefer amalgam and as we all know they don`t have much time nowadays and so I went for three different consultations with private dentists.

All three came to similar conclusions:

-amalgam fillings are the least of things for me to worry about
-they seem to think my three root canals (also on the bottom molars) I had done are all infected and apparently were not filled in properly, althought they also think they were there for the whole six years and so decided to send me to specialist endodontist, which I haven`t done just yet (this came up on x-ray)
- my bones are robust enough to hold an implant

Now as you see my bottom molars are in the desperate state. When I recently used antibiotics for my chest infection, two of those three teeth were a little sensitive (not sure whether that`s good or bad).
I also queried use of antibiotics and they have said that the infection would get possibly cleared up but not for long.

Now, before I speak money you may think I am crazy but I am happy to pay £10,000 to get it fixed and I have some insurance to cover about half of that, so really it`s not question of money but saving my teeth.
(I would rather be without a car!)

If I get a root-retreatment (900£) and a crown on the top (900£), this would cost £1800 per tooth, versus about £2200 for an implant. Which one you think would be better? The endodontic doctor is one in Harley street, he`s published a lot and seems like a best man for the job.

Don`t know what to do, obviously need to see specialist, but I am pretty certain he will talk retreatment.

Any thoughts would be very appreciated.

Maria