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

alison999

Melodyx wrote: »

Just a word of warning about root canal treatment, if I may... My dentist offered me this treatment, I paid huge sums of money for her to try twice. Both times were very painful and failed so she said I had 2 options - paying to go to a specialist privately for £700 and it might not work or having the tooth out and some sort of bridge fitted. Well, I couldn't afford the £700 and didn't think it worth the risk of failing again, so took the option of having the tooth removed. A year later when it has all settled down I went back to the dentist to see about the bridge and she said she wouldn't advise it as it would damage neighbouring teeth. She definitely never said this at the start that I would end up with a big gap for the rest of my life.

Don't assume the root canal treatment will work - the technique is still in its 'early stages' (great piece of information she told me after it failed rather than before.) So you may have to pay for a gap, and no guarantees the specialist will succeed where your dentist fails!

im not a dentist but i dont think its fair that you say "where your dentist fails" maybe theres a reason why the rct failed? im sure your dentist has done these things before you know!!! as toothsmith said, rct is VERY time consuming and i can understand why your dentist might not want to use up to a hour or two trying to root fill your tooth when he'd be paid the same if he took 20 minutes extract it. thats the nhs for you. why not go back and have a chat with your dentist if youre worried about the rct failing? see what the chances of that happening are. he should have x-rays and be able to talk it through with you.

Toothsmith

And root filling techniques have been being developed for about 80 yrs at least - hardly early stages. It's pretty clear now what works and what doesn't.

TIME is the key. Rubber dam, good long time clearing out the crud and disinfecting with a range of chemicals, and a good seal of the root. Get those things done,and chances are it will succeed

alfienoakes_2

Thanks everyone
When I phoned my local PCT I explained what the treatment was that I required and that my dentist had told me I had to go private for the work, the gentleman I spoke to was very helpful and even said he knew the practice that my dentist was refering me to and said that I could have the work done on the NHS.
I am now really confused as to weather or not I can have this treatment on the NHS?
Would you advise me to contact the specialist that the PCT told me I could go through and enquire if they do cover this work via the NHS?
I am also concered about having this treatmant and I'm wondering if it would be better to just have the tooth removed, it is the last molar in the back of my mouth, so would never be seen and there would be no gaps between teeth?
Thanks again

Toothsmith

I would check with the practice the PCT guy told you about, and then get back to the PCT if there are any problems.

Having the tooth out is certainly an option, especially if you have other molars in the area still, but I'd need to see your mouth before advising properly on that.

alfienoakes_2

Hi
I have spoken to the specialist and they have said that yes they do, do NHS referral work but it is up to the PCT to allow the work to go ahead.
So I will ask my dentist to write to my local PCT recommending that I am referred to the specialist and keep my fingers crossed that they will give me the funding for the treatment.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Melodyx

I wasn't saying that my dentist failed, Alison999, I was saying the treatment failed (which could be for any number of reasons!) and I offer my experience to the OP as I would have been pleased if someone had told me that these treatments can fail (I had no idea until it happened to me twice) and are painful and long drawn out, and may end up with an extraction in any case. Also that ideas about getting a bridge to fill the gap further down the line provide complications of its own which also you may not be told about upfront. If it's in a non obvious place, I would say having the tooth extracted is definitely an option especially if the OP is not successful in getting the funding for it. The beauty of these forums to me is people taking the time to give their experiences and information as a punter that you won't get from the professional necessarily. I don't particularly like my dentist, but I'm not blaming her, just disappointed that after all that pain, time and money it didn't work for me.

geekgirl

I am so lucky with my dentist she is absolutely fab! She has recently done my root canal treatment on the NHS whereas my last dentist said my only option was to lose the tooth as I didn't have the £700 to be referred privately.

When I had the root canal done I can honestly say there was not one bit of pain involved, it took a long time and I had to have my mouth open for ages but there was no pain.

I think she is great!

gil13

Hi Guys, I am glad but not too suprised that I have today come across this thread, in true MSE style, people helping other people, it's just great..!

Anyway, I recently registered with an NHS dentist, having not been with a dentist for a couple of years due to a house move but also previous dentist going private. Anyway, I have this bottom left molar which I knew needed attention as it had cracked and had previously had some fillings done on it. Went a couple of weeks ago and the dentist put in a temporary filling, went back today and the dentist has drilled out and then said something like nerve exposed will need a root canal. Choices were; could do it now (but only a 50/50 success rate), extract it, or refer to a specialist.

So currently I have a new temporary filling and an appointment in a few weeks where I either let them do the root canal or fill out forms for a referal to a specialist who has all the special equipment, microscopes etc. The fees to see a specialist were, GBP 95 for the consultation and GBP 695 for root molar treatment (not sure if this includes the crown which may or may not be deemed necessary). Intial reaction was that seems high, but I am not sure how specialist the specialist is...! The dentist said they would probably have a 90% success rate due the better equipment and better specialist knowledge, But I am just not sure about it all. They could do it under the current plan for NHS fee of 40 odd quid but then in 1 year, 3 year ,10 years it might fail - the dentist said it would probably mean extraction at the point, which having done some research was probabaly incorrect as there are specialists that can re-do such treatments AFAIK.

So I just wanted to appeal to you guys and the dentists on the the tread what they think. I would also add that originally when they put the first temporary filling in the dentist muttered something along the lines of the filling being dependent on the strength of tooth walls...or extraction, but now today having drilled a bit this has moved on to...root canal. Also, they haven't taken any x-rays of the teeth even though it is shown as part of the treatment plan, or done the scale & polish, also shown on the plan. I just get the feeling that this typifies what NHS dentist treatment in this country has become like and it is very depressing (having prior to the last couple of years been with the same dentist all my life, until he retired prior to the new contract problems and the new dentist quickly went private).

Would appreciate any replies / input. Thanks

Toothsmith

I think the dentist has explained the options to you very well.

By offering to do it himself, he's honouring his NHS contract and giving you realstic expectations for the long term success.

A specialist CAN re-root fill a tooth if it fails, ut success rates for re-rootfilled teeth are way down on what they would be if it was done as well as it could be the first time around.

Price-wise, what you've been quoted is pretty typical for a specialist endodontist.

Tom125

Hi I would be very grateful if it would be possible for any of the experts on this site to give me their opinions.

I have a very similar problem to the ones above. I have just visited my (NHS) dentist as I had been experiencing pain (I think the second molar from the back - left side at the top). The dentist said that there was a hole - and a nerve was damaged (I had an x-ray). He said the options were:

1. Have root canal on the NHS with 50-60% success rate
2. Refer to a specialist (which would cost £400-£500) with a success rate of about 80-85%
3. Have the tooth removed. He said that this was not recommended as it would be very difficult to eat without the tooth.

He put in a temporary filling until I decide what to do.

My questions are: are the success rates and costs about right?, would it be very difficult to eat without the second molar tooth? (I have teeth either side. I think the back one is fine and the one the other side may have a small filling). Persumably other people would not be able to see that it had gone?

In terms of the success rate, how long after the treatment has taken place would you know that it has been a 'success' / when would it be most likely to fail? Would you know for a few months after treatment?

Also because I have to go away for a couple of weeks in a few weeks (probably before I could be seen by the specialist), how long do temporary fillings last?

I am leaning towards going to the specialist, but concerned that there's a 20% chance it won't work.........

Many thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!