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

marybishop

domdent wrote: »

Root treatments that fail may never have worked even if a specialist sees the tooth as alot of teeth root filled have cracks that cant be seen without a microscope.

That's interesting - the tooth I had extracted on Thursday turned out to have a crack in it which the dentist had suspected might be the case because it just wouldn't settle after the RCT. But it didn't show up on the x-rays.

Olympika

Not sure if anyone is interested but I had the second RCT yesterday and it's now sealed up and *hopefully* all ok! Certainly currently feels a hell of a lot better than it did even with the temp filling :beer: Am scheduled for a check-up for it in a month, then the crown in likely another month. All in all it's cost just under £800 (inc the crown)...

stolt

sorry didnt know where to put this but one of my lower bottom teeth was broken off and i went to dentist and she said that she didnt think she could save it and it would be best to come out. It was planned for next wednesday and the dentist phoned yesterday so say sorry it couldnt be done as the dentist now has a course to go on all week. So i managed to get a appointment with another dentist this morning. This guy is telling me that after the xrays (which the other dentist did aswell) that he thinks its not as bad as it looks and he can do root canal treatment and porcelain bonded crown fitted. At the moment hes cleaned it out and put some filling on top for next friday. he said i can still have the tooth out if i really wanted.
the problem £586.00 , i can just about afford it and wonder whether its worth doing it as crowns can fall out and ive got to go and pay for it to be done again.
the tooth at the bottom about 4th in from the front so althoguh if i have it out it will be noticeable but not too bad, the difference probably is £400.00 . but then i keep watching all these programs where they say that try to keep your natural teeth if possible and it makes sense, can anyone comment on having a crown fitted and was it ok, didnt fall out etc and does that cost look normal!!


not sure if i'm being overcharged, at the end of the day wouldn't all dentists try to save the tooth if they could, one said they couldnt this one has said he can?

Olympika

I had a similar dilemma though it wasn't because RC wasn't do-able, but because I am a complete wimp and didn't want RC! My feeling was just to have the tooth out (mine was middle molar on the top). In the end though I didn't opt for extraction in order to at least try to save the tooth (though if for any reason this RC doesn't work, I really doubt I would have it re-done).

To be honest, the price you quoted sounds really quite cheap - does this include the crown? If so it is really cheap! Mine is coming in at just under £800 including crown - which will be done in a month or two, so can't help on the crown advice.

Sorry can't be more help, but I would say that RC is really ok and if the second guy says he can do it, I would seriously consider it.

HTH a bit. Good luck!

Treen

Hi just had Root Canal work today - for the second time. First time I went to an NHS dentist, a few weeks later I got an infection in it. Went back and she gave me antibiotics which beat it back but as soon as the course ran out it came back. Anyway after asking around I found a private dentist who said that he could try to save the tooth but that it would be expensive and suggested that I took out dental insurance. Did a search through Moneysupermarket and found a deal through Tescos and also went through a cashback site to save a bit more. Then made an appointment to start the work. I've noticed a huge difference between the NHS dentist and the private one especially the drills - private being much quieter and the work was a lot quicker. No pain at all - but that could be because tooth is dead. I'm hopeful that the infection will clear up and the tooth will be saved.

Treen

Mogbasket

Hi, I'm new so be gentle with me

I need RCT on a tooth near the front -- never needed one before. I have been quoted £480 to have it done privately (plus £198 for the crown on the NHS). Alternatively I could get the RCT done on the NHS too (so everything for £198). Money is tight so I'm really not sure which way to go -- is it worth trying the NHS treatment first?

stolt

thanks for replies, its the money more than anything else, but i know its more important to keep your teeth, its just whenever you think you have some money spare something else comes along and takes it away.

i was leaning towards asking to take it out as its cheaper lol but perahps it would be best to try to save it, everyone at work is saying £600 bloody hell you better have it removed.

tirednewdad

stolt wrote: »

thanks for replies, its the money more than anything else, but i know its more important to keep your teeth, its just whenever you think you have some money spare something else comes along and takes it away.

i was leaning towards asking to take it out as its cheaper lol but perahps it would be best to try to save it, everyone at work is saying £600 bloody hell you better have it removed.

It is always better to save the tooth if you can, but if the tooth is in a dodgy state, even the best dentist in the world will struggle to save it. Its difficult to comment without seeing the tooth and xrays.
Root Cannal Treatment is not 100% successfull as are post crowns. There is no garrentee that the dentist will be able to save the tooth, even for £600.

It is also important to factor in the cost if you did have the tooth removed, and you want the space filled later on. The options are
1)Nothing- leave it as it is
2) Implant- £1000's, but very very good
3) Bridge- a false tooth permenantly attached to another tooth £500-£1250ish
4) Denture- £100-£400
These are all just rough prices.

Sorry if this hasn't help you but i think that your decision has too be based on the options given by your dentist. Why not ask the dentist that if you were to try to save it, What would be the % of failures.

tirednewdad

Mogbasket wrote: »

Hi, I'm new so be gentle with me

I need RCT on a tooth near the front -- never needed one before. I have been quoted £480 to have it done privately (plus £198 for the crown on the NHS). Alternatively I could get the RCT done on the NHS too (so everything for £198). Money is tight so I'm really not sure which way to go -- is it worth trying the NHS treatment first?

One of the important things too note is that as a dentist, you are never allowed to say that the NHS treatment is the inferior option.
A rct involves removing the nerve of the tooth and filling up the area where the nerve existed, so that no other bugs can infect the tooth.

Typically, an NHS dentist might spend 30-45 minutes trying to save the tooth using RCT, as that is the time his surgery cost allow (most dentists make a loss on doing rct on the NHS)

A private dentist might spend 1 hour or so doing the same treatment on the same tooth, but be able to use more advanced instruments and techniques.

There have been no studies to compare NHS rct success rates compared to private rct rates.

You cannot however combine private and nhs treatment on the same tooth, unless there is at least a 3 month gap between treatments. Hiowever this is the dentists issue not yours.

Hope that gives you food for thought.
Personally try the rct on the nhs, give it 3 months. If it does not settle then try the private option

suki1964

Olympika wrote: »

Not sure if anyone is interested but I had the second RCT yesterday and it's now sealed up and *hopefully* all ok! Certainly currently feels a hell of a lot better than it did even with the temp filling :beer: Am scheduled for a check-up for it in a month, then the crown in likely another month. All in all it's cost just under £800 (inc the crown)...

Glad its all feeling like its going well, although saying that Ive most of my molars RCT now (some for 20 years) and never had a problem with any of them failing

Hate to say though mine cost considerably less then yours - at £176.72, but then mine is a gold crown which tbh doesn't look bad and I'm thinking I must be kinked cos I love the feel of it :rotfl: