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

hethmar

cheeky - have a google to see what dentists in your area do them.

I had a tooth break off - NHS dentist said cant be saved, come back in 2 months for next appointment - and this was a front tooth guys :eek: She also said (after I asked her to take an x ray!) that the tooth next to it that was crowned had some infection and would also probably need removing and another the other side (not crowned) ditto. So that was fun - thinking 3 teeth top frontish going.

I decided to go privately to a guy who had been recommended. The tooth she wanted to remove he found a fracture in the root (I think he used some sort of coloured dye on it) but after 1 and half hours in the chair and lots of fiddling he reckoned it was saved - he went in through the gum to the root. He said 90% confident - we would know in a week. 18 months later, beautiful job.

The front one she said would need removing was in his opinion infected due to a badly fitting crown. The crown was replaced with a beautiful porcelain job and the bit of infection disappeared.

The other side one also in line for the chop was root filled - excessively long roots apparently - several x rays taken as the job progressed - another hour and half in the chair - and yes has been saved too.

A chap on another forum I belong too recently went to Turkey where he had something like 9 implants in sets of 3?? fitted for £3k

I would be very reluctant to return to the NHS now. I am actually thinking of having a couple of implants to fill the gaps of teeth removed over the years and I now wonder if they could have also been saved. My chap charges £1700 per implant and reckons 3 would be enough to completely fill all the gaps.

TREEN - Im amazed that your dentist advised insurance AFTER the problem was discovered - normally that would not have been covered by any insurance.

Melanie78_2

Hi there,
I'm hoping one of the dentists can clear something up for me. My mum attends a practice that does both NHS and Private work. She is registered as an NHS patient and is entitled to free treatment. However she has been told she cannot have her much needed root canal filling on the NHS for free. In fact the dentist claims that her practice only perform root canal fillings privately at the cost of £250. Is this legal?! Can a practice take on an NHS list of patients and then pick and choose which aspects of their treatment to provide on the NHS? It all sounds a bit dodgy to me! I want to be sure my mum isn't being fleeced by her dentist. Oh and this cost does not cover a crown. Its just a basic root canal filling.

Many thanks in advance.

Melanie

jancee_2

I have a similar query to Melanie's.

I am nearing the end of a long course of treatment which has involved three root canals, one yet to be finished - he took moulds yesterday and put in a temporary [not sure what for - I try to block it out :rolleyes:]. Today I was in a lot of pain from the tooth next to that one so I went in. I was told that I needed yet another root canal but that it couldn't be included in my £198 maximum and I would have to pay £200 private. Or have it out.

Is this correct?

elsien

I've just had the root canal treatment done privately, but presumed it would be painfree afterwards. I had it done last Tuesday, and it still hurts when I put any pressure on the tooth, so I'm having to eat using the other side of my mouth. The dentist did say that it would hurt afterwards as it had been quite inflamed, but I wasn't expecting it to feel like it does. When should the pain start to clear up, or when should I start worrying. The receptionist was a bit vague when I phoned up to ask.
Also, I'm having the crown done by my usual nhs dentist in the same surgery - can I try to insist that they fit me in asap, as I'm a bit worried that they're not going to be able to fit me in within the 4-6 weeks I need.
Thanks.

Edit - Melanie78 - my nhs dentist said that he would do it on the nhs but advised against it due to the low success rate. He said he would do it privately for £200, or I could go to their specialist for £500. THe crown is then being done by him on the nhs, regardless of which option I chose.

Olympika

elsien - was it all done in one go or was this the first part of RCT? ie have you got a temporary filling in there and have to go back? if so mine was painful for the whole of the week I had it like this TBH. Though the very last day before I had the second part of treatment (ie when it was filled permanently with the gutta percha stuff) it was feeling a bit easier. No way I could put any pressure whatsoever on the tooth though. From my experience (and am not a dentist) they said to me that they won't do the crown until they're happy that the RC has settled, I think there is an issue of making sure that there's no infection or whatever and that the RC is successful before they do the crown. So they might be reluctant to do it so soon. But hopefully one of the dentists on here can help.

bank_of_slate

elsien wrote: »

I've just had the root canal treatment done privately, but presumed it would be painfree afterwards. I had it done last Tuesday, and it still hurts when I put any pressure on the tooth, so I'm having to eat using the other side of my mouth. The dentist did say that it would hurt afterwards as it had been quite inflamed, but I wasn't expecting it to feel like it does. When should the pain start to clear up, or when should I start worrying. The receptionist was a bit vague when I phoned up to ask.
Also, I'm having the crown done by my usual nhs dentist in the same surgery - can I try to insist that they fit me in asap, as I'm a bit worried that they're not going to be able to fit me in within the 4-6 weeks I need.
Thanks.

Edit - Melanie78 - my nhs dentist said that he would do it on the nhs but advised against it due to the low success rate. He said he would do it privately for £200, or I could go to their specialist for £500. THe crown is then being done by him on the nhs, regardless of which option I chose.

It can be quite painful afterwards but you should be noticing a steady improvement.

Things to watch out for:
Pain worse at night
swelling around the area
painkillers not having any effect

Pain with pressure could be a sign that there is still some inflammation or the temporary filling that was used may be too 'high'

If your worried, go back rather than leaving it!
...Linda xx

tirednewdad

jancee wrote: »

I have a similar query to Melanie's.

I am nearing the end of a long course of treatment which has involved three root canals, one yet to be finished - he took moulds yesterday and put in a temporary [not sure what for - I try to block it out :rolleyes:]. Today I was in a lot of pain from the tooth next to that one so I went in. I was told that I needed yet another root canal but that it couldn't be included in my £198 maximum and I would have to pay £200 private. Or have it out.

Is this correct?

Really answering 2 responses here-

All NHS practices must provided the patient will an NHS option to save the tooth using RCT (if it can be saved). Many will lose money by providing RCT on the NHS, so elect to reffer or avoid the issue and just say it is not available on the NHS. This is wrong.

Ask you dentist again if they are sure if this isn't available on the NHS.
If they say no, they are lying. Ask them once more.
Ask them to be reffered to an NHS endodontist. The waiting list will be long, but your dentist has a duty of care to keep you pain free while you are on the waiting list.
Finally find a website which shows what is available in the treatment bands that you pay for. -
BAND 1-(£14 exams, xrays, cleans)
Band 2- Fillings, rootcannals, simple denture changes
Band 3 - (£200ish Crowns, new dentures, inlays)
Show this to your dentist and ask him again. Is RCT available on the NHS.

Hope that helps.

jancee_2

tirednewdad wrote: »

Really answering 2 responses here-

All NHS practices must provided the patient will an NHS option to save the tooth using RCT (if it can be saved). Many will lose money by providing RCT on the NHS, so elect to reffer or avoid the issue and just say it is not available on the NHS. This is wrong.

Ask you dentist again if they are sure if this isn't available on the NHS.
If they say no, they are lying. Ask them once more.
Ask them to be reffered to an NHS endodontist. The waiting list will be long, but your dentist has a duty of care to keep you pain free while you are on the waiting list.
Finally find a website which shows what is available in the treatment bands that you pay for. -
BAND 1-(£14 exams, xrays, cleans)
Band 2- Fillings, rootcannals, simple denture changes
Band 3 - (£200ish Crowns, new dentures, inlays)
Show this to your dentist and ask him again. Is RCT available on the NHS.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much. I've had to ring the emergency dentist today and I'm due to go in at 15:00 this afternoon. I spoke to them about my experience and they confirmed that there is or should be no limit on the amount of root canals one can have in a course of treatment - even before this latest episode I was up to the maximum £198 charge due to having a cap fitted to what I thought would be the last one.

While I've been typing this I had a call back from NHS Direct who have pointed me in the direction of PALS and my PCT. The chap who rang also confirmed that this treatment should be included in my fee.

Now I'm worrying about how my dentist will treat me when he finds out I've done all this.

hethmar

Move dentist if you can.

elsien

I had the whole lot done in one go, and am guessing there's a temporary filling in until the proper crown can be done. It doesn't hurt most of the time, unless I put pressure on it when it turns into a serious ow.
Think I'll give them another ring next week to be on the safe side.