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

Olympika

alison999 wrote: »

why would it be free?

Well normally stuff is under guarantee for 6 months (am talking bout normal fillings which fall out or whatever here) so I am HOPING a re-done RC would be too. Hmmmmm I think I might have been a bit over-optimistic you think? :rolleyes::o

Olympika

hethmar wrote: »

Hope it goes well, as someone who put up with niggling abscess pain for years on one tooth, I have great sympathy with you. Is it one that is easily seen? If it is I would think of getting someone else to look at it. Im not sure if the curved root bit is a justified reason for not cleaning it to the top I often wonder how many I could have saved if I had seen a private dentist earlier. The first dentist must have been aware he had not reached the top of the root. It really depends on how much the tooth is worth to you. If its one that cant be easily seen then you may want to have it removed to avoid pain in the future. It was worth every penny to me to have mine saved by my new man - I am just so grateful I found him.

Thanks hethmar. It's not particularly easily seen - it's basically the second molar (well second one that's left LOL!). I actually wouldn't be THAT bothered about losing it, I don't think I would look TOO like a pirate :rotfl:I guess I just feel quite stubborn about it all now - that I went through RC and I want my bloody tooth! But hey, if it goes it goes. I would only have one other big tooth on that side though, which worries me a bit (but will talk it through with dentist). Then again, if I have to pay full whack for another RC attempt, (or even more for a specialist endo to do it) financially that's going to be VERY VERY tough.

The dentist who actually did the RC wasn't my lovely usual guy, she was a 1st year newly qualied girl. She came highly recommended, but was much less interactive if you know what I mean, she never really said what was going on til I asked. And even then I had no idea I had had a full blown abcess under the tooth which showed in the x-ray she took at the end of the whole process. I didn't see my usual guy as he was full for 2 weeks and the pre-RC tooth was infected and getting worse and worse. I go back on Thursday though (to my usual one) and am gonna ask a LOT of questions! :rotfl:

bank_of_slate

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Can you explain a little more of what you mean please?

It's a route I've often considered going down as it would solve a lot of problems for me (phobia of dentists) or at least I thought it would until I read this

Toothsmith do you want to take this one?
...Linda xx

hethmar

Chameleon, you cant really mean youd want all your teeth removed. My phobia is having a tooth removed - I would willingly sit in the chair all day to have a tooth saved. You arent going to die from having a tooth saved, it never hurts that much - Ive banged my leg on the car door and its hurt a lot more than having a root filling done. Its all in your mind. I sit there thinking, "in a couple of hours Ill be sitting at home watching the telly - this will just be a memory"

You need a better dentist - one who is used to phobics. I am terrified of dentists due to horrific work when I was a youngster. My latest, albeit private bloke, feels like a mate who wants to help me to the best of his ability. In fact after he saved a tooth that had snapped off at the gum and was fractured - NHS dentist had said he would take it out "now" and I leapt out of the seat in terror and he said "Go away and come back when you are a grown up!" - we just hugged - seriously, he was as pleased as me that he had saved the tooth. THATS the sort of guy you want doing your teeth.

Have a google for dentists in your area and read their websites - see what they can offer and as toothsmith says, go in and get a leaflet as a ruse to see what the set up is like. I did go to one place that seemed great on the net - the door to the surgery was open and I could see all the work going on - I didnt like that at all! Plus the nurse looked about 17 and was chewing gum. That one was struck off my list of potential new dentists! In fact the way I found my new man was I asked a girl who was in the hairdresser at the same time as me who her dentist was because she had the most beautiful teeth and was just explaining to the hairdresser how she had had a RC and "no, it didnt hurt a bit". The name she gave had been mentioned once before by a friend who had found this chap open on a Saturday morning when she had an emergency.

alison999

Olympika wrote: »

Well normally stuff is under guarantee for 6 months (am talking bout normal fillings which fall out or whatever here) so I am HOPING a re-done RC would be too. Hmmmmm I think I might have been a bit over-optimistic you think? :rolleyes::o

its 12 months guarentee. the sooner you get back to your dentist the better. it doesnt make a difference to him/her though if it is under guarentee as he will still get his uda points.

Olympika

alison999 wrote: »

its 12 months guarentee. the sooner you get back to your dentist the better. it doesnt make a difference to him/her though if it is under guarentee as he will still get his uda points.

I swear it's 6 months eg I lost a front white filling nearly 7 months after it was done and I had to pay after they debated about whether they would cover it in the 'under 6 month guarantee' thingy. It's a private practice, dunno if that makes a difference. TBH am prob talking out of my behind here I mean, I don't even know what UDA points *are* :rotfl:

alison999

Olympika wrote: »

I swear it's 6 months eg I lost a front white filling nearly 7 months after it was done and I had to pay after they debated about whether they would cover it in the 'under 6 month guarantee' thingy. It's a private practice, dunno if that makes a difference. TBH am prob talking out of my behind here I mean, I don't even knwo what UDA points *are* :rotfl:

if its private then maybe it can be different but ive always thought the guarentee thing was always 12 months. maybe someone like toothsmith will know, being a private dentist. udas dont come into it then as that is nhs

Toothsmith

bank_of_slate wrote: »

Toothsmith do you want to take this one?
...Linda xx

I put a link to a recent thread all about denture problems a few posts up.

Toothsmith

alison999 wrote: »

if its private then maybe it can be different but ive always thought the guarentee thing was always 12 months. maybe someone like toothsmith will know, being a private dentist. udas dont come into it then as that is nhs

If a root filling fails, it could be for many reasons, and re-doing it, free or not, would probably not be the way to go.

Generally, before I did anything like a root filling I would discuss with the patient what would happen if it failed, and what I would do, and what I would be expecting in the way of payment. But it would vary depending on the tooth, and how likely I thought failure was.

Often, I would say that if a root filling of mine failed soon after doing it, I would take the tooth out for no extra charge.

But as said, it really would depend on the tooth, the patient and the situation.

bank_of_slate

Toothsmith wrote: »

I put a link to a recent thread all about denture problems a few posts up.

Thanks, just noticed after I posted
...Linda xx