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

domdent

In england/wales crowns are band 3 aprox £200.

If you dont crown back teeth that have been root filled they are more likely to crack and have to be removed !

DANNYBOY1_3

Had been getting a bit of pain in a tooth for about a week so saw dentist this morning....it's a tooth that got broken in a rugby match about 7 years ago and is as much filling as tooth! He tapped at it with some implement or other...no problem.....X rayed it....all normal,sprayed hot/cold air at it and played around with it...no problem.....no problem chewing on it either,but it's sore in the mornings when I wake up but easier in the evenings gum a bit sore too.....he reckons it might need RCT....any thoughts? He's a really good dentist but I'm not sure about this one.....I'm a "grinder" and my teeth are sensitive (I wear a mouthguard at night),and I had the same sort of soreness in this tooth a few weeks ago but it passed off after a few days..............

tirednewdad

DANNYBOY1 wrote: »

Had been getting a bit of pain in a tooth for about a week so saw dentist this morning....it's a tooth that got broken in a rugby match about 7 years ago and is as much filling as tooth! He tapped at it with some implement or other...no problem.....X rayed it....all normal,sprayed hot/cold air at it and played around with it...no problem.....no problem chewing on it either,but it's sore in the mornings when I wake up but easier in the evenings gum a bit sore too.....he reckons it might need RCT....any thoughts? He's a really good dentist but I'm not sure about this one.....I'm a "grinder" and my teeth are sensitive (I wear a mouthguard at night),and I had the same sort of soreness in this tooth a few weeks ago but it passed off after a few days..............

Without seeing you, your own dentist is the best person to diagnose your pain, so i would take thier advice.

However, your symptoms are those of a classic grinder (i assume you grind at night). It will be one of 2 things if it is not the tooth dying off.
1)Either a high point in your bite which means as you grind your teeth you are hitting one tooth before another- irritating the tooth
2)Hair line crack- usually not a problem, though you might find a little bit of tooth breaks off and will need to be repaired.

Whatever the answer- go with your dentist and always proceed cautiously with your treatment

tirednewdad

civicwalker wrote: »

A Specialist Endodontist has recommended "removal of old restorations and root fillings, location of canal anatomy with re-root canal therapy and placement of bonded core restorations" (in two adjacent molars).
"Ideally, these teeth should subsequently be provided with cuspal protection by your dentist" (mine is a NhS dentist).

Am I correct in assuming this means ideally have two crowns fitted?

How much extra does two crowns cost on the NhS and is this essential or merely desirable?

Thanks in anticipation.

It essentailly says that you need your rootfillings redone and crowns placed on top.

The reason that crowns are recomended is aswell as protecting the tooth from fracture, there were studies which showed that a rootcannaled tooth will only be as good as the restoration (filling/inlay/crown) on top of it.

I.e. if you have a filling which has a space for the bacteria to reinfect the root cannals, then the tooth will get re-infected. As a crown is in one piece and does not change shape as much fillings do, it will be better at keeping out the bugs.

Froglet

domdent wrote: »

In england/wales crowns are band 3 aprox £200.

If you dont crown back teeth that have been root filled they are more likely to crack and have to be removed !

I can vouch for that!! 100% :mad:

DANNYBOY1_3

tirednewdad wrote: »

Without seeing you, your own dentist is the best person to diagnose your pain, so i would take thier advice.

However, your symptoms are those of a classic grinder (i assume you grind at night). It will be one of 2 things if it is not the tooth dying off.
1)Either a high point in your bite which means as you grind your teeth you are hitting one tooth before another- irritating the tooth
2)Hair line crack- usually not a problem, though you might find a little bit of tooth breaks off and will need to be repaired.

Whatever the answer- go with your dentist and always proceed cautiously with your treatment

Thanks for that tirednewdad....I notice that one part of the tooth in question does protrude a bit so yeah it would get "hit" before the others....I am a night time grinder and wear a guard. The tooth does have a big filling in it,dentist said it is still OK but could the filling itself cause a problem if its so big? (I'd say the tooth is 65% tooth & 35% filling!),just thought it was a bit strange that he would suggest RCT if there's no sign of infection on the Xray etc? Only real symptom is soreness on one side of tooth & gum

caverncity

after a talk and re-visit to the dental on Thursday my daughter is finally getting all the work inc root canals there.

Toothsmith

That's good news!

mayroad99_2

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I've been referred by my dentist for a molar RC treatment at a price of £737 - this does not include the filling/crown to finish the job. Looking at prices generally this seems very high - is it ? Is there an average I should look for. I've seen another private clinic in the area charing £505 - this seems more reasonable but should I be concerned that it cheaper ?

Thanks

Olympika

When you say referred by your dentist is a specialist endodontist going to do the RC? If so, this would I think account for the price, a specialist doing the job will be more £££ than a regular dentist. Someone else might be able to help more though!