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

Toothsmith

If the dentist has referred you to a specialist, it will be someone he knows and trusts to do a good job.

If you want to be referred to somebody different, then that's your choice, but I would still go through your own dentist. After all, it's him who has to take care of you afterwards.

If the dentist has no experience or knowledge of the other place though, he may not be willing to refer you - as the dentist has a duty of care to you that includes who he choses to refer you to. In other words, if it all goes pear shaped, and it turns out that the place you went to had people who were not as good as they should be - then as well as having a claim against the specialist who did the work, you would also have a claim against the dentist who referred you there.

This is why dentists have to be very careful about who they refer to - and we can't just base our decisions on price!

Olympika

Toothsmith can I ask something: if a socket has had quite a bad infection, which has now basically cleared but there's some red inflammation on one side of the socket still, can this "spread" to a tooth next to it? Had the main infection scrubbed out and then dressed and stitches just under 3 weeks ago, had a check-up on it a week later, where there was some redness remaining on one side - just from looking in the mirror, this redness is now more extensive than it was then and it extends right up to the next tooth now. This tooth is a bit painful when I tap it now. But could it just be things settling down still rather than a real (new?) problem? The socket also apparently has some kind of crack in the bone underneath and there was a sinus exposure too though this has now closed. I am getting more and more reluctant to go back to the dentist, but the pain is starting to get worse again

Thanks

hethmar

Oh Olympika, so sorry to hear this hasnt settled yet. I have to say I had a similar situation with my last one. Had the tooth out, got dry socket and then after a couple of months it still hadnt completely sealed itself up and the tooth next to it started throbbing. Its at that point - when my NHS dentist was making warning noises about another extraction that I sought out my current private dentist. He root filled and crowned it before it became agonising.

Toothsmith

Olympika wrote: »

Toothsmith can I ask something: if a socket has had quite a bad infection, which has now basically cleared but there's some red inflammation on one side of the socket still, can this "spread" to a tooth next to it? Had the main infection scrubbed out and then dressed and stitches just under 3 weeks ago, had a check-up on it a week later, where there was some redness remaining on one side - just from looking in the mirror, this redness is now more extensive than it was then and it extends right up to the next tooth now. This tooth is a bit painful when I tap it now. But could it just be things settling down still rather than a real (new?) problem? The socket also apparently has some kind of crack in the bone underneath and there was a sinus exposure too though this has now closed. I am getting more and more reluctant to go back to the dentist, but the pain is starting to get worse again

Thanks

The infection from one won't have spread to another. If you've had a tooth out, you can get an infected socket, which is very sore, but doesn't cause any other problems.

If there's a problem on or under another tooth, that's a different matter - but it won't have been caused by the first infection.

Olympika

Thanks both

Froglet

Poor old you,i cannot imagine how sick you must be of feeling rubbish.I had ongoing problems with my tooth for months and it really dragged me down both physically and mentally ,so much so that i ended up on anti depressants(though obviously i had other things going on too).Now that all the infection has gone and my body is not fighting infection continually i feel so much better.

I do hope you get to the root cause of all your problems and feel better soon.(That wasn't a pun by the way!!)

Olympika

Thanks Froglet - I can really relate to it getting you down so much, I feel so run down and have lost over a stone. Went out this afternoon but was on my knees with tiredness when got home a few hours later, trying to stay positive though

hethmar

At least you know why you feel awful and you do know there is an end to it. I also sympathise as Ive had months at a time of that awful throbbing pain. It makes you feel unable to tackle the least of tasks. I do hope you will soon feel better.

Olympika

Thanks I feel like a one woman dental soap opera

Froglet

How are you today?