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

alison999

hethmar wrote: »

Never knew that alison. Whenever I went to my NHS dentist for check ups she always did it but may be its because my teeth were worse than mrs angry.

ive no doubt some dentists just do it - but they wont get paid any more for it, some people NEVER need them, but instead of seeing it as good hing that theyre doing a good job by themselves, they think theyre missing out on something. personally id rather pay and see a private hygienist who can spend more time with going through flossing etc them a quck scale and polish and then c'ya later

hethmar

Have to say the one I have at the new private place amazed me how long she took and all the effort she put in rather than a quick grinding and buffing at my old place. (mind you, more than twice the cost) Though she has persuaded me to buy an electric toothbrush now and I have to take it in with me - lol.

mrs_angry

alison999 wrote: »

your dentist has no control over nhs prices and maybe your teeth cant be saved?!



dentist get paid via uda points. they dont get the money you pay at the practice.



should be glad youre doing a good enough job yourself.



the why are you complaining you cant have one?


go private, but it will cost more than £16.20 or £44.60

my point was that the NHS dentist will not even attempt to save the tooth, but says i can get the root canal re done but that will have to be by a specialist and that most probably wont work! how would she know that shes not the specialist!
how do you explain a dentist saying the very same thing to my sister in law word for word even though her tooth just needed a new filling! which she had done after refusing to have the tooth pulled
i agree with the previous poster that i have to go private and i will, at least then there will be a chance at saving the tooth.
i am not alone on this topic, since the government changed the pricing structure for NHS dentists more dentists are ripping out teeth rather than spending time saving them. my point is yes i have looked after my teeth, so why great teeth one day then lets rip them out, problems like mine don't just turn up overnight, so i feel that the nhs dentist has obviously ignored this tooth for a very long time.
one last point when she said the tooth had to be pulled she never gave me any options to fill the gap(this tooth is at the front of my mouth) it was originally crowned because my violent ex husband smacked me in the mouth and snapped the tooth not because of lack of care on my part, but she said its all because of decay,any decay under this crown has obviously been ignored by my dentists, so its easier to rip out in the end than use preventative care.

tirednewdad

Although i did not examine you, I can say that it is very easy to miss decay that occurs underneath a crown.
For instance, because the crown covers the tooth you cannot see it until it goes below the gum- by then it might be too late.
Also, when ever xrays are taken, the image we get back is only in 2d- i.e. again we can't see the tooth tissue hidden by the crown.

Even non specailists RCT dentists (Rootcannal treatments), will be able to assess whether a tooth can be saved or not. If you are concerned about the costs of seeing a specailist privately then ask your dentist if there is an NHS option for refferal- there usually is, just with massive waiting lists.

The overall impression that i get is that you have lost confidence in your dentist
If you dont't feel confident in your dentist then Ring the Local Health Authority to see if another dentist is available.

mrs_angry

thanks for your reply tirednewdad;)
this dentist is not my usual dentist (she is on maternity leave) when you state that even a non specialist can tell if tooth can be saved does this mean that by her saying i could be refered for £800 means there is a chance it could be saved if im willing to pay the money even though she said that might not work!

obviously i want to try and save the tooth and as poster hethmar has said she had a similar experience and was told extraction by the nhs but went private and did have teeth saved.

you too are right that i have lost confidence, as a previous dental phobic i have worked alongside what i thought were decent dentists for 20 years to overcome my fear, to go to this dentist who in my opinion had no chairside manner at all has put me back 20 years and thats a shame, i came out of there shaking with fear so bad i couldnt drive home and fearing that next time i go to the dentist because of this tooth they will just rip it out of my head!
she said the lump was still there and they would just keep an eye on it, shouldnt she have prescribed me an extra course of antis.

please help reassure me i cried all last night and have been in a right state today, having read this whole thread from page 1 i still dont know what to do

Olympika

mrs angry you sound like you're having a bad time, am really sorry and I hope you get it sorted very soon.

I think the dentist was just trying to give you her opinion on the likely success of having RC by a specialist - personally I would rather dentists were up front about the likely chances of a treatment working than just going right ahead with it without talking it through! As tirednewdad has said, if you do try for that option then it'll be either a long waiting list (for NHS) or expensive (done by a specialist, a RC is much more than a normal dentist)... If you're considering putting yourself through either one of those options, ouldn't you rather know the odds of it working? especially if those odds aren't very good?

I'm not saying you should necessarily get the tooth removed (it would be the last thing I would do if it was mine!) but just that I guess the dentist might not be all bad!

tirednewdad

Mrs angry- do ou know if your old dentist will return after her maternaty leave? Do you think you would wait for her to return (providing your having no pain)?

Although i cannot tell without full examination and xrays, the small swelling you might have on the gum is called a sinus. The sinus occurs on teeth which are dead and is a sign of long standing infection. In your above post, you said 'Antibiotics again'- does this mean you have had a course before recently? If you did work yourself up/were work up by the dentist, then perhaps doing nothing was a suitable course of treatment, folowed by a r/v when your able to get a clearer head.

With the cost of the RCT, you might also wish to add on the cost of a new crown which will be needed.

I cannot comment on the likelyhood that a specailist would save a tooth without seeeing the tooth and xrays- sorry no help there then. Specailists do have a higher success rate than general practitioners, but in most cases it is only 7%! They are very good at what they do though.

mrs_angry

firstly thankyou all who have replied to me, there are good people in the world and it helps people like me to have a forum like this

yes i had a 5 day course of 250 amoxicillan a couple of weeks ago but i havent been in any pain at all, the lump has never hurt, it has almost gone now.when i asked if this was seen on an xray she didnt answer me, or show me anything and to be honest because she said all this word for word to my in law(she only had cracked filling) i dont know whether she can be trusted, 2 people 2 different problems yet same diagnosis, tooth out and thats that!(in law not even offered root canal)

all she asked me was when i had this done,even when i asked to take my notes to the receptionist which we always do she said no we do it on the computer, very sternly, i agree that your dentist should be open with you but why be so open about the pulling of a tooth yet not be open with what would rectify a gap left from extraction, to me that shows that there really is no concern on her part for my feelings and thats what nhs patients are upset about, makes you feel just like a piece of meat! i have to be aware of all the facts before i loose this tooth cos once its gone its gone.

my old dentist is returning next year i think.but i fear outcome will be the same as my dentists are refusing to do all root canal work

wow 7% is very low but may be worth the risk at least i would have tried all options

can i just ask i suffer from severe sinus problems could this be connected as often all of the gum on that side of my mouth feel uncomfortable and most of the opposite side of the gum has small rough spots on it

hethmar

Why dont you go and have an assessment by a private dentist Mrs a - it will cost you perhaps £25 or more but if he says its no go, then at least you will feel you have done the best you can.

I do feel for you because Im am absolute phobic too and I shake with fear in the dentist but somehow manage to sit there because I know if I dont get my teeth sorted then Id be in much worse bother This new private dentist is the first one in my life really where I feel I can believe and trust him completely.

alison999

mrs_angry wrote: »

my point was that the NHS dentist will not even attempt to save the tooth, but says i can get the root canal re done but that will have to be by a specialist and that most probably wont work! how would she know that shes not the specialist!
how do you explain a dentist saying the very same thing to my sister in law word for word even though her tooth just needed a new filling! which she had done after refusing to have the tooth pulled
i agree with the previous poster that i have to go private and i will, at least then there will be a chance at saving the tooth.
i am not alone on this topic, since the government changed the pricing structure for NHS dentists more dentists are ripping out teeth rather than spending time saving them. my point is yes i have looked after my teeth, so why great teeth one day then lets rip them out, problems like mine don't just turn up overnight, so i feel that the nhs dentist has obviously ignored this tooth for a very long time.

and this is why so many dentists have left the nhs. the nhs does not encourage preventative treatment nor does it encourage dentists to take the time to do long treatments. think of it this way, would you work overtime for nothing? i agree its not right BUT maybe this dentist is doing the best that he/she can within the nhs.

mrs_angry wrote: »

one last point when she said the tooth had to be pulled she never gave me any options to fill the gap(this tooth is at the front of my mouth) it was originally crowned because my violent ex husband smacked me in the mouth and snapped the tooth not because of lack of care on my part, but she said its all because of decay,any decay under this crown has obviously been ignored by my dentists, so its easier to rip out in the end than use preventative care.

im not a dentist so i cant answer that, though ive heard that sometimes you have to wait and see how a gap heals... did you ask your dentist any of these questions? cos really, he/she is the best one to answer them since they knoiw your treatment history.