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

Pennylane

Toothsmith said " patients should show they can look after their teeth before EITHER their money or Taxpayers is used to do ADVANCED treatments.

This is standard good practice - not making judgement."

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With respect this is precisely what I mean. There are SOME people who will take no notice whatsoever of health advice whether its caring for their teeth, excessive drinking or smoking. But they still get treated on the NHS!

How crazy is this as an example? Let's say you weigh 18 stones and you insist you can't lose weight. You check the NICE guidelines and your BMI has to be more than that before they will give you weightloss surgery. In order to get this, people ARE making themselves even more unhealthy by gorging on more food so they qualify and the daft NHS are paying up!!!:mad: We're talking a lot more money than for advanced dental treatment.

Now, these people KNOW they are endangering their lives by overeating and not taking enough exercise but they carry on regardless. Just as smokers get treated despite being told to quit. It's crazy but true!

hethmar

Oh toothsmith, that poor devil on the link you gave.

StevieJ

Toothsmith wrote: »

You've read this thread then?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1248251

Just read that, what checks do the BDA do when a foreign dentist joins the register to operate in the UK and their own country? Couldn't that dentist have joined a UK practise and done the same thing?

mrs_angry

silvercar wrote: »

We won't be getting rid of dishonest dentists, they will just be pushed out of the NHS.

I don't think the dentists are actually blackmailling anyone, they are trying to operate in a way that allows them to make money and serve the NHS. By preventing them from refusing to carry out certain NHS treatments, they either have to lie to patients (eg you need an extraction rather than I could do a RCT but you'd have to pay) or to go private. The net effect will be less NHS dentists.

well because of my nhs dentist lying to me, i have had to book a private appointment with another dentist at another practice just to find out the truth rather than just have my tooth pulled,(even if i wanted it pulled i would have to wait an eternity) ,but thats not till Thursday.

the result, tonight i had to visit an emergency Dr as i have a dental abscess, that is leaking puss into my mouth,and i am quite unwell, my nhs dentist knew about this, wouldn't prescribe me antis and said oh well the good thing is you wont feel any pain cos that tooth already has a root canal,go away and we will see how it goes,well i am feeling pain, and i don't even think the dentist has got the right tooth. she wouldn't show me an xray to back up what she said

there must be a reason dentists work for the nhs,what it is i don't know, i agree the new contract is ludicrous, but the fact is people are suffering and thats not good.

and lets face it in the private sector a dishonest, shoddy and uncaring dentist would not last too long.

Toothsmith

It is possible to make a lot of money with an NHS contract. - and the pension is very good as well which is why a lot of older dentists stick with it.

It is not easy to make a lot of money whilst doing decent dentistry with an NHS contract.

Toothsmith

StevieJ wrote: »

Just read that, what checks do the BDA do when a foreign dentist joins the register to operate in the UK and their own country? Couldn't that dentist have joined a UK practise and done the same thing?

The BDA don't do any checks - that's not their job.

The General Dental Council is our regulatory body, and all practising dentists must be registered with them.

There are various language checks that foreign applicants must pass, and an international exam if the applicant comes from a country not covered by agreements.

For dentists from most of the E.U. it's quite easy to come here.

The Hunarian dentist in that link was seen in London - not Hungary. So she had got in (hopefully) legally and registered.

mrs_angry

Toothsmith wrote: »

It is possible to make a lot of money with an NHS contract. - and the pension is very good as well which is why a lot of older dentists stick with it.

It is not easy to make a lot of money whilst doing decent dentistry with an NHS contract.

hi toothsmith, so as you are private would you do all you could to save a tooth before pulling it out?

i am a dental phobic if i do end up needing extraction can i go to hospital to have it done?

silvercar

Hope you are feeling better soon. Odd that your dentist wouldn't prescribe antibiotics, I find that dentists are more happy to write prescriptions than doctors!

Toothsmith

It's not easy to say.

There are a lot of teeth for which taking them out is the best treatment.

If a tooth is useful, I try everything I can to save it, but not every tooth is useful. And keeping some in some situations does more harm than good.

As for a hospital referral, again, it depends. Sometimes you can get away with a referral, but it's really not a very difficut thing to have done.

mrs_angry

silvercar wrote: »

Hope you are feeling better soon. Odd that your dentist wouldn't prescribe antibiotics, I find that dentists are more happy to write prescriptions than doctors!

thankyou i am now worried sick as well as sick!

this nhs dentist was a right nasty bit of work and actually made me cry, with her uncaring nature, losing a tooth is a big deal to me, i do look after my teeth , and even my own family cant belive im going through this

i really hope the private dentist i see on thursday can help me out.