Dental

young_money_saver

hi everyone/
sorry if this is posted in the wrong area, could'nt find where to post it. im writing this on behalf of my mum with regards to problems with her dentist.

3 months ago my mum went to an nhs dentist who told her that she needed root canal treatment. she could wait for years to get it done on the nhs or do it privately and immediately. my mum opted for private treatment with the nhs dentist at a cost of £600 per tooth. my mum the other day was brushing her teeth when the porcelain from the root canal treated tooth fell out. her tooth is now grey (looks dead) and is extremely sore and quite wobbly. my mums question is where does she stand? my mum is furious at this botched job and wants it sorted now. any links to a kind of ombudsman for dental problems etc would be great. thanks

pcombo

£600 a tooth, Many teeth did she have done lol.

Maybe call the dentist in the morning when they open.

DCFC79

jeez £600 a tooth, thats 2 holidays with that money, sounds expensive but ive no idea how much a root canal would be from my dentist.

browneyedbazzi

Was the dentist she went to one that provides NHS services? If so, they've broken the rules and lied to your mom about having to wait for treatment on the NHS and should be reported! Far too many dentists are getting away with cheating people out of NHS care.

A reputable dentist will offer repairs to work carried out if it goes wrong -on NHS I believe if anything goes wrong with work within a year they have to put it right free of charge and some private dentists offer up to 3 years on things like root canals/crowns.

somethingcorporate

Perhaps post in the Health forum, there is a dentist that frequents them so perhaps should be able to help with your query.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81

joess

I had exactly the same thing happen to me (but the cost was covered as I was maternity exempt)

The tooth is now completely dead and a grey/black colour & wobbly - wish I'd never had it done as it didn't hurt beforehand but now throbs!

fluffnutter

young_money_saver wrote: »

hi everyone/
sorry if this is posted in the wrong area, could'nt find where to post it. im writing this on behalf of my mum with regards to problems with her dentist.

3 months ago my mum went to an nhs dentist who told her that she needed root canal treatment. she could wait for years to get it done on the nhs or do it privately and immediately. my mum opted for private treatment with the nhs dentist at a cost of £600 per tooth. my mum the other day was brushing her teeth when the porcelain from the root canal treated tooth fell out. her tooth is now grey (looks dead) and is extremely sore and quite wobbly. my mums question is where does she stand? my mum is furious at this botched job and wants it sorted now. any links to a kind of ombudsman for dental problems etc would be great. thanks

I can't comment on whether she would have been entitled to quick NHS treatment or not. But, generally speaking, if you have a health procedure that goes wrong then your first action should be to go back to whomever carried out that procedure.

She needs to speak to the dentist first before she contacts any ombudsman/official body/makes a complaint etc.

jugglebug

fluffnutter wrote: »

I can't comment on whether she would have been entitled to quick NHS treatment or not. But, generally speaking, if you have a health procedure that goes wrong then your first action should be to go back to whomever carried out that procedure.

She needs to speak to the dentist first before she contacts any ombudsman/official body/makes a complaint etc.

This is correct.
All Dentists are obligated to have an in house complaints procedure.
The external avenues, both NHS (ie to the PCT) and the private complaints system run by the General Dental Council (http://www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk/) should both direct you back to the in house system before they will activate their pathways.

neilmcl

Did she get a treatment plan and full breakdown of the cost, private costs for a root canal could be around £250 and it sounds like your mum had it capped off with a crown which would be around £300+. It's natural for the tooth to look a bit grey, its probably just the adhesive from the crown, which I'm hoping she kept. There shouldn't be that much pain as the tooth is now dead given that it's had its root removed.

Your mum shouldn't really have to pay to have the crown put back on if she still has it, if not then she could be paying out another £150 to have one made up.

Are there any NHS dental drop-in centres in your area, maybe worth checking one out so your mum can at least get a second opinion. Take a look here http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages/overview.aspx

brook2jack

If your mum had had her check up on a NHS contract and it was the same dentist who provided the root treatment privately as did her check up then that is not on, if the root canal is in their competance then no matter how much it costs them they have to offer it on the NHS. If however the root canal was complex and they offered to refer her on the NHS to a specialist (very few available and very very long waiting lists) and she opted to see another dentist privately even it was at the same practice then that is not a problem.

Root filled teeth are very brittle and particularly back teeth need to be crowned after root treatment in case they break. Some dentists like to do this straight away, others leave it a few months after root treatment. it is possible it is not a problem with the root filling but the tooth has fractured, unfortunately sometimes this happens.

First port of call is to phone and write to the practice and exhaust their complaints proceedure. If you do not get satisfactory answers then either contact the PCT (look on web for address) if private treatment was inappropriately carried out, or if it was appropriate then contact http://www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk/ who are a GDC funded independant complaints authority for private dental treatment.

£400 to £600 is about average for a private molar (back tooth) root treatment. It will take a couple of hours at least and involve alot of specialist equipment such as an endodontic microscope etc.

Most drop in centres are for emergency treatment only and are not set up for giving second opinions. You would most likely be turned away as a lost crown is not normally seen as an emergency.

brook2jack

neilmcl wrote: »

Your mum shouldn't really have to pay to have the crown put back on if she still has it, if not then she could be paying out another £150 to have one made up.

]

No a private crown laboratory fee for a crown could easily exceed this on its own. Private laboratory fees for crowns vary from £100 ish to £1000!

If it was a complex molar (back tooth) root treatment then the cost of this with a specialist will depending on the area (city centre, suburbs etc) cost from £450 to £600 on its own without a crown. Part of the consent should have included the fact the tooth would probably need a crown if one hadn't already been provided.