Root canal treatment cost on NHS etc

Toothsmith

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

I'm getting a root canal molar done next week, NHS Scotland dentist said it would be £500 private or £100 on NHS. (This includes X-ray and other minor items.)

But it won't be 'the same thing'.

It's like getting a quote for a car, and one place says a 'car' will be £6000 and another place says a 'car' will be £65000.

It won't be the same car!

It might be that the first car will be perfectly acceptable, do the job for as long as you want it to, and be quite reliable. but it won't be the same as the second car!

farfromhome

Just to put my tuppence worth of comment in. I am an NHS patient and attend a dentist's practice who offer both NHS and private work.

I needed root canal treatment under an existing crown. The dentist who treated me twice for this in 2012 and 2013, because it was quite complicated and took hours, charged me under £100 the first time and about half the second time and he managed to save the crown.

I saw him last week for a check-up and he told me that half the tooth on another back molar had broken away and was just held in place by the very old filling. He offered a white crown for under £300 or an "onlay", also in white for under £250. Both NHS work, he knows I would struggle to pay private fees. When I asked him what he would choose in my situation, he said the "onlay", not because it's the cheaper option but because it would save more of the remaining tooth. This would also include a new filling under the "onlay".

brook2jack

If you are England these are not nhs prices. Band three charge on the nhs in England is £214. Different fees apply Scotland, Wales and NI.


You appear to have been quoted a private fee for the crown at least . A reasonable private fee but not nhs.

Again the root filing charge was very reasonable but not nhs. In 2012 and 2013 the nhs fee would have been ,in total , around £45 ish .

mingualez

A point I forgot to ask about in my OP.
Way back before my inlay fell out. About a year before. I went for a check up and told my dentist my tooth where it joined the inlay was sharp ( decaying a little) He told me that there was no effective filling material that would adhere very long to both the gold comp inlay and tooth and would be a waste of time. He said all he could do is file the sharpness off. Does this sound feasible. Between my wife and I's treatment I have lost a little faith.

Regards.

welshdent

We have no way to know if there was decay or not. I would imjagine if there WAS decay then the dentist would have removed it? Sticking to gold is difficult but if there was literally a hairline high portion that was free of decay, removal of the whole thing and replacing it would be excessive. Smoothing the edge off would seem the prudent thing to do based ono the information provided ... but I cant know for sure as I cant see it

mingualez

The inlay/onlay? it is the whole top of tooth is not actually gold metal? I am unsure of the actual material. So a filler could not be applied in the fine gap??

Regards.

mingualez

I asked my dentist to email me over what needed to be done and cost etc. Remember I am a NHS paying patient!

This is his email to me

" Sorry for the delay with this, I've been away.

Yes, you need root canal re-treatment (£595) on your top left last tooth, then it would need a crown
(£220 -£450, depending on choice of material). Success rates would be about 70%.
Alternatives to this would be to have it extracted and have an implant done (£2000 - £3000).
The root canal re-treatment would take about 3 and a half hours over two visits and the crown a further hour over two more visits.

Root canal re-treatment on molar teeth is not done on the NHS as it is time consuming and very few dentists have the experience and training to do this work. Furthermore, a lot of specialised equipment is needed such as an operating microscope.



I hope this helps."

brook2jack

Implants are not and never have been generally available on the nhs.
re root treatment is generally a specialist job and it is not clear from your post whether you are to be referred for the retreatment. In general the nhs do not employ specialist endodontists and certainly there are none that can be referred to in my area.

The dentist has to give you options both nhs and private even if you have signed on for this treatment as a nhs patient so you can consider all possibilities. However they must make clear which are private and which are nhs options. The fp 17dc nhs form should be given which details nhs and private options.

Realistically for most people in this situation extraction would be the only nhs option.

mingualez

My 3rd Post-

mingualez wrote: »

Just occurred to me that my own dentist will be carrying out the work, he was not referring me!

To confirm. I am not being refered, my own dentist has proposed to carry out the work. Of-course I am aware an implant is not available on NHS . My previous post shows the only option offered re- root treatment. I therefore suspect I am being mislead??

Also. re- regional dental office/officer I may consult. How would I go about finding contact. I have tried to search OL but cannot find a contact in North Essex.

brook2jack

I'm not sure what you are after here, RDO (regional dental officers) were abolished in England some time ago and were never available for patients to consult , they advised local health boards and checked the work of dentists and , on occaision, provided second opinions on cases for dentists.

Community dental officers provide treatment for those who cannot see a dentist in a normal surgery perhaps due to physical, mental or psychological reasons.Only dentists can refer people to them you cannot self refer and they do not provide an endodontic service.

Re root treatment is a specialist job on a molar and there is unlikely to be anyone on the nhs in your area who can provide it, most dental hospitals will not take referrals and there is no funding provision in most areas for it.

If you are after a second opinion you can either go to another NHS dentist and pay for a check up and see what they say , but you will not be offered re root treatment on a molar but probably extraction on the NHS, or you can pay for a private consultation .