Failed root canal on NHS, still charging me?

Oriela

After an emergency app. and an hour of being drilled into, I got quickly patched up with a temporary filling and got told that due to calcified canals, the doctor cannot finish the job (due to lack of specialist tools and skills/training) so I got referred to a specialist clinic. On exit I asked if I need to do anything at the reception, thinking about paying (but I wasn't specific), the dentist replied "don't worry about it"). I have already paid for the emergency appointment previously.
Now I'm being chased by the clinic about the remainder of the charge for the root canal. I said it's a bit unfair considering the dentist did NOT do a root canal, otherwise why am I being referred to a private dentist and having to pay close to £1,000 (molar) for a job that's already been done. There's no clarity on the NHS site...
It doesn't seem fair? or does it? I understand paying for half a job they did maybe, although I'm still in pain, still can't eat on that side, still waiting for a dentist to fix it... but in this case I'll be paying twice for the same job? ...

Toothsmith

This could well just be some sort of mix up.

I would just ring them up and try to explain what happened to them and ask them to check with the dentist.

If this was done on the NHS, it's quite possible another treatment or proceedure might have meant you still owe the Band 2 £50 odd quid payment, but you need to just clarify this.

mda99das

Root canal is very challenging and some dentists just focus on doing these treatments.

If the dentist spent 1 hour and still could not negotiate the canals, then they have obviously tried their best with good intentions, but without a microscope and specialist equipment and the expertise in tackling tricky cases then it would be difficult and not in your best interest that he continues. sometimes knowing when to call it a day is the correct decision and referring it on to a specialist is the way forward.
Regrettably on the NHS, technically root canals are carried out for free, as the practice is awarded 3 points . 1 point is for the exam, and the 2 points are for the filling that goes on top of the tooth after, and the RCT is well funded by the dentist from their own pocket. Its tough but that's the truth which is why many dentist are leaving the NHS.
To run a surgery costs £250 an hour, and the funding that the practice receives barley covers this.
The instruments and equipment needed to do a decent root canal cost about £20-£25 per file and you may need 2-3 files to complete a tooth. The files have to be thrown away after each session, and a fresh one used, even if its on the same patient and on the same tooth.

You could ask for a referral to a teaching hospital to see if that could be done, but my experience is they reject them for pretty much all molar teeth, and the tooth has to be of "strategic importance " whatever that means by the bureaucrats...
The alternative is an extraction.

So while you may have paid £50 odd for an attempted RCT, it would have cost the practice about £260 for the hour spent on your tooth, but we are all humans and not robots, so sometimes it is not predicable and we may not get the best outcome.