No NHS for Failed Root Canal Molar

ripplyuk

OP, I had the same issue with a molar needing a repeat root canal. I just wanted to warn you not to expect to get the crown on the NHS. Check with them first! I managed to borrow money for the endodontist but when I went back to my NHS dentist for the crown (which I couldn’t afford) he told me it would be about an 18mth wait. He would have to apply for funding of some sort and it’s not guaranteed and takes ages. The repeat root canal then became infected again and had to be extracted.

I’m also curious about how your dentist gave you antibiotics as an ‘exception’. Do the NHS dentists normally leave people in agony these days? I had to wait weeks for the endodontist appointment. Without the antibiotics I would still been lying there moaning in pain all that time, unable to eat. My dentist also told me that an infected tooth can be very difficult to anaesthetise.

Dasa

Our family have the most fantastic dentist.Our daughter had a niggle and went in to speak to them. They gave her an appointment that day.


He prescribed her anti-biotics and is redoing an old root canal treatment over the next couple of weeks all under the NHS.

Dasa

ripplyuk wrote: »

OP, I had the same issue with a molar needing a repeat root canal. I just wanted to warn you not to expect to get the crown on the NHS. Check with them first! I managed to borrow money for the endodontist but when I went back to my NHS dentist for the crown (which I couldn’t afford) he told me it would be about an 18mth wait. He would have to apply for funding of some sort and it’s not guaranteed and takes ages. The repeat root canal then became infected again and had to be extracted.

I’m also curious about how your dentist gave you antibiotics as an ‘exception’. Do the NHS dentists normally leave people in agony these days? I had to wait weeks for the endodontist appointment. Without the antibiotics I would still been lying there moaning in pain all that time, unable to eat. My dentist also told me that an infected tooth can be very difficult to anaesthetise.

Yeah I don't get that either. Our dentist even once gave me a prescription for antibiotics 'just in case' I needed it. Thankfully I never ended up using it.

brook2jack

The biggest health crisis about to hit us is antibiotic resistance. We are facing the prospect of people dying from very minor infections because no antibiotic will work. Surgery will become very high risk or impossible.

To combat this anyone who prescribes antibiotics is rigorously audited and guidelines have been redrawn.

In dentistry it is very rare that antibiotics are the first line of treatment. Most infections need treatment ie pus needs to be drained, teeth taken out or root treatment started, gum infections need cleaning out. Antibiotics are not often a good or effective way to relieve pain.

Occasionally antibiotics may be needed if there is swelling , illness, or if treatment can not be carried out to clean the infection out eg a tooth that needs re root treatment and has a post etc in . But that is the exception rather than the rule.

To put this into context our practice has multiple dentists and over a three month period we wrote out less than twenty prescriptions for antibiotics between all of us . Most of these were for people who were on hospital waiting lists for something.

The NHS audits the number of antibiotic prescriptions each dentist issues and will institute an investigation if there appears to be too many issued.

Antibiotics are a lifesaving tool but if we don't restrict their use for when they are really necessary there will be a return to 19th century medicine and death rates.

brook2jack

ripplyuk wrote: »

OP, I had the same issue with a molar needing a repeat root canal. I just wanted to warn you not to expect to get the crown on the NHS. Check with them first! I managed to borrow money for the endodontist but when I went back to my NHS dentist for the crown (which I couldn’t afford) he told me it would be about an 18mth wait. He would have to apply for funding of some sort and it’s not guaranteed and takes ages. .

I presume you live in Northern Ireland or Scotland as crowns in Northern Ireland and other expensive treatments in Scotland need prior approval which can indeed take over a year to obtain.

In England and Wales no such rules apply and a crown can be supplied on the NHS if private treatment is done by a different dentist on the same tooth.

ripplyuk

brook2jack wrote: »

I presume you live in Northern Ireland or Scotland as crowns in Northern Ireland and other expensive treatments in Scotland need prior approval which can indeed take over a year to obtain.

In England and Wales no such rules apply and a crown can be supplied on the NHS if private treatment is done by a different dentist on the same tooth.

Yes, I’m in Northern Ireland. I didn’t realise it was different. Hopefully OP is not from here!

Brook, about the antibiotics. What is the alternative? Dentists cannot offer strong painkillers anymore (Unless that’s just in N.I. too?). Do they really leave people in that much pain for weeks? I can’t even imagine it :eek:

brook2jack

Antibiotics are not very effective at removing pain .

The most effective way of treating infections in the mouth is by removing the cause eg taking the tooth out, opening the tooth up to drain an abscess, cleaning around the tooth etc

Antibiotics are only used if there is swelling , the patient feels unwell , or if treatment such as taking the tooth out or opening up the tooth is not possible.

The difficulty is , that in an overstretched NHS system , it can be very difficult to find space in already busy days to fit in emergency patients , and treatment takes time, a lot less time than it takes to write a prescription. Emergency appointments are the most common reason for a dentist to run late.

So ,no , antibiotics are not the answer to leaving people in pain , they are not effective for pain and are not a treatment , treating the cause of the infection is the answer. An emergency appointment will not give time to eg do a root treatment , but it will give time to drain the abscess and this will relieve the pain.

Of course the real answer is to keep regular appointments and to follow your dentists advice on cleaning and diet. Over 90% of dental treatment is entirely preventable.

Lizbetty

Thanks for the replies. I'm in England and so hopefully the crown could be done on the NHS by the sounds, I'm due back week after next for a general check up with my dentist and so hopefully they can see whether the infection has gone down after the antibiotics and if I have a bit more time to save up for the private appointment.

The gum swelling and aches have gone, I was panicking a bit as it seemed to be spreading but I had been using a different toothpaste and I think I may have been sensitive to one of the ingredients which may have affected my gums?! I do get a sore mouth with certain toothpastes but it has never affected my gums before. It could be a coincidence, maybe it was infection and I am on the last day on the antibiotics. I am sensitive to Corsodyl too and I have been using that and been pretty hefty with the dental hygiene which might have irritated them. Either way at least I don't feel like taking a belt sander to my gums like I did last week! Thankfully!

I do have regular check ups at the dentist and try to look after my teeth but I do think that bruxism is the cause of my woes. I have a problem with a locking/clicky jaw too (since I was 16, I'm 44 now) and that caused some distress during the last root canal as I couldn't shut my mouth at one stage! When I eventually managed to it went with a bang that made the dentist jump. So I'm in a bit of pickle with that, I think this is why the idea of more work is quite daunting, as well as the costs But I am keen to make sure I do my best with them.

Thanks everyone for all of your help and advice, I was in such a panic over it but I feel a lot calmer at this stage!

welshdent

Anti biotics are NOT the treatment of choice for a tooth for pain relief except in a few niche situations. The treatment of choice is to "open" the tooth and place a sedative dressing/paste.

regards leaving live roots in place - what happens is teeth have small channels, sometimes VERY small and sometimes VERY well hidden. They are at most a mm or so in size. Its not that dentists choose to leave them un instrumented (which is what is part of the process of getting rid of dead nerve tissue). Its that sometimes the channels are too small to get down with standard instruments or they just cant find them in the first place.

Emmala

I had a similar situation last year. I had a failed root canal done by my normal dentist, the roots were twisted and he hadn’t been able to ‘clear them out’ properly so the infection just kept rumbling on. I was referred to a private specialist who was lovely, and I was given a breakdown of costs before deciding to go ahead. However, during the initial stages she found hairline cracks in the tooth and said it couldn’t be saved, that she could do the best root canal but with the cracks I would always be at risk from infection. So we paid the agreed first instalment, not the full amount.

One of the reasons for the referral was that my dentist explained that specialists have better x ray equipment for these things. I have a fear of the dentist and I decided that if it needed doing I would prefer the specialist to do it, even though it was a lot of money. As it turned out, I ended up having it out under sedation in hospital, and the relief of being infection and pain free after nearly two years was incredible.