Dental: dentist couldn't take out tooth.

NotAPowerRanger

Background info: I was diagnosed with oesteopenia (mild oesteoporosis) 2 years ago for which I take medication.

Six weeks ago, a dentist (never seen before) told me that I needed to have two teeth extracted as they were too decayed to repair.  One already had a half crown which was fitted about 5 years ago at an NHS dental hospital.  I have a little sensitivity in both teeth despite the holes being quite large!

Yesterday the dentist tried to take out the right one but could not do it, said she wouldn't attempt the left one and that I would need to see a specialist to have them "drilled out", who has now quoted me £350.  I suffered a broken back in a car accident a few years ago and haven't worked since so I simply don't have the money.

The dentist told me I might need to see a specialist before I'd even sat down so I feel like I've been "upsold" and I can't find any mention of teeth needing to be drilled out of the jaw bone on the internet.  I had a tooth taken out about 5 years ago by a supervised dental student and he used at least twice as much strength as she did, which makes me wonder even more about being upsold.

Any advice or opinion greatly appreciated.

brook2jack2

If a tooth is too difficult to take out in practice you can be referred to an NHS oral surgery department. However be aware waiting lists are very long , in our area you will be waiting 18 months at least. 

Carrot007

brook2jack2 said:

If a tooth is too difficult to take out in practice you can be referred to an NHS oral surgery department. However be aware waiting lists are very long , in our area you will be waiting 18 months at least. 

That bad these days? I had one of my wisdom teeth out in hospital as it was "damn close to a nerve" or something like. Only took a coupple of weeks. But that was the 90s. Ispose it really depends on your area as well. I got a referal to a hospital for a test in under 3 weeks here recently. (not dental).

brook2jack2

Waiting list for braces around two to three years, waiting list for sedation around 18 months , waiting list for general anaesthetic dental treatment two plus years . 

This is not unusual and some areas the waiting lists are even longer. 

Undervalued

NotAPowerRanger said:

Background info: I was diagnosed with oesteopenia (mild oesteoporosis) 2 years ago for which I take medication.

Six weeks ago, a dentist (never seen before) told me that I needed to have two teeth extracted as they were too decayed to repair.  One already had a half crown which was fitted about 5 years ago at an NHS dental hospital.  I have a little sensitivity in both teeth despite the holes being quite large!

Yesterday the dentist tried to take out the right one but could not do it, said she wouldn't attempt the left one and that I would need to see a specialist to have them "drilled out", who has now quoted me £350.  I suffered a broken back in a car accident a few years ago and haven't worked since so I simply don't have the money.

The dentist told me I might need to see a specialist before I'd even sat down so I feel like I've been "upsold" and I can't find any mention of teeth needing to be drilled out of the jaw bone on the internet.  I had a tooth taken out about 5 years ago by a supervised dental student and he used at least twice as much strength as she did, which makes me wonder even more about being upsold.

Any advice or opinion greatly appreciated.

Hopefully not but sadly it does happen.

If the work is beyond the capabilities that should reasonably be expected of a general NHS dentist, then obviously it needs to be referred to a specialist both for your safety and to increase the chance of a successful outcome. In theory that service should also be NHS but as has been pointed out waiting times can be very long.

However, because of the way in which NHS dentists are paid (which is not related to the "Band" charge paid by patients who are not exempt) some treatments are totally uneconomic for the dentist to preform. Obviously that gives those that are less ethical a strong temptation to claim, sometimes falsely, that the work is too complex. If an NHS dentist is caught out doing that then they can get into serious trouble with the GDC, and rightly so. 

However it is a very difficult thing for the patient assess and successfully challenge.