NHS dentist price for root canal treatment

Bod_1234

Have a. Infection in the root. The dentist took a look today, charged me band 1 for examination.  Told I need root canal (band 2) and then crown (band 3)

Is it really correct I should be paying for all 3 ( so £23.70 + £63.80 + £282.80)

Something smells fishy, and it's not the abscess....

Phantom151

No, you should end up only paying the 282.80. They might take payment after each stage though.

MalMonroe

If your dentist has carried out an examination - band 1 - and then recommended treatment from Bands 2 and 3 you should have been given a dental plan, which the dentist should have discussed with you, as per this link -

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/what-happens-when-you-visit-the-dentist/

All the relevant costs should have been explained to you.

But, if you think about it - another patient having exactly the same treatment as you but at different times would have to pay three separate charges. They would have to pay 1 plus 2 plus 3. So why should your case be different?

Have you discussed all this with your dentist? If not, you really should before any treatment starts.

I don't think anything smells fishy at all. If you're on a low income, you could apply online for Help with Health Costs, which include dental treatment. They are quite quick to respond.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme

brook2jack2

What normally happens if you have a problem you are seen and charged for an emergency appointment which is a stand alone charge and is the same as a band one charge (in England and Wales , different charges apply Scotland and NI). 

Then you have a band two treatment which includes root treatment . Most dentists will want to leave a period of time (three months or more) before crowning a root filled tooth (and not all root filled teeth are crowned) because root filling is a difficult treatment and is not 100% guaranteed to work . Hence at some time in the future you will need a band three treatment. 

Bod_1234

What sounds odd, I didn't ask for an emergency appointment. It wasn't causing me any pain, so any time would have been fine, so I'm a bit miffed why I am having to pay band 1 + band 2 + band 3.

If I need some work for a single problem, shouldn't it fit into a single band? How comes my single problem spans all 3 bands?

That said, I'm not surprised, NHS dentistry seems to be a very rare thing these days, and now it's all about trying to extract (pun intended) as much money from clients as possible, or convert them to private patients.

I'm tempted just to leave it, I really detest playing their game.

brook2jack2

The government has asked surgeries to prioritise people who are having problems and defer routine check ups . So if you waited until a routine check up was due you could have been waiting a very long time. 

To put it into context the cost of providing a band two root treatment will outweigh what the dental surgery gets for it . The files alone , which can  only be used once , can cost £35 , running a room in a cheap nhs surgery costs upwards of £140 an hour and a root treatment on a simple tooth will take a minimum of half an hour , on a multi rooted tooth a lot longer. Band two includes any other fillings that you need , check up and the X-rays necessary. In other words the dentist/practice is paying for you to have a root treatment. 

The reason why so many dentists are leaving the NHS is because it is getting impossible to make the figures add up. A newly qualified dentist will graduate owing around £60,000 to £80,000. They then have to pay the costs of working as a dentist eg around £5000 a year indemnity , £700 a year registration , cpd costs etc. So just to cover the costs of being a dentist , without paying anything off student loan or living costs , working at pace in an average practice the dentist will be working until April just to cover their fixed costs. Add to that most practices in the U.K. will not hit their government targets so most dentists/practices will have to pay money back for failing to hit targets even though they are working very hard. 

This is a system not fair to patients who can no longer find someone to treat them on the NHS or dentists and their teams taking the blame for a system they have no control over and which expects more and more for less and less. 

If a tooth needs a root treatment it is dead and is starting an abcess up. An abcess can cause severe pain and infection at any time. It really is in your best interests to get it sorted. 

Bod_1234

So the answer appears to be, just manipulate the system so the patient pays for all 3 bands. 

I think it's time to report this dentist, it feels they are working outside of the NHS rules.

How would I do such a thing?

silvercar

Bod_1234 said:

So the answer appears to be, just manipulate the system so the patient pays for all 3 bands. 

I think it's time to report this dentist, it feels they are working outside of the NHS rules.

How would I do such a thing?

Did you read the previous post? It’s not a system manipulation, it’s a necessary gap between different stages. You need an examination, you need a root filling and you may need a crown. 

The other option would be an extraction, which would avoid the need for a crown entirely.

in my area it is difficult if not impossible to find an NHS dentist who would do a root canal on the NHS and would instead refer you to a private endodentist. NHS dental services in the UK are patchy at best, in terms of finding a dentist and the treatment they offer.

Bod_1234

None of this was explained. I was told I WOULD need a crown, and that was an additional 282 quid.

If it's a WOULD, then it feels like I'm being fleeced, as it's 1 bit of work that has been spread out, so the dentist can charge for 3 separate visits.

Undervalued

Bod_1234 said:

None of this was explained. I was told I WOULD need a crown, and that was an additional 282 quid.

If it's a WOULD, then it feels like I'm being fleeced, as it's 1 bit of work that has been spread out, so the dentist can charge for 3 separate visits.

In which case you should "only" be charged the band 3 figure.

However, as Brook has said, there can be valid clinical reasons to leave a gap of 3 to 6 months before fitting a crown. If that is the case then yes you would pay band 2 now then a further band 3 figure if / when the crown is done. That is how the system works I'm afraid.

If the crown is done before it is certain that the root canal has been successful then you are taking a bit of a gamble. If it works out it saves you money, if it fails you have wasted the difference between band 2 and band 3 c. £220.

Undervalued

silvercar said:

Bod_1234 said:

So the answer appears to be, just manipulate the system so the patient pays for all 3 bands. 

I think it's time to report this dentist, it feels they are working outside of the NHS rules.

How would I do such a thing?

Did you read the previous post? It’s not a system manipulation, it’s a necessary gap between different stages. You need an examination, you need a root filling and you may need a crown. 

The other option would be an extraction, which would avoid the need for a crown entirely.

in my area it is difficult if not impossible to find an NHS dentist who would do a root canal on the NHS and would instead refer you to a private endodentist. NHS dental services in the UK are patchy at best, in terms of finding a dentist and the treatment they offer.

In which case they are breaking the rules and should be reported to the GDC! 

If the root canal is relatively straightforward and reasonably within the capabilities of a non specialist, it is a treatment the NHS provides. The fact that the dentist loses money hand over fist in doing it, as Brook regularly points out, is not the patient's problem! If they are not willing to stick to the rules then they should opt out of the NHS system, as is their right, and only accept private patients. Which, as I understand it, is exactly what Brook and Toothsmith have opted to do.