Dental nightmare > now told need root canal (no NHS dentists)

General_query

Hi, bit of a long one here....

[History] Was a paying NHS patient of a dental practice (for over 25 years) and was due to have last check up just before COVID started and it was cancelled, and as I was put on yearly check ups prior and never had problems wasn't worried I hadn't been seen since then, and when they reopened i could never get a check up and in June this year they shut down and didn't refer us to another dentist. 

Anyway, on Friday 13th (yes) I bit into a chocolate bar and crunch, something snapped on my back upper left tooth and it looked like half the tooth was missing. I managed the pain with Ibuprofen and paracetamol until i couldn't take the pain anymore. I was aware I now had no dentist and there were NONE in my area taking new NHS patients so at 8am on Thursday 19th October, rang the Greater Manchester Urgent Dental Care number.

I was told there were none in my area (no surprise to me) but they made me an appointment for one in the next town for 6pm later that day. Travelled and was seen by NHS staff (who apparently rent this dental surgery in the evenings for emergency work) and had a x-ray. Was told I could either have it extracted or root canal treatment. Didn't know what that was until he explained it. I opted for extraction but then he said its too complicated for him to do with the nerves and root next to the next tooth so he drilled into it, put in some "medicine" for the abcess and said he'd removed the nerve, then temporarily filled it and told me I need to have proper root canal in next month. I asked why couldn't he do root canal treatment and he said they don't on these urgent care emergency referral appointments. Sounds wrong to me. Anyway, not happy I asked reception for a price list (of the practice they were using at night) and nearly fainted at seeing it could be anything from £450+.

[This NHS emergency appointment and treatment was a one off £25.80 fee btw].

Thing is, the lady who went in before me ALSO came out saying she was told she needed root canal and she was also handed this practice's price list and card with a dentists name on and told to "ring her tomorrow". Coincidence or what?

Anyway, scared to death of having to (a) have this further treatment, and (b) having to find over £450+ for this to be done privately, thought I'd ask around on here.

It seems "root canal" on the NHS is £77, yet anything up of £450+ privately (minimum price) but there are NO NHS DENTISTS in my region, so I have to now find the money for private treatment "within the next month" the guy said as it's only a temp. filling.

So, am I being fobbed off? I was referred as an emergency patient from this NHS urgent care telephone system as I was in agony and no longer have a dentist yet the NHS dentist said he couldn't do an extraction so did this temp. fix and I now have to pay privately.

Sorry if this is so long winded, just feeling something's not right here.

And having trawled through the websites of at least 10 local dentists who can see me as a private patient, most want to charge me upwards of £90 for a one off new (private) patient appointment excluding x-rays, treatment etc.

Seems I can't avoid this and can't just walk in somewhere new and explain what the NHS dentist did and tell them "I need root canal on this tooth and don't need to pay you £95 upwards for a one off new patient appointment - for them to repeat yes you do need root canal, and it will cost £x amount, sign here" kind of thing.

My fault for not having check ups but through out most of this year they must have known they were shutting in the summer as they kept saying "emergency appointments only" when I tried to make a routine check up. 

Any opinions / advice please? Can't believe NHS dentistry has got this bad

Pain on my tooth doesn't really hurt much know after he did this clean, drain and temp fix., but I know I need it doing in the long run. Think paying £450+ for it to be done privately as opposed to £77 on the NHS hurts more than the procedure will do.

pseudodox

£450?  Hmm watch the + bit as that is actually cheap!  Be sure to get a definite quote.  You could be looking at almost £1000 which is what I paid 2 years ago.  I did not have any issues with having the referral from my NHS dentist of 40 years to a very reputable specialist private practice.  But the treatment cost put paid to holiday plans that year.

As I was referred I did not have to pay the initial private consultation fee as the 2 dentists liaise regularly over referrals, so it is a shame your orignal dentist closed down and you could not get a direct referral.  I also had the alternative choice of an extraction, which my own dentist again said he would not do as it was too complex.  His recommendation was to save the tooth with root canal treatment as it is a "working" molar and it's opposite one would be useless if I had a gap.  The alternative to RCT would be an implant after extraction, with the extraction also a private cost and an implant over £2000.  Sadly the NHS cannot pay enough to dentists to make it worth their while doing more complex work and I understand where he is coming from on this.  I get excellent care and preventative treatment/advice from my dentist who is strongly committed to this aspect of NHS work. The root canal treatment was professional & thorough - two long appointments and follow up check, with details and x-rays sent to my own dentist for my records.  The tooth has not been perfect as it feels strange but has been pain free.  The actual process resulted in several very painful days after the numbness of the first appointment wore off - I consumed a lot of painkillers - but apparently people are affected in very varying degrees of discomfort.

As you went for an emergency evening appointment then presumably that lady you saw had gone in for the same so maybe not surprising she came out with similar advice.  Doesn't sound like she was there for a routine check up.

Unfortunately the nation has a tooth health problem and we are all being slowly forced into the private market if we can find the money and face tooth loss and discomfort if we cannot.

welshdent

Just sto say the emergency dressing is absolutely the correct treatment. It wasnt wrong. The session is to get you out of pain and thats exactly what the treatment you had is to do. They absolutely will not do a full root canal procedure. It takes at least an hour and requires a lot of equipment, most of which wont be available. emergency clinics are block booked to get as many people in as possible in a session to alleviate pain. 

It doesnt sound like anything untoward with the other person having similar advice. It was an emergency clinic so it stands to reason you probably had similar issues, similar emergency treatments and have similar recommendations. 

Regards being given the same name. Most dentists in the area will know who the go to person is for certain treatments so they are  probably just trying to signpost you to someone they trust to do the work to a good standard. 

It is important not to think of it in terms of - NHS cheaper than private
The cost may not be irrelevant to you but to me as a dentist it is. What is important is having it done well by someone confident of achieving a good outcome with the necessary equipment. A root filling is a highly complex procedure and even the most well meaning of dentists often dont realise how complicated a tooth can be if they dont have microscopes etc. Even then they still throw us off. I have re done many root fillings that were "had a go at" by a coerced dentist who was cheaper but not equipped to manage it. Better to get it done right the first time. Speak to the dentist you are able to see. If they are happy then great. If not - take their recommendations.