Really confused re dentist charges - can anyone help?!

kelly2780

Hi this is my first post so apologies if it's not in the right place. A few years ago I had 2 root canal fillings done on my side teeth. Now recently I have noticed that they have both been getting darker over time and one of them is nearly black (yuk!). So I went to my dentist to see what could be done to whiten them, he took an x-ray and said I had an infection at the top of the root canal in both teeth and needed to see a dentist at my local hospital to have the gum cut and the infection removed after which he said he could fit crowns to make the teeth white again . So yesterday I went to the hospital and the surgeon there tells me I haven't got an infection, it is just opaque bone but he said if I am having crowns I will need the operation done but if I decide not to have crowns then he said it will be fine just to leave it even though I am getting mild toothache in the teeth. Now I still have no idea how much crowns are going to cost, does anyone know if this will be provided on the nhs? I think it is my old dentists fault that the teeth have gone dark because he messed up my root canal filling. If they won't do it on the nhs i'm guessing it will be hundreds to have crowns fitted privately. The dentist was also talking about implants, does anyone know if this is part of a crown or is it something else entirely different? Also while i'm on the subject of dentists my dh missed his appointment with the hygenist this week and has had a letter saying he will be charged £20 (half her fee of £40) for the missed 'private appointment'. Now we had no idea he was seeing her on a private basis. He is an nhs patient and the dentist told him he has gum disease and he has to see the hygenist reguarly to have his teeth cleaned. Is this not something the dentist can do? We really can't afford to pay that out every 6 months as well as dentists fees and now it looks as though we are going to have to pay £20 for his missed appt and another £40 for a new appt, so £60 in total just to have his teeth cleaned!!

Jennifer_Jane

Hi - you need to wait for Toothsmith to come along. Good luck with it all.
Jen

Toothsmith

But from the dental practice's point of view, they've only received £60 for £80 worth of time.

The time your hubby wasn't there, that chair and that hygienist, and her nurse were unproductive.

Had he cancelled, they would have had a chance to fill the slot.


Having said all that, it is pretty naughty for an NHS patient to be told that a treatment necessary for his dental health is only available privately.

Yes - the dentist could do it, or, as the facility of a hygienist is available at that practice, then it should be available where necessary for NHS patients.

This is quite a common dodge on the new NHS contract, and your dental department of the PCT would be interested to hear about it.

As to your root filings, dark teeth, crowns and hospital appointments: I really couldn't comment without seeing the teeth and x-rays.

It's true to say a well-done root filling shouldn't discolour too much if at all. But - there can be all sorts of difficulties which the dentist could of encountered which prevented him from doing an A1 job.

Having said that, if he felt he couldn't do it well, he should have offered a referal to a specialist endodontist.

These guys are private only though, and the root filling here would probably have set you back £4-700 per tooth.

So - you might well have just told him to soldier on and do his best anyway? He should have offered though.

As to not knowing how much anything is going to cost you - either you need to be a bit more proactive in the surgery, and ask the questions, or he needs to spend a bit more time explaining such matters to his patients.

Most likely, a bit of both though!

Good luck.