The Diary Room

[prettyxcool]

Need a second opinion!

I went to a new dentist last Sat for my toothache, an emergency appointment, only available for 10 minutes. They have just opened near me. I have not found a decent dentist after my dentist retired. She took an x-ray, which revealed a hairline crack in my tooth and asked me to rinse my mouth with salt water and floss more and take painkillers, and made another appointment for me to have a further check up a week later, that was yesterday, to see if she needed to drill into the offending tooth etc. The pain did go away after a few days, but the day before the appointment, half of my tooth fell out. It was a shame we could not have saved the tooth!

So yesterday, she gave me a temporary filling to fill the gap from the broken tooth, but unfortunately it has already fallen out today.

She also said I needed three root canal treatments and then a crown. Privately it is £150 for one, she says I need three, which is done by machine, rather than by hand on NHS. The metal crown with porcelain exterior privately is £450 which lasts 2-3 years, or go for the zirconium crown without metal for £200 more but lasts 5-10 years.

So on NHS root canal and metal crown for £219 and privately either £900 or £1100, dependent on the crown.
The prices are right: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcost ... r-2014.pdf

However, the way the dentist offered the NHS to me, is that I will get an inferior service! I know that dentists probably don't make much money with NHS but presumably, they should give the same quality of service whether NHS or private. However, what I feel a bit off putting was she made it like blackmail. I will not get the quality of service, if I don't p*y for it! But surely, if she signed the contract to do NHS treatment, then they are ethically bound to do that treatment to the best of her ability, regardless of payment method, thus, accordingly they cannot say they can do a better job if they were pa*d privately.

So I don't know. I don't feel I can trust her. She just seems to be all about the money. I just feel if I am p*ying such a large amount, then I would prefer to go to a specialist.

Nevertheless, she booked me an appointment for the treatment next week for half an hour, although I said I would need to think about which treatment to go for, either NHS or private. Presumably she already thinks I am going to go private, as I thought root canal treatments takes a very long time and longer then the half an hour she has booked for me, which implies she will use the faster machine method!

It seems all the good dentists have gone. Since my superb one retired yonks ago, I have not found a decent dentist who I can trust and feel I am getting the right service. I have always gone for NHS as I only needed routine check ups, but alas, my teeth are getting old I suppose. :-(

Anyway, anyone had experience with root canal treatments, privately or on NHS?

[asamaic]

Goodness, you poor thing.

I haven't had root canal treatment personally, but if you want another professional opinion, I have a dentist I trust and can recommend? Not right on your doorstep, but the practice is in zone 1, so it's not that far. Checked their site and they don't offer "endodontist root canal treatment" on the NHS, whatever that is, but they do offer "root canal treatment (if within the capability of our NHS general dentist)".

My dentist offers the same level of service on the NHS as he does privately, it's just the private treatments are cosmetic and/or use better materials. I always have an NHS check up, but I p*y privately for a hygienist appointment. There are some things you have to p*y for as the NHS only deems a limited number of treatments necessary, but I've always felt I get good service whether I'm p*ying NHS or private.

I absolutely hated my dentist three dentists ago. Given how complicated and expensive this is, my advice is to not get any work done if you don't trust her. Even if you end up p*ying the same elsewhere, it's worth having that piece of mind.

[raj101]

you can glean a lot from a dentist from their conversations and attitude. I would personally steer clear of one who displays attitude, they only seem to be a source of pain and wasted time and effort.

[steve9872]

PXC, you need to find a different dentist. This one didn't seem to realise that a hairline crack needs to be fixed at once (unless that was the plan) as all cracks spread and result in the tooth falling apart. Instead of a simple filling, you are now faced with serious (expensive) treatment.
You might consider going to a dental hospital and letting trainees work on you. They need the practice and will do their best as they won't be motivated by money.

[prettyxcool]

Exactly, steve9872, I was thinking the same. She saw the crack on my x-ray and sent me away to come back another day. If she had fixed it there and then, I would not have had to lose half of my tooth. Great minds, steve9872, I also looked at dental hospitals, but you have to be referred by a dentist.

Thanks asamaic, I too p*y for a hygenist, as hygenist does not come under NHS services. I love my hygenist, which was recommended to me, but she is based in Harley Street and not with any of the dentists I had in the past, because she works in a private dentist surgery and not NHS.

raj101, I am definitely going to another dentist, not to get a second opinion, but I want a dentist who practices not for monetary gain, but who wants to look after my teeth first, whether NHS or private.

In my research, I saw this campaign - saving teeth awareness campaign http://www.savingteeth.co.uk/
I wish all dentist were aware of this!

I have a couple of options which I am going to explore and will revert and let you know how I get on. From the beginning, I am quite happy to go with NHS. From my research, a dentist says in a forum, that doing root canal by hand is still preferred by some dentists, so for my soon to be ex-new dentist to say that it is not the best treatment, and I should p*y privately to get done by machine is better, is misleading me.

[akh43]

Just finished a long course at a NHS dental hospital after being referred by my dentist for a tooth that had a failed root canal and he felt it was far too complex to be done by him on NHS as it was the tooth right at the back. It was a long waiting list once the initial assessment was over, but once I got started then they reassessed again and finished doing much more work than I was initiallyreferred for. The dept I went to was specifically aimed at trying to keep my teeth and restoring them. All my previous root canas/crowns had been done when I was pregnant, so had been in place for between 23-26 years so they have lasted quite well considering. In all I had 4 root canals (all done by hand and this was a dentist who had been in the profession for years and was being trained as a specialist in restoration), 4 new crowns, they replaced a tooth I had taken out in my early 20's so that my teeth looked better and I had a better bite and even did a filling that had occurred whilst I was in the course of my treatment. It was a long road, I was going on and off for over a year, but now finshed.

I think you should go elsewhere as dentists can vary greatly. Hope you find a better dentist to do the work you required.

[prettyxcool]

Thanks akh43

Well I went to the urgent dental clinic near me this morning.

They only operate NHS and they were so nice. Unfortunately, I could not get an x-ray done, as I was gagging each time he tried, and he tried 3 times. But apparently, I had no infection as far as he can see, my gums were fine and it is not necessary to have root canal treatment, just needed a filling or a crown. So he cleaned my tooth, and put a temporary filling in which he said was strong and I could eat straightaway, and also did something so the broken teeth was not sharp on my tongue. The ex-new dentist did not do this, she just gave me a temporary filling which I can feel, told me to refrain from eating for an hour, and it fell out the next day as I said.

Unfortunately, you cannot register with them as they only do urgent treatment, I still have to find another dentist to follow up.. and they cannot recommend or refer me to any.

[ejwrank]

At least you now have time to find a good dentist, pxc. a Hope you find the right one this time and not a money-grabbing one like the one who tried to take advantage of you when you were in such a state.

[akh43]

Thanks akh43

Well I went to the urgent dental clinic near me this morning.

They only operate NHS and they were so nice. Unfortunately, I could not get an x-ray done, as I was gagging each time he tried, and he tried 3 times. But apparently, I had no infection as far as he can see, my gums were fine and it is not necessary to have root canal treatment, just needed a filling or a crown. So he cleaned my tooth, and put a temporary filling in which he said was strong and I could eat straightaway, and also did something so the broken teeth was not sharp on my tongue. The ex-new dentist did not do this, she just gave me a temporary filling which I can feel, told me to refrain from eating for an hour, and it fell out the next day as I said.

Unfortunately, you cannot register with them as they only do urgent treatment, I still have to find another dentist to follow up.. and they cannot recommend or refer me to any.

At least you have now had a second opinion and it looks like a better diagnosis, you have had a temporary fix and you now have time to look for a good NHS dentist. Hopefully someone you know can recommend one close to you.

[Sunny Saver]

What a nightmare Pxc. Problem with dental hospital is that even if you do get a referral it doesn't mean they'll do the root canal.

I can only recommend two dentists not to go to. OH goes to one near me as a private patient. I think it does NHS too. He says they are quite good. Would you like me to find out their details?