Dental costs are so high

Why won't your dentist do the root canal? There cannot be any infection in the tooth or the root canal if he has put on a crown!

He sounds pretty useless to me, as any time I have needed a root canal ( I have had three done at different times) whichever dentist I went to, did them as a matter of course.

Do get a second opinion and an estimate from another dentist immediately.

MayBee70

A friend of mine still has a NHS dentist but was advised to have her treatment done privately as she wouldn’t have the work done to a high enough standard if she had it done as an NHS patient. Although I had a check up the other day I wasn’t offered the usual scrape and polish that I usually have. Although, to be fair maybe that’s an annual thing and I may have had it done last time ( I was relieved, to be honest, because. I always seem to lose a filling after a a scrape and polish!). I dread to think how many mouth cancers are going to be missed because people aren’t having check up and heart disease is sometimes linked to bad dental hygiene. It’s such a false economy. I also know of a private dentist whose practice was taken over by a larger concern and he moved to another practice because the standard he was expected to work to after the takeover was far too low.

The dentist basically told her that they shoddy work if it's for NHS patients!? I'd be out of there like a shot! One way to make more money, I guess. "Yes we can do it, but unless you pay a lot more we won't do it as well"! 🤦‍♂️

i recently had a private root canal done £925,daylight robbery i am having the crown done with my nhs dentist. the so called 'health professionals' have been highjacked by greed, look at the similarities with vets, we seem to follow the usa.
My tooth was near the front of my smile the option was a denture or a £3k implant! The whole situation has made me reassess my teeth, in future it is a denture! root canals can last years but then they are a dead tooth in your mouth and should we have many of those? i think not.There was a recent controversial film on netflix about root fillings which was removed, why?

our dentist recently went private cos there were problems with the NHS contract, there just wasn't another in town despite writing to my MP and checking the website often. I managed to get one in Oxford eventually & luckily I'm retired and can drive the 60 miles each way required but I really feel for people who can't and resort to diy dentistry. I can't wait to vote this awful gov't out

Can anyone advise on how much private dental treatment on something like Denplan would cost (roughly) for a 70 year old female? Thanks.

The trouble is, nobody seems to want to become a dentist or a nurse or a carer or a nursery worker these days. They all want to be 'influencers' or footballers or think they can make a fortune by posting a TikTok video. Maybe all gransnetters ought to start brainwashing our grandchildren so that the next generation don't suffer in the same way. Or maybe everything will be done by AI? Robot dentists, anyone??

Grannyjacql my husband pays I think around £16 per month and that entitles him to 2 checkups and a clean per year, anything else you pay for

I “bit” the bullet and changed to a private dentist at the end of covid when I had difficulty obtaining a nhs appointment at my pre covid practice. Plus, when I did get an emergency appointment at the original, I had a broken tooth, lost crown etc needing treatment. The dentist (never seen before) said the tooth needed to come out. OK. Went for the appointment and … he couldn’t do it! Took part of it out and admitted he couldn’t. No referral, no advice. Rang a private dentist, who say me immediately. Was horrified that a qualified dentist couldn’t complete the work and had the tooth out within minutes. No fuss, no pain, so kind and caring. It won me over. I’ve always needed treatment but always attended regularly. Decided to invest in my mouth and fifteen months later, 18 appointments, now have a beautiful smile I’m proud of and have remained pain free for 18 months. Now have a Denplan. Yes, more than I would have wanted to pay. Yes, luckily I could afford the initial treatment, Yes, I feel much less anxious every time I visit.
My real worry is children’s teeth. There is no school dentist any more and around here it is extremely difficult to find a nhs dentist even for children. I know as I’m a volunteer for Healthwatch and we have been investigating this and reporting back to the Government etc.

spabbygirl

Grannyjacql my husband pays I think around £16 per month and that entitles him to 2 checkups and a clean per year, anything else you pay for

I pay £16 pm and for that I get 2 cleans and 2 checkups per year and 10% off treatments

I used to have lots of dental problems (gum pockets - yeuk!) until I started oil pulling. It's an ancient Ayurvedic technique where you take a teaspoonful of coconut oil or olive oil in your mouth and swish it about for a few minutes, then spit it in the bin. The oil collects any bacteria so you're cleaning your whole mouth. Much gentler and more efficient than flossing etc. My dentist noticed a difference and just keeps saying "Carry on". If I ever have toothache, I just swish longer. You'll probably feel like gagging the first time but you get used to it and it's worth it.

You're absolutely right*Grannyjacq1*, dentistry certainly isn't a job young people are keen to go into - nothing glamorous about looking into peoples mouths! It's not just the actual dental work - My 29 year old niece is a dentist & the stories she tells about the behaviour of some of her patients is awful. One of the biggest problems is the current "blame culture", every kind of treatment has to be thought about & weighed up very carefully & she pays out a huge percentage of her salary in insurance against being sued. She worked in a very swanky area of London and she hated it, the well to do clients were very difficult to deal with. She is now job hunting outside the capital and she could go anywhere she wants, there are so many vacancies.

Grannyjacql i pay £30 a month for my denplan insurance. This includes 2 check ups with dentist per year and any treatment and fillings (ive had a bridge this last year, couple of root extractions, xrays, same day emergency appointment) 4 dental hygienist visits. The practice was nhs but became private about 12yrs ago so i was a patient. I like knowing if anything happens i can get seen straight away. Sadly weve no nhs dentists within 30miles. Sad state of what UK is rapidly becoming. GP wise here is a disgrace not permitted to make any appointments the only response available is to use/abuse the 111 service. I genuinely think government want to privatise that too.

Primrose53

MayBee70

A friend of mine still has a NHS dentist but was advised to have her treatment done privately as she wouldn’t have the work done to a high enough standard if she had it done as an NHS patient. Although I had a check up the other day I wasn’t offered the usual scrape and polish that I usually have. Although, to be fair maybe that’s an annual thing and I may have had it done last time ( I was relieved, to be honest, because. I always seem to lose a filling after a a scrape and polish!). I dread to think how many mouth cancers are going to be missed because people aren’t having check up and heart disease is sometimes linked to bad dental hygiene. It’s such a false economy. I also know of a private dentist whose practice was taken over by a larger concern and he moved to another practice because the standard he was expected to work to after the takeover was far too low.

Scale and Polish is a thing of the past MaryBee70. They stopped doing these on the NHS many years ago. You now have to book to see a hygienist which costs about £80.

I got a scale and polish done on my last visit to the dentist, and that was NHS.

LilCatMom I had what I thought was appaling dental pain (which after a year of trotting to and fro from my dentist - who could find nothing wrong..... was found to be was trigeminal neuralgia and I wouldn't wish that on anyone).

Oragel was recommended to me by several friends. There is a very strong variety and apparently it can dull the agony of dental pain. You may want to try it.

Secondly, buy some dispersible aspirin. Let it dissolve in water then swill it around the affected tooth.

Thirdly dissolve table salt in water and also swill it around the tooth.

Fourthly, buy some cloves and put the clove on to the gum of the affected tooth. Your mouth should keep it in place. Replace the clove every few hours.

Clove oil can be bought and rubbed in to the gum.

You could also try rubbing in sensitive toothpaste which can help but maybe your pain is too great for this to be effective.

The next piece of information may be out of date but dental hospitals are sometimes attached to general hospitals. It is just possible that they may see you as a 'walk-in' but things have changed in the NHS over the past few years.

I would hope that at least some of the above may help with your pain and I hope that you are able to see a dentist very soon.

I’m in process of having my first denture fitted with about 6 teeth….. it’s costing just under £1,000 NHS…as having a very awkward palatte I was told a metal plate would be better than plastic …. few people ( oldies) in family have plastic ( awful) but the metal ones gets a tremendous thumbs up! Difference in price is about £600….how can that be!?

Although I’m entitled to free treatment on the nhs, I have opted to go with Denplan as I have a very complicated denture that needs constant attention and I was unable to access the treatment satisfactorily on the nhs.

Now, if I have a problem or want to be seen by my very efficient and polite long time dentist, I only have to pick up the phone and ask.
He opted to go private some years ago, like many others.

Well worth the money if you can afford it,

I think it’s the time constraint on NHS work that’s the problem

Not sure what you mean by this, Maybee.

My husband gave an interview to the local paper about 35 years ago saying that Governments were trying to privatise dentistry by the back door. Governments of all persuasions have ignored the findings of the review bodies on pay for nhs dentists and have also messed about with the contracts.

I assume that the rate per new patient consultation and emergency check up or procedure is higher than for one long procedure kittylester. I had a brilliant dentist, who did everything, but he retired during lockdown. I’m still NHS, but the new dentists don’t do complex procedures like root canals. It must be very unsatisfactory as a job role, so the turnover has increased too. I don’t think they can make an NHS practice pay unless they work in this way.

kittylester

^I think it’s the time constraint on NHS work that’s the problem^

Not sure what you mean by this, Maybee.

My husband gave an interview to the local paper about 35 years ago saying that Governments were trying to privatise dentistry by the back door. Governments of all persuasions have ignored the findings of the review bodies on pay for nhs dentists and have also messed about with the contracts.

I’ll ask my friend when I see her why her dentist advised her to pay for her treatment even though she was a NHS patient. I can only assume that a dentist is losing the money they could be charging a private patient during the time that they’re treating someone on the NHS.

LilCatMom, I work in dentistry as a hygienist. Some root canal work can be complicated especially in molars due to many roots , so many dentists refer to an endodontist which can be costly . Firstly because most are private and have undergone further training after qualifying. Secondly root canal is done in two visits, which can take 45 minutes to an hour . The first is to clean out the canals , the second to fill them as the canals have to be free of infection prior to filling .
You can be referred to a dental hospital for root canal but may have a long wait but will be free .
Many nhs dentists will only do basic root canal partly due to time constraints and that they’re confident to do basic ones .
Sorry it’s not what you want to hear. The alternative to paying privately is extraction .
Regarding your pain take whatever pain relief you use and try and get an emergency appointment with your dentist . Nhs dentists have to provide emergency slots.
You could have an abscess which will just need antibiotics.
Good luck

If dentists and doctors train here, they should be made to do nhs work for at least 5 years. As for the dentist leaving you in pain it’s a disgrace. I paid a £1000, privately for root canal work, that failed, it was tortuous, the tooth had to be removed, now I’ve a gap.
I would pay privately and have it removed, root canal work is a gamble as you get older, there should be no difference in the quality of work between a nhs and private treatment but tgere is, they should be regularly inspected to see it is.

I’ve been with my dentist 17yrs and few months ago received a letter saying no longer accepting Nhs patients gone private and moving within 3 months my check was due in sept cant get a new one as no one in area taking any patients I’ve Reg with one I’m 900 on the list

I had a root canal filling done years ago on a tooth that looked unlikely to be saveable. At the time my tooth was worth more than my car. I went back to my NHS dentist to have it crowned. which saved me quite a lot of money.I don’t think many dentists would have been able to save it and I had to travel quite a way to see him. There’s no way that I can afford my partners private dentist. Even check ups cost a fortune.

Ive got a temporary crown at the moment, having a permanent one soon...excruciatingly £800.

During the pandemic and being CEV I could not go to my dentist so I was taken off their list. I have now found a new dentist he is private but very good. The initial consultation with x rays was £80. He then did a deep scale and polish and carried this out by doing one quarter of my mouth at a time for £25 each and I had a filling today for £55. I bruise very easily and after one clean had severe bruising and he has been so good and gives me a different type of injection (not sure what) and I do get back to normal slowly (think I am strange) My son has just had 2 wisdom and 4 other teeth out as the wisdom teeth were growing into his jaw and that cost £3200 and he may need implants at £2500. It is shocking what we have to pay for dental treatment.