Root canal treatment

I've had root canal treatment twice as well. Both done by my dentist, painless and no problems down the line. It was quite expensive though.

I don't know what you need it, but in my case I was advised by my dentist I needed it for 2 teeth that the gums are receding on (causing awful toothache), however, I have Fibromyalgia and I can't hold my mouth open for a long time or my jaw locks, so I couldn't have the treatment as it is lengthy. Instead, she advised me to use gum and enamel protection toothpaste and she applied two dental varnishes over the exposed root parts. 6 months later it's doing fine.

Waterloosunset

Gosh NotSpaghetti, that’s cheap! In London? Thx

No. The Midlands. But of course it's a "from" price.

Most recent root canal treatment was just over a year ago. Done by a specialised dentist at my surgery who only does rc treatment. Cost over £1000. It is a very lengthy process - nearly an hour with my mouth wide open! Tooth absolutely fine now. Good luck!

These are my local BUPA prices:

Root canal (front teeth) From £513.00
Root canal (back teeth) From £834.00

NHS root canal treatment is £73.50 regardless of front/back.

This is the same charge as an extraction - but obviously takes much much longer!

I have had to have several root canal treatments. The extra complex ones were done by an endodontist, but my own dentist did the others. I have teeth with roots like spaghetti which causes problems.

BlueBelle

Years ago I had root canal but just with the ordinary NHS dentist never heard of an endodontist sounds like a made up name to justify charging you more

No, it's not a made up name, endodontists do exist!!

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories. I really appreciate your input. I have much to chew on 😆

I've had root canal on the NHS with no bother. Can't recall the cost but not expensive. My dentist has now gone private. I had a rc 3 months ago. My private insurance with this dentist gave me 10% off the full cost and I paid £400. It became complex. The nerves were also like spaghetti like pp, they also would not freeze. Thus it was very painful and had to be spread over 3 appointments. It took him the 3 appointments to remove all of the fine roots that were meandering at will. Each appointment was one hour. As long as it freezes ok, all will be good. If it had frozen it could have been completed at the first appointment.
I'm sure my dentist was sorry he had quoted me just £400.

My dentist in South Buckinghamshire referred me to an endodontist. For two root canal treatments I paid about £1,500

<ex dentist here>
The difference between a general dental practitioner and an endodontist is that the endodontist will have undertaken post-graduate, specialist training in endodontics (root canal treatment) at their own expense and they will also have invested many thousands of £s in special equipment to enable them to carry out complex procedures. This, as well as the surgery time needed to carry out these procedures, is reflected in the cost of such treatments.

The title of endodontist can only be used by a dentist who has completed specialist training and is not, as one ignorant poster suggested, simply a ploy to charge patients more money.

Some root canal treatments, usually in front teeth, are straightforward and well within the competence of a general dentist.

Others, with multiple curved canals, as is often the case with molar teeth, are not.

Hope that helps.

My previous dentist, a private one, had a master's degree in root canal treatment. He was wonderful and I had several done before I had to move south. On a visit to New Zealand, I had an abscess and had to have root canal work done. In considerable pain, I didn't think to ask about the dentist's qualifications, but she did an excellent job and charged about a third of the cost of treatment in England. Now I have an NHS dentist. I am not sure what post graduate qualifications he has.