She basically told me she could try to fill the two holes in my tooth to try and save it but it wasn’t guaranteed. I went for that option but she also told me a root canal may be necessary if the pain persists but she straight up said since it’s a back molar I would need to go to a private dentist due to the difficulty of it and estimated it would cost £800.
I didn’t question it but I feels really weird an NHS dentist wouldn’t/couldn’t do that job and is telling me to go elsewhere. Just wondering if this is normal practice and if anyone has differing or similar experiences. My dad also told me to think about going to Turkey to get it done if needed.
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They shouldn’t say “we can only do that privately” but if it’s a referral then may be ok. Some root canals are too complex for general dentistry.
And the cost for that’s about right.
NHS dentists are there now just to do the basics. Also remember this, that the best dentists tend to go private.
The last NHS dentist I had said that the root canal I needed was unlikely to succeed. He had already messed up some other work I had done, so I decided to go private. The private dentist said that the root canal would not be a problem and would succeed. I know prices vary depending on location, but my private dentist charged me £470 for a molar root canal
My uncle is in the same position. He needs a root canal but it is a complicated case. So his dentist said he couldn’t do it and referred him to a privately. It will cost about 1000 total.
My NHS dentist will do root canal on a front tooth (i had a canine done recently) but wont do molars.
Back molar, had similar problem myself, filled, went away for the weekend and pain came back worse than ever. My dentist advised me to have it pulled, not worth spending the money on a tooth I wouldn’t miss and has no cosmetic value. He was right
You can get it done on the NHS however an undercover news program a few years ago reported that Dentists were persuading people to go private for this treatment. Some of the Dentists gave the excuse that their Budget for this work had ran out so patients had to go private.
I do not know how accurate this situation is at present however.
Heard this before. Guy’s NHS dentist said they wouldn’t even attempt it and would just pull the tooth so he ended up paying around £900 for the root canal privately.
When I needed a root canal
The nhs dentist told me they wouldn’t do it as it was too hard, they would only pull the tooth. It’s not worth their time to do or on nhs rates.
I found a private dentist to fix it
My experience is from around 12 years ago but the NHS dentist I saw initially refused to examine me unless I had been on a 2 week antibiotic course that he couldn’t prescribe because he had lost his last prescription pad and the pharmacy downstairs wouldn’t accept his professional stationary any more!
When I asked about a root canal treatment, he immediately said it could not be done as an NHS patient but he could remove the offending tooth and replace it with a permanent post and false tooth!! All for around £2k and without even looking in my mouth!!
I found my previous dentist who had since gone private and was able to get an appointment the next day. He was able to do the root canal, insert a ceramic post to stabilise the tooth and no crown was needed, all for £700. The tooth is still intact today and I have never been near an NHS dentist since.
I don’t think root canal is routinely done due to the time it takes – it’s not really covered in the banding. ☹️
I had the same conversation with my dentist last week. He said they didn’t have the necessary equipment to do that difficult a procedure at an NHS facility but I was estimated £900 by him if I were to go to a private practice.
If my temporary medicated filling(that would allow a proper filling, since I could still feel him removing my old filling after 3 injections) fails, which I can already see a crack after 4 days then he said two options, privafe root canal or extraction.
Bye bye back molar 😂👋
Obviously doesn’t apply to every dentist, but anecdotally you’ll want to go private for this complex of a procedure. I think in this case the dentist has your best interest in mind – had they pushed for you to do it privately with them specifically that’s a different story. They’re not really meant to outright say NHS treatment is worse vs private, but they can get the point across.
Same as other commenters; I had a tricksy tooth that needed a root canal and my dentist said it was out of his expertise area and to save the tooth it would be better if I went to a specialist dentist who just does difficult root canals, and he referred me. So I think that’s quite normal [particularly if she took xrays and saw that the work would need a specialist.]
Price is steep but about right for root canal privately. Check out the one she refers you to online, find out as much as you can about them.
Find a different dentist and report your current one.
they’re in direct violation of NHS rules which state they must undertake all non-cosmetic work at NHS rates.
They can’t cherry-pick ‘difficult’ teeth not to work on etc.
And if they’ve done this to you, chances are they’re taking only the easy work.
Would you rather lose £800 or your tooth?
Your NHS dentist gets paid by the tax payer either way, and they’re probably just trying to look out for you.
As painful as it is, there are so many more advantages going private where you can, especially for things like ENT and Dental work. It’s like 10% of the waiting time relative to NHS waiting time, and you get twice the expertise (as private practice attracts the most talented practitioners).
When I had a root canal problem it crossed the line between dentistry and surgery, so my dentist sent me to a specialist dental surgeon to sort it. This was years ago, but I remember having to pay for it, or at least contribute towards the cost.
Literally the same thing happened to me but it was a guy and he said I would have to find a private dentist to do it he could only prescribed antibiotics.
Did they say “you’ll have to pay us privately” – ask why, is this not covered by NHS?
Or “you’ll have to go to another dentist privately”? – ask why, are you being referred to a specialist?
Root canals are tricky and may require the work of a specialist, same for retreatments.
NHS dental cover may not cover exactly what you need.
And dentists are not obliged to perform all kinds of treatments.
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BEFORE you choose root canal, have your dentist/whomever is going to perform it talk it through with you thoroughly.
Make sure it’s the right option for you.
You could spend a lot of money on a tooth that continues to give you trouble, like mine does.
shot in the dark but i wonder whether a lot of nhs dentists are quite young and new, perhaps most move private after a few years experience once they realise how good the money is. i have known a private dentist work 3 days a week and earn 6 figures a year so the pull is huge.
i would not have much faith if my own dentist was suggesting i went private for what shoudl be a relatviely routine procedure on the nhs.
i have had a small amount of experience, i had a tooth extract that the local dentist just couldnt do, was referred to local dental hospital, turns out my tooth was fused to my jaw but they were well prepared for it and had it out in 45 minutes, perhaps you could ask them to refer you
Nope, ours sent us private for anything they don’t have much experience in.
My guess is they’re probably so short staffed and under-resourced that they’re taking orders from someone in management to abandon anything that’ll take too long, so as to fit in more appointments
Should be referring you to an NHS practice with someone who is qualified then. I’ve had two root canal over the years at an NHS dentist which were fine. Had a difficult extraction requiring a dental surgeon so was referred to their practice and they did it , again under the NHS.
It’s normal for an awkward job. I had similar with a procedure where they had to pull the gum up and repair a root canal from the top through the bone.
The dentists I saw said that it was a difficult job and beyond there expertise. I was eventually referred to my local dental hospital who did a bang up job.
Did the dentist say “the only option is root canal and that would be have to be private”? Or did they say “it’s root canal or extraction and if you want the former it will have to be private”? I’ve had the latter a lot, especially for back teeth.
Hi Dental Nurse here
Saying for you to go private for the root treatment factors in a couple of things I can think of off the top of my head. It’s likely they will be sending you to a dentist who specialises in root canal treatments and usually that can only be done privately. The dentist who has seen you will have factored in what tooth it is at the back, if it’s a wisdom tooth or not, how curved the roots of the teeth are and the likely hood of the root canal working and if the roots have become calcified therefore making it harder to get the root treatment files in. Most of this information can be found in an x-ray that the dentist should have taken.
If it’s a wisdom tooth it might be a better option to get it taken out because root treatments can fail in wisdom teeth more often than any of the other teeth
The problems with endodontic treatment is that NHS does not pay for it. If you need a root canal treatment on one of you molars, it can take 2+ hours of surgery time, cost of consumables £120-£150 (single use endo files + materials) plus all other cost of running the surgery. Extraction takes 20-30 minutes with minimal consumables.
Source: NHS dentist for 16 years with cerificate in endodontics
Look, they can try, but they are not experts at this work. They are telling you that they think it’s worth going to a specialist for this type of work, as the chance of it being successful is higher. Its up to you, but when I was in that situation a few years ago, I went to a specialist and was happy I did
Fyi, private rates also vary between specialists – make sure you know the costs of different options up front
I don’t think it’s that uncommon, it’s happened with my NHS dentist. They’ve told me they can attempt the root canal for the standard NHS fee, but it has a 30% success rate. Alternatively, I can be referred to a specialist endodontist. They’ve told me it would cost £500 though so maybe you can shop around privately and refer yourself.
NHS dentistry needs major reform, I don’t get why we exclude one part of the body like that. Fair enough for cosmetic stuff but most people would not be able to afford £800 for the above essential procedure. My personal experience is that I tried to book repeatedly for a check up. I had several appointments booked which were then cancelled a few days before as ‘we don’t have the capacity to do NHS work at the moment’ even though you can guarantee the same dentist was in taking private patients. I offered to pay m just for the check up at the same practice, to be told if I did that then I would be removed their NHS list. I tried 2 years to get an NHS dentist appointment, then one day received a letter saying they as I hadn’t had an appointment with them in over 2 years they were assuming I no longer needed their services!