Is there any major difference between getting a root canal treatment done by a private practitioner vs a specialist? Specialists are usually about £200 more but if the treatment is done privately would that not negate the risks typically associated with an NHS root canal treatment?


2 comments

  1. Hey, private general dentist here. I would absolutely recommend going to the specialist – the difference in skill, experience and equipment is enormous. For that extra £200, they’ll be doing the whole thing under a microscope with 20 x magnification, whilst we would be squinting in the back of a scratched mirror + it’s a procedure they will have done thousands of times, vs hundreds for us. It could easily be the difference between the tooth surviving another 5 years or 30 years.

    And I say this all as someone with a strong financial incentive to do the treatment myself. I only ever recommend general dentists doing the root canal treatment if there’s no other option available.

  2. I had a root canal in 2022, and the private dentist told me that the process could fail requiring a removal of the tooth and an implant being the only option, but that the risk of this outcome was significantly lower with a specialist. However, I stuck with the private dentist, and it has been fine.

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