Dentists refusing to do costly treatments?

I’m sorry but not all endodontic treatments should be done by a general dentist , many have to be referred to a specialist endodontist , and a general dentist will be deemed negligent if they attempt a root treatment that is too complex.

There is a tool to assess complexity https://britishendodonticsociety.org.uk/professionals/bes_case_assessment_tool.aspx and it takes into account many factors from medical history to curvature of canals , access , how badly tooth is broken down etc .

If the dentist is refusing to do treatment that's offered on the NHS they are breaking the rules. If they refuse to budge, contact your local ICB.

The op has an infected tooth. That is a Debra emergency. The dentist should be offering a root canal as a band 3 treatment. It is available on the NHS and is not specialised dentistry.

I’ve had exactly the same thing - also an NHS patient with BUPA. I ended up paying for a root canal at the endodontist as I didn’t want to lose the tooth unnecessarily

But presumably the nhs dentist is treating this?

I think there may be a communication problem here. Loosing a tooth anywhere in the mouth will not cause other teeth to become loose or “weaken” them. Once teeth are formed nothing weakens them except acid produced from sugar or the stomach.

Teeth do move even if you don’t have teeth on t. They move forwards naturally (mesial drift) and it’s why many peoples lower front teeth look more crooked as time goes by.

The 111 service is an emergency service to get people out of pain/infection. They will not provide routine dentistry or complex dentistry like root treatments, bridges etc . It’s not what the service is for. People in genuine emergency need struggle enough to get appointments etc without inappropriate use of the line.

In an ideal world, you're obviously right. In reality, many people I know can't get an NHS dentist, despite having paid a fortune in taxes, so at least you and I are luckier than many as we have one.

They do both, bit we are NHS

What happens is that your other teeth will, over time, start shifting to fill the gap and this may cause them to become loose and it will ruin your bite, which will in turn cause a different set of problems!

Ask me how I know!

<—————- Victim of shoddy dentistry as a teen. Paying for it now!

It doesn't have to be...

15 years ago I had two crowns done on the NHS. Porcelain fused to metal because they were for my front teeth. I think they ended up costing me 200 pounds.

I have since moved to the Netherlands and my Dutch dentist was very surprised at the crowns because they are functional, but they have an ugly black rim and the colour match isn't great. The Dutch have stopped using that type of crown in the 90s apparently for aesthetic reasons.

I am actually very grateful for my British crowns. I was a student at the time without any spare cash. They have functioned well for 15 years, whilst they are not the prettiest they still look good enough. I feel that is what NHS dentistry should be like. Functional with basic aesthetics.

Where I live now I have to pay for my dentistry, I wish I had access to my NHS dentist from 15 years ago!

People need to get on monthly dental plans. Mine is £18.00 per month, I get emergency appointments usually within a day, 2 checkups, 2 Hygienists, 2 xrays a year. Discount on treatments and they offer interest free finance. We cannot keep relying on the NHS sadly.

I love my NHS dentist. She does everything covered under NHS including bridges and crowns. It took a long time to find her. It's wrong that these services are not available to all.

I recently had a root canal treatment on the NHS. Seems very unfair that that's not available to everyone.

And yes, I agree with PP that underfunding is the problem.

Having a gap in your mouth is not good, it can lead to teeth shifting and bone loss which can lead to pain and functional bite problems later in life. I have just been through an extensive braces and orthognatic surgery process to avoid my bite problems getting worse. I would do everything to avoid having this again.

No wonder British people have a reputation for having bad teeth as the accepted wisdom on this thread seems to be that just extracting teeth is good enough.

My friend damaged their two front bottom
teeth In an accident. They found An nhs dentist to look at them and they were going to take them out. I said go private for a second opinion and they saved the teeth for about 150 quid. Always get a second opinion.

What issues do you think an extraction would cause?

As PP said, the NHS is not for cosmetic dental work.

If you are an nhs patient they should be providing all the services. I have an nhs dentist and have just had a crown fitted with a band 3 treatment price. I would be contacting 111 and asking for an out of hours dental appointment to get your nhs treatment.

At the practice I go to they have a revolving door of NHS dentists, usually recently qualified dentists or newcomers that never stay longer than a few months, just get a text cancelling check ups and told to keep checking if a new one has taken a room.They insist they offer "all" NHS funded treatments but in reality don't offer root canals or crowns. They can advise you need to seek a private root canal and they will crown privately as it is "not clinically necessary" for them to perform it as an extraction is available on NHS or can say it is a complex case, hence an endodontist referral. Basically, in my area IF you can get an NHS dentist, you get a very quick10 minute check up, amalgam fillings ( or white at front) and extractions. You have to pay them privately for other white fillings etc. No polish or scale, just see Hygienist £85+.

It's so expensive , a root canal with an endondontist is £100 consult plus £980 no guarantee and then £900+ for the crown with the dentist plus the cost of the dentist check up. NHS Dentistry has gone backwards, they need a huge change in the contracts with dentists. The dentist loses money doing root canals and crowns. Also, they have to juggle how many "units" of treatment they can offer in a session or risk not being paid by the NHS

Why? I've had to have a few teeth extracted but I was never told of this causing any other potential issues.