Dentists refusing to do costly treatments?

No you wouldn’t . You can try to refer a patient for endodontics (root treatment) but it is extremely unlikely they will be accepted as priority groups such as head and neck cancer patients are given priority for the limited amount of treatment available . https://livheadandneck.co.uk/assets/downloads/referral-guidelines-updated-updated-jan-2020.pdf

No , a tiny minority of dentists have been influenced by discredited quacks such as Weston Price and Mercola and social media posts and a netflix film with no scientific evidence . The vast,vast,vast majority of dentists are of the opinion rooted in treatment is a valuable way of saving teeth.
quackwatch.org/related/holisticdent/

Same here! Ive had two crowns put in recently and im glad I have a nice dentist, he normally goes over his allocated time to make sure he doesn't hurt me as I have microstomia.

Makes me appreciate my dentist even more reading about people's very low expectations. Maybe they expect poorer people to be toothless and thankful of it.

If it is not too complex then NHS dentistry will provide simplest treatment to secure dental health but on most of the treatment your dentist will be losing money because what the NHS pays will not even cover the expenses in providing treatment the average root treatment and crown loses the practice £21 . https://www.bda.org/media-centre/nhs-dentistry-treasury-now-no1-roadblock-to-saving-service/

private treatment subsidises NHS treatment and keeps the lights on in a practice because the NHS does not pay enough for most things .

I am well aware. My dentist discusses this with me but I have known him a very long time and he continues to treat me. I am extremely grateful to have him.

The nhs is a postcode lottery if you haven't learnt this you're blessed.

I haven’t had an NHS dentist in the last twenty years, not my choice, none available. Pay £25 a month on a plan. Implant would be an additional cost.

So in which case you know that the NHS does not, actually , pay for these things , and your dentist has actually lost money providing them .

Oh stop it, root canals aren't cosmetic - NHS treatment is not and should not be just the barest minimum to keep you alive! I've had two root canals on back teeth and white fillings in the past too.

We need to revisit the dental contract so it's affordable for dentists to provide NHS care.

I recently had a look on the Find a Dentist tool (when ours stopped offering NHS treatment) - it showed over 5 around us, but when I rang them not a single one was taking NHS patients on.

You need to ask your dentist why the root canal treatment can’t be done on the nHS as it’s a valid treatment, will help save your tooth, and ( as long as the tooth is restorable) I would have thought ethically the right thing to do is try and conserve your dentition.

is there a specific reason? For example schlerosed canals, an extra micro canal , difficult long or curved roots. If it’s something like that, I would appreciate that a referral to a specialist endodontist would be required. But if it’s a straightforward root filling, why on earth is the dentist not doing it on the NHS?

na, it doesn’t add up. You should be offered this on the NHS

Being a dental nurse a few facts are very incorrect, firstly your dentist is absolutely correct never ever pop a filling onto an infected tooth. Second if a dentist feels after various x-rays and exams that the root filling would be pointless because the tooth is bad anyhow then yes the extraction would be offered. Should a dentist feel that yes a root canal can be done successfully and last a time then that will be offered usually band 2. The comment about bad dentists well I think that's a minority not the majority in England as the 3 practices I've worked at with several dentists in each are all well booked up months at a time. No doubt the odd one makes you question why there doing it but rarely. Also the governments rules regarding what qualifies for treatment and what doesn't is hard and fast. Should a dentist decide yes a root canal needs doing but the government say no should be taken out then the fee then becomes the dentists burden which happens often. Not all decisions made by a dentist are actually what they would choose to do, however there are only so many hits they can take not being paid for NHS work just because a decision isn't agreed with by the higher ups.

I don't think it's unusual. If you look on here band 2c is mostly molar root canals (whereas 2a is fillings, individual extractions etc and 2b is non molar root canals and multiple extractions)
https://nhsbsa-opendata.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/dental/dental_narrative_2025_26_v001.html. There don't look to be many treatments happening in band 2c.

I decided a year or two ago that there is little point staying with an NHS dentist now. They only give you a 5min check up (if that) and no hygienist appointments. You have to pay privately for white fillings and crowns anyway, and seemingly they don't really do many root canals.

In contrast my private dentist spends a good 15min checking my teeth and thoroughly explaining everything to me. It's much better service. Plus I get a scale and polish. DH dental insurance through work covers the checkups, x-rays and scale and polish, and £200 a year towards other treatments. It can still get pretty expensive but what's the alternative? Losing teeth to extraction and having lots of amalgam fillings?

@Lollygaggle
I've had treatment within a year, one time it was for dental surgery. My two DD's have been seen, only one has needed sedation removal etc. My partner is on the list for wisdom tooth removal with sedation, we have the availability to track it. He will be done within 18 months of referal. My DD works in a hospital, amongst the Staff there's always people who have been referred to the dental hospital. It's standard. What you linked says things like, 'unlikely ', but in practice a range of people are being seen. Some people wait two years, but it's available.

Are these the same dentists that put mercury fillings in people’s mouths for decades and told patients they’re perfectly safe because the mercury doesn’t leak despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary? Evidence that was ignored by so called dental experts like the chief executive of the BDA.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=fq8E84PgP3g&pp=ygUiQnJpdGlzaCBkZW50YWwgYXNzb2NpYXRpb24gbWVyY3VyedIHCQkgDAGHKiGM7w%3D%3D&ra=m

In the area I worked in many decades of practice not one of mine or my colleagues referrals to dental hospital was ever accepted.

To put into context in our area the total restorative budget , per year , was enough to rehabilitate two oral cancer patients . Anyone else seen was given a treatment plan and sent back to practice . The treatment plans would only be possible privately.

This is a situation that is echoed throughout the country with the possible exception of a couple of big cities but even then acceptance of referral is small.

If you read the referral criteria for Liverpool , which I posted , you will see only priority groups such as oral cancer patients , would be accepted.

Removal of teeth eg wisdom teeth is a different matter as that is surgical , not restorative dentistry , and routine referrals are accepted, albeit with long waiting lists.

The same dentists that not only placed amalgam fillings but also have them in their own mouths but have no more health problems than any other groups.

That’s crazy prices

I had two root canals and a bridge and several crowns last year in Turkey cost me £3330 and was done in 4 days

I know people laugh at Turkey teeth but I can see why people go there when it’s so expensive in the uk and you don’t have to have the Katie price fake look.

same treatment in the uk would have been around 15k plus

my uk private dentist will still give me a check up and I can still see the hygienist
and I’m going back to Turkey for a holiday so
will also get a check up there next year

I had an accident when very young and lost my two front teeth. I have had 2 NHS bridges but the last was done almost 30 years ago. I have an NHS dentist she has said the NHS won’t replace, there is too much bone loss. My original NHS dentist sent me to some regional appeal to get the first one. She isn’t offering private at all. It will eventually totally fail. I will need a denture regardless while it heals. Then I make the decision of bone graft and implants or maybe a snap on post denture.

I am in Ireland currently and noticed you can travel here for private treatment. I may consider this for implants as apparently there is the possibility of tax relief.

Because those dentists were never educated about the dangers of amalgam fillings and that they leak mercury, the second most toxic element on the planet. This information has been available for a century but the dental industry chose to ignore it. Never ever put through a randomised clinical trial before use on the public and amalgam waste must be removed specifically in biohazard bins. But apparently totally safe in a patients mouth.

To compare dentists to other groups doesn’t really count for much given that billions of people have amalgam in their mouth and we see disease and ill health symptoms everywhere. Very few people are truly well these days.

The very early posts have it.

Your NHS will treat it. Extraction will solve your problem and avoid any complications in future. Anything beyond that is cosmetic and wouldn't be on the NHS for any other body part either. You will be able to get a denture on the NHS if that is appropriate.

There is a crisis in NHS dentistry, but you have an NHS dentist so that is not affecting you.

Fascinating, amalgam was first used over 150 years ago , before randomised clinical trials. There have certainly been many studies since , however compelling evidence has not been produced.

The toxicity of all dental materials has been studied for decades before I studied , which in itself was many years ago. Many dental materials have been discarded because of safety concerns eg endomethasone , whitening with perborates etc.

The largest trial is that of dental staff who not only have amalgams in their own mouths , but also place amalgam, and in terms of mercury exposure more importantly remove amalgams every day. You would expect them to have higher morbidity and mortality rates to the general population. They do not .

All dental materials ,except perhaps gold, have problems. Composite fillings have BIS GMA etc . In the end it’s a risk benefit ratio. Time is running out for amalgam because of environmental, not health concerns and because the alternatives are improving every day.

In terms of health we are becoming aware of more detail of how untreated dental disease , particularly gum disease which around 90% of the UK population have some form of , affects general health from type 2 diabetes to heart disease to dementia.

The point is that amalgam fillings would never pass safety trials today if proposed. In fact, such a person would be laughed at for even suggesting that the second most toxic element be placed in a patients mouth. They are also not even a good filling material as corrode and often crack.

And the environment is a get out for a dirty industry that ignored the evidence that amalgams leak mercury. Explain how they are toxic enough to be disposed off in biohazard waste bins but somehow safe in a patients mouth?

And there is a plethora of studies linking dental amalgams to ill health. Mercury is a well known neurotoxin that is known to bioaccumulate. Why anyone thought this was a good idea defies belief. And some dentists even used to use it in root canals. Maybe some still do.

It is understood that there is risk / benefit to procedures, devices etc. but only a fool could argue amalgams are safe on balance.

i was coming in to say there’s a lot of pseudoscience about endodontic treatment! It is recognised now that the failure rate can be higher than previously thought (I had a root canal on a top central incisior fail and had pay an eye watering amount for an implant).

teeth can shift if there is an extraction with no bridge or implant and this can cause bite issues later. But many people do manage. It’s not ideal though and saving the tooth would be preferable.