Was I badly treated by this dentist?

[BoyMeetsWorld]

Hi, just after opinions please & what I should do next.

My teeth are really awful & I accept it's entirely my fault. I currently need (diagnosed) 2 root canals and at least 5 fillings.

Today saw a dentist to try & get treatment started - hadn't been able to before whilst pregnant. This is the 3rd dentist I've seen at this surgery - the 1st one left, the 2nd one started my treatment before I got pg but is apparently the 'lead' dentist and his files are full so he's passed me over to this new lady.

That's 3 different check ups I've had before anyone would do work. Today I'd booked a double appointment to actually get started.

After doing my checkup & x rays, dentist said she wouldn't do any work today because there's too much to do & - as i was nhs - I'd need to book multiple half hour appointments. She said longer appointments are reserved for private patients & to do any more than half hour at a time would 'stress her out'?!

She then began a really hard sell. She told me the root canals couldn't be done nhs. I pointed out that I knew they could...she said to do so shed have to put me down as high risk treatment because 'she only had very limited access to equipment on the nhs'. She said she would strongly recommend I went private & quoted me £600-£700 for one root canal. I said there was no way we could afford that whilst I was on maternity leave. She kept emphasising that I'd therefore be high risk.

She then repeatedly said all the fillings would be amalgam unless I went private. I said this was fine as they were right at the back, then she just kept saying it would be lots of half hour appointments.

It felt like a really hard sell to go private. I can't easily do lots of short appointments as I have the baby who is only 6 weeks. My DH called the surgery & they are refusing to let me switch to a different dentist...

I thought you got free treatment any ways for a year after giving birth?!

Some root canals are more likely to fail if done with the equipment used for NHS treatment..so as she said you are entitled to it but it would be classed as high risk of failing.

She also has to inform you of different treatment options..and if you had wanted white fillings on back teeth they are not available on NHS.

Not sure what the 30 minute thing is..they could well be very busy plus wont get paid very much to do a long NHS treatment so money probably is a consideration.

Yes you should get free treatment for first year after having your baby,

Sounds poor, and hard sales for private, to me.

yes, she will get free NHS treatment but not if she went for the private dental option

Fanjo - that seems shocking to me that nhs patients get 'worse' treatment with unsuitable equipment?

In your opinion is having root canal on the nhs a bad idea then? £600-£700 is a huge amount to try and find...

To other posters, no I didn't go registered as a private patience, I'm reg nhs and down as maternity exemption but from the word go she tried to push me to private.

I'm now torn between not trusting her because of the hard sell approach & feeling worried about whether il get bad treatment if I insist on nhs, ESP after fanjo's confirmation about equiptment....

The NHS doesnt pay enough for dentists to buy exoensive equipment with is the reason.

Its not "bad treatment" but private would have a higher success rate.

I have had root canals on NHS which are fine.but IMO she wasn't giving you the hard sell but recommending treatment which would be most successful in your particular case.

You do just need to weigh up what she said..free on NHS but high risk or private. .expensive but leas likely to fail.

Its not her ripping you off. Its just NHS funds basic treatment and equipment.

To buy expensive equipment takes charging private fees.

Hopefully a dentist will be along soon.

Thanks fanjo. It may just have been her wording / way she put it that made me so uncomfortable. It still shocks me that I can see the exact same dentist but get entirely different treatment if paying or not - due to the tools they are 'allowed' to use, but if that's the way it is due to funding I'll just have to make the choice. Would be great if there's a dentist on here who can confirm....?

I suppose its like NHS healthcare or private healthcare.

I don't really agree with that either.

Root canal treatment takes a lot of time to do well, an hour or so for even the simplest tooth. The best equipment (microscope, about £15k, rotary Nickel Titanium files about £90 for one treatment etc) are paid for by the dentist, not the NHS. The dentist will get 3 UDA for a root canal treatment (in fact, 3 UDAs in total for OP) at about probably £21 a UDA plus the patient contribution of £48 so maybe about £110 for all of that treatment. You will get the less gucci equipment (only specialists have microscopes in general but some generalists do) and less time otherwise the dentist is effectively paying for your treatment out of their own pocket.

Privately you will get time and the equipment (some private dentists bill this separately to demonstrate how much it costs).

I would only ever have a specialist do root canal treatment on me. I'm a generalist and I'm mediocre at it, there isn't really time to be much else to be honest. But you can and will get a root canal treatment on the NHS, it just won't be as good (although it's breach of contract for your dentist to say that) as a private one.

Yes. I did not mean to imply the NHS pays for the equipment directly.i know they do not.

I didn't even see that you may have implied that fanjo, I think you know what you're talking about from your posts on here. I was just giving my usual spiel about NHS vs private RCT.

Ah ok. :) your spiel is good.

Ok so if we need to find the money anyway to get it done properly, I should pay out for a specialist rather than just pay this dentist to do it privately?

I'm in an area where it's nigh on impossible to get an NHS dentist. I had root canal about 7 years ago, privately. The dentist did it, it took around an hour.

It was expensive BUT cheaper than constantly having to go back for remedial work.

I've changed to a different dental practice now, and they're excellent. Again, I haven't been able to go NHS but their prices are reasonable, they offer payment plans, and a sedation clinic for nervous patients.

I think it may well be a necessary outlay for your own peace of mind.

Must say I don't think the dentist you saw put her case very well.

I would say yes, a specialist in endodontics would be the way forward. Your dentist may have extra qualifications which mean that she would be very good wit the right equipment and some people do lots of this treatment very well indeed but aren't on the specialist register so don't call themselves specialists.

You need to go back, get the fillings done (or they will be root canal treatments before long) and discuss this at length. Pm me of you want more info. I'm to direct for some people to post about dentistry too much and I can't be doing with being moaned at for being snippy!!

Thanks Mrsmorton - i'll arrange to go back for all the fillings, ask her about her root canal experience if I pay privately or ask for a referral if I'm not convinced

Good plan. I'm more than happy to answer your questions, you won't find a more honest dentist than me

Check if your dentist is on specialist list for endodontics on GDC site. If not ask for referral to dentist who is. Ask which system they use if it is not Protaper or WaveOne then they will be doing nothing different than the system they use under the NHS. It is all about time though.
Be aware that once you have had a tooth root filled they will then advise a crown to restore it adding another £600-700 to the cost.
A specialist endodontist will only carry out treatment if there is a good prognosis. They will not guarantee treatment much more than 5 years and will advise that if the crown needs replacing then best practice is to reroot fill at the same time.
Crowns last around 10years so whatever you do it will not be the end of treatment for those teeth.

But not everyone who is very good at endo is on the specialist register. This is why recommendation is very important.

Crowns can last a lot lot lot longer than ten years but some only last a few weeks!

PS I share Mrsmortons directness. I believe that patients should be given plenty of information about all outcomes whether positive or negative. It is really important that people have realistic expectations. Private endo treatment does not guarantee success but neither does NHS guarantee failure.