Opinions on my dental quotes?

[LilyPAnderson]

My NHS dentist went private, and I wasn't all that impressed with their NHS work so wasn't going to pay private costs with them, as the filling they had done before was still hurting. I think they left the tooth too long before doing a filling, as it hurt for a year before they did it. I don't think they liked it that I wanted white fillings which are more expensive.
I went to a private dentist that I thought seemed quite fancy as they have adverts for cosmetic work in their window. I stupidly paid £95 for a consultation, and told them I have £2,500 at the most to spend on my teeth. He said that the tooth with the dodgy filling would need a root canal, he would have to remove a crown on another tooth to check how much decay is under it before deciding what work needs to be done to that, and a crown on another tooth, which would be £1,900 for three teeth with temporary crowns which would only last 3 months, and then another nearly £2,800 for permanent crowns. He said that if he did everything he wanted it would be £10,000 and they can offer interest free loans. Then the nurse on the computer or whoever she was in the room with the dentist, seemed to think I was going to sign up to that much there and then, but I said that I would go and talk about it with my friend first. She seemed a bit annoyed.

Then I went to another dentist where the check up was £59, and she said that all I need are 3 fillings, and didn't say anything about removing the crown off another tooth to check how much decay is under it, or put a crown on another tooth. She removed the old filling and put in a new one on the tooth that the expensive dentist said I need a root canal on.
It feels better. It was very sensitive to cold water at first and I was worried she was wrong and I needed a root canal, but the sensitivity is getting better. I didn't tell her the previous dentist said I need a root canal as she's the professional and don't want to insult her. I'm worried that I really might need a root canal and the other tooth with the crown needs redoing, but my friends told me that the expensive dentist probably thinks I have lots of money and was making up more work than I needed doing.

The expensive dentist called me from a mobile number asking if there was any confusion about the work they quoted me on, and I didn't know what to say about going to another dentist, so said I didn't have time to talk at that time. Then I emailed the surgery saying that their quote was expensive so I went to another dentist. Then the surgery replied asking if I'd had the root canal done, so I said that there was no mention of a root canal at the other dentist and they just replaced the filling. I didn't hear anything back from the expensive dentist after that.

I'm really confused. Can I have some opinions on here please?

full disclosure - I am not a dentist but my experience is that if you have a filling done it will depend of the severity of the damage as to wether a root canal should be done or not. But only by looking at it a dentist can determine this. Did they x ray your teeth?

Yes, both dentists X-rayed my teeth.

I've never had a crown so no idea, but it sounds like an awful lot to me and I have spent loads on private dental over the years.

My dentist has a price list on its website. Why not google some in the local areas and see how your quote compares? Or ask ChatGPT as a starting point.

I remember scandals in a couple of countries where the press got someone who had been examined by the top dentists at the top teaching hospital, whose diagnosis was "needs a scale and polish, and maybe keep an eye on that one back tooth" and send them out to "mystery shop" a bunch of dentists. They come back with estimates for absurd amounts of work and money.

Part of this is down to differences of opinion, but I suspect quite a bit is down to less than 100% honesty about what is really needed. I am lucky enough to have good teeth, but DP does not and has twice had a second opinion (blinded, i.e., not telling the second dentist what the first one said) for major work. In one case the two estimates matched pretty closely, in the other there was a big difference.

Give one patient to three dentists and you will get four treatment plans, all equally valid.

It is a very fine line between a tooth that needs a root treatment and one that will settle .sometimes you only know a year later.

Dentists have different approaches , some will want to look at anything a bit dubious straight away, others are happy to review on a regular patient.

You will get the best treatment seeing one dentist regularly that you trust and build a relationship with.

Quotes will vary widely also because costs of running a surgery vary widely eg a high end cosmetic surgery in an expensive city centre location will cost a lot more to run than a family practice in a suburb .