What are dentists supposed to do on the NHS?

[mamaberta]

Last time I saw my dentist she said my root canal treatment/bridge from about 6/7 years ago needed redoing and that she couldn't do it as it was not an NHS treatment. She blithely informed me it would cost about £800-1000. After after asking her for a bit more information I was rewarded with a post-it reading "endodontist" . Well, I don't know an endodontist from my elbow. I fully believe the bit about non-NHS funding since publicly-funded dental care is so abysmal in this country.

But should she not be writing a letter of referral, providing more information? I couldn't get any privately-funded fertility tests without my GP providing a letter. How on earth do I go about getting this treatment? The dentist is very young - not being ageist here - her degree cert was on the wall and it was recent. She did not confer with anyone else and while, I accept she has a degree from a reputable dental school, that does not automatically make her a good dentist from the outset. She was working alone. So I am concerned about her diagnosis anyway. If I pick a name from a phone book, yes, I might get that treatment at huge cost (we are short of money and not the "I just don't know where my husband's £150)K salary goes these days" category)

She took over the practise from an excellent dentist in whom I had complete faith but who retired due to ill health

Any nice dentists out there to give me some pointers/advice/sugar-free lollies?

actually they can do root canal treatment on the NHS because I have had it done myself.

Was that recent. I wonder if it depends on the PCT?

yes, fairly recent. less than a year ago.

see here

ALL dentists now have the same price banding and they have to follow it.
the info on that site is correct.

your dentist is wrong. I would seek a second opinion if I were you

another link that backs the first one up!

Thank you - I have had totally crap weekend here (for reasons that are totally dull and too boring to go into) and I have to go back to the dentist next week which was another thing to stress about. This is really helpful

MMmmm chocolate

dentists are a pain aren't they? mine is LOVELY, I have to say but I travel ages to see her but I don't want to change now in case I get a crap one.

she is always very honest and when she thought I might need a crown doing she did say that although they do stuff like that on the NHS it wouldn't be the best. if I wanted a really decent one I'd have to go private, but we just can't afford that.

do you reckon you can change to a different NHS one in the same practice?

There is someone else in the practice but it's all a bit weird. I've never seen him. NHS dentists with free spaces are like hen's teeth here. I asked at my DH's practice and they said "sure, fill out a form and we'll put your name in the bin on the waiting list"

Hey ho!!

ooops in the bin

working for an nhs dentist, i would say it's not definite they will do a re-root canal which is costly with a higher failure rate than a root canal. You should check with your pct

I too had root canal treatment and also a white crown on a back tooth on the nhs. I paid just under £200 for both as done as part of same course treatment.

as i said, a re root canal is different,as more likely to fail, so nhs might not be willing to bear the cost-hope a dentist comes along to clarify!

as i said, a re root canal is different,as more likely to fail, so nhs might not be willing to bear the cost-hope a dentist comes along to clarify!

oops,posting on phone!

I was told by my dentist that there are now whole parts of the country without any NHS endodontists or possibilities for referral, and around here people have to go private, because there isn't a dental hospital in this area. He apologised that he simply didn't have the right kind of high tech equipment or relevant experience to make a good go of it, and told me I could not be referred to a dental hospital in a different area because of where I lived. This is why I spent £2000 having it done last year privately, which I had to put on my credit card and which is mostly still sitting there yet to be paid off, because this expenditure is completely out of my league, and expect to spend £750 on Wednesday having some more done.

My reaction to this has been absolute disgust. I have also started avoiding as much tax (legally) as possible with the help of a sympathetic accountant, because I feel as though the government has broken some kind of social contract with me. If they aren't providing me with the basic medical care that I need to be pain free, then I owe them less money, a lot less. It's as simple as that. My entire attitude towards the welfare state has now changed.