Just got back from the dentist - and been told that one of my molars will either require root canal work and a crown or removal.
Root canal and crown will cost about £850 
but at least i will have something to chew with.
Getting it removed will be a lot cheaper - but will leave a bloody big gap (it is my front molar - bottom side).
I can get some of the cost back from a dental plan but do i just MTFU and pay the money - or look forward to dentures?
Just get it out - it's not going to be visible in normal circunstances
I would pay the money and have it done to be honest.
From what I have read if it is removed then you run the risk of upsetting the integrity of the other teeth as they can start to move around and the jawbone will be re-absorbed by your body leading to some sort of dent I guess in your face.
I will be faced with a similar situation in the future as my dentist has told me that one of my big molars has been filled for the last time, the next I will have to have it crowned.
Get it done on the NHS for a lot less. I ask my dentist to give me odds before I have root canal done - odds on it working as it doesn't always and there are a series of factors to take into account. My dentist will give me the odds and thus I can make an informed choice.
I'm with uplink you've got more teeth than you need anyway. I had root canal work done and it was excrutiatingly painful, even though I've got a very good dentist. And £850! That's outrageous - I think mine was £150/200 with a ceramic crown, and that was only a couple of years back.
I had this dilema, it was £650 for canal or £120 for extraction. I waited and got it done on NHS for about £40. I'm now on my girlfriends health plan for £7 a month invade anything like this cones up again. Was a front molar too, you can't really tell.
I've just been to the dentist after part of one of my lower molars fell off.
He said "Do you want the good news first or the bad news"?
I said "Give me the bad news"
"I'm going to have to crown it,the good news is I can save the tooth"
Then whilst sorting out an appointment he gave me the estimated cost of treatment,£320!
Despite the cost I'll go ahead and get it crowned,at least I'll be able to chew again..
>And £850! That's outrageous - I think mine was £150/200 with a ceramic crown, and that was only a couple of years back.
A handful of years back I think one of mine (root canal+crown was something like 150-300 - actually had a second with just a crown done at the same time. I'm sure it'll have gone up a bit but 850 sounds a bit much.
(By comparison, around the same time I had mine done, a mates GF had a crown done for something like 450-600)
I'd get it done - but find a better deal !
3 years ago my root canal and gold crown cost £480 all in.
I am kicking myself now for not having spent more time looking after my teeth when I was younger
NHS is just less than £200 for a crown
I have a very good NHS dentist. He does rool canal work that doesn't hurt at all, in fact it is quite relaxing and almost enjoyable.
My last root treatment and gold crown cost about £180.
My advice is to save your teeth at all costs. At 57, I'm getting to the stage where the next one to go may well mean the gap is too big to bridge, so I would have to have a denture. That would be a major disappointment, I think.
If you really can't get into a NHS dentist, have your next holiday in Croatia and get the work done there. My brother in law did his that way (he had some really wierd stuff going on in his mouth - he had 2 sets of baby teeth and no adult ones) and he can advise on the best places to go/stay.
The NHS have three prices, the highest for the most work being, as nicolaisam says, a shade under 200 quid. That should cover anything everything on a single tooth for two months.
Spent a very painful few months having root canal work, then a slightly less painful couple of months letting it settle down then ended up having an extraction after all
Hope you have a better experience
I'm with TJ on this. NHS dentist, sensible discussion about the pro's con's and likliehood of success. Root canal (no crown) cost around £80 I think, no real pain during the procedure, inconvenient as several long appointments. It was successful, although the odds were only about 2/3. "NHS repairs" come with some sort of garuntee so there was no extra cost if needed redone etc in the following 6 (or 12?) months.
I had root canal about 10 years ago on a chipped premolar that had died
it was done on the NHS for about £70 I think - they gave me a nice grey manky looking cap on the tooth
about 2 years later the cap and the tooth began to disintegrate, basically they'd done a crap job
so, I went to a private dentist, got the root canal re-done (the NHS dentist had left a gap at the bottom!), got the tooth ground down, then had it pinned and a colour matched ceramic crown put on
it cost about £600 (titanium pin 
), but it looks and feels like a normal tooth
it was worth it as it is the only dental work I've had done - the rest of my teeth are fine, no fillings or anything
Thanks everyone - looks like getting the work done is the right thing to do - but i need to shop around for a cheaper deal.
Have been really happy with the dentist in the past but he does seem to be a lot more expensive than anyone else.
Do you have complete confidence in your dentist? If so, if it were me, I would stick with him/her.
Having received poor treatment that necessitated in many visits and arguing over the bill, I returned to my original dentist (who was no longer taking NHS patients) to rectify. I know that whenever I have a problem, he will find out, the first time, exactly what it is.
Make sure the dentist doing the endodontics has a microscope . . .
Really, endo on the NHS should be at least a band 3 (~£200) rather than band 2 (~£40), the same as 32 root fillings or 32 fillings or 20 fillings and 12 extractions, etc, etc. But, that's the system.
Can't you stick with the same dentist and do it on the NHS, or is (s)he private only?
I had a similar tale to Brakes, only with the added complication of an abscess. Pinned, crowned, etc, all on the NHS.
Can't imagine ever paying full price. If I wasn't using the NHS for whatever reason, I'd have dental insurance instead. Private dental care is, well, it's out of my budget for sure.
Ask your boss to sack you for a week. If you're on the dole, NHS dentistry is free.
I just recovered from a severe tooth infection in second molar. Worst pain in my life! My dentist told me to get it extracted as there was no guarantee there would be no further infection if I was to save it. I am going to the dental hospital for second consultation. I was told it would cost me more than £500 for a crown + £100 to £150 for consultation going private. She kept asking me to go private. Damn! I will see how it goes for now as I still have the temporary filling in. 
pull all your teeth out & spend all the money you saved on alcohol
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