I've had several successful root canal teatments and crowns that were a success and one which for unknown reasons continued to ache - I had it taken out (against the dentists advice) intending to have a titanium implant but was so happy to be pain free I just left the gap. When front teeth have been damaged beyond repair with multiple fractures of the roots I've had titanium implants at about 3000e per tooth which are fine so far. One onlay on a living tooth which is also fine so far.
As for trusting Bolivian dentists I'd take my chances over NHS. I'd been for my yearly checkups, had fillings I'd not thought necessary and lived with discomfort non of the dentists could explain. The first dentist I consulted in France gave me a shopping list which included going to a clinic to have a wisdom tooth which was sitting horizontally in my jaw removed. No UK dentist had thought fit to x-ray my jaw.
As for trusting Bolivian dentists I’d take my chances over NHS.
I'll bear that in mind if I discover time travel...
I had my rearmost molar pulled (still have the wisdom tooth),
Root canal costs vary massively depending on the tooth. From a front one which an NHS dentist will do for NHS funding (1-2 roots, easy access), to a molars (upto 4 roots). That's why some people presumably only paid £375m and some paid £1400.
I was also told it was basically going to be a full days work. So factor in the lost earnings/holiday.
And there was no guarantee it would work.
£1200 + a days work
Getting it pulled was a minor faff in that the regular dentist just managed to crack it in half. The NHS specialist (after 18months waiting thanks to Tories and Covid) had it out in less than 15 minutes including aneastatising.
If I go on holiday to Turkey I might get an implant, but TBH other than occasionally getting a bit of food in the gap it's no big deal (after the first 3-4 months of fishing cous-cous and rice out of the hole).
pay, do not lose a tooth unless you absolutely have to.
the cost is about right for the root canal and CROWN.
A root canal should only fail if it’s a shoddy job. But even then, it can be re drilled, done properly, and made right
Can’t do that with empty space
Conversely, you don't need to go through it again with an empty space.
Just Pull It! The root canal can permanently trap bacteria and give you an ongoing problem.
Pull it. Not to save money but because it saves future issues.
Blimey, cost me ~£72 on nhs to have check-up, filling and a root canal few months ago.
I’d just have it pulled, I’m missing an molar just behind my front teeth & have never missed it, get it gone.
As for cost, my g/f has been quoted £1000 privately for hers, as her NHS dentist won’t touch it. Even getting them to give emergency treatment was a struggle
Hmm, having a tooth pulled does not automatically save future issues. I had one pulled a while back. Tooth next to it is moving into the gap creating a space which is a) hugely annoying for getting food stuck in it and b) possibly leading to other tooth decaying. I have a plan to get an implant which is even more expensive.
I'm missing 4 teeth , 2 up and 2 down well hidden away and no problem whatsoever even though one was a root canal treatment 15 years ago. It was too proud and kept breaking off but would that dentist believe me
My dentist I've had for 6 years is so pleasant, keeps me well informed as she works away , compare that to my school dentist 50 years ago so much like Dr Christian Szell from Marathon man and his assistant said it was fluoride I was swilling for a minute but it tasted f,,,,,g awful. Think novichok probably tasted better
In the past I’ve had three pulled. However as I’m running out of teeth, couple of years back I had two root canals and crowns fitted to two of my remaining teeth.
I had to see a private specialist because of awkward roots - £700 each for the root canal treatment.
I’ve since lost my nhs dentist and had to go private at another. After looking at X-rays they took as part of a new patient examination, my new dentist declared that the specialist had done such a good job, that if I ever needed more root canal done, I should go back there. I was quite pleased with that, as it doesn’t feel like I’ve wasted my money so much.
Thanks everyone for all the posts. All very helpful and annoyingly split pretty much 50:50 on pull Vs keep.
Yo answer some questions, my dentist is really good I think and referred me as it was complicated with 3 roots.
The cost is £1333 plus the crown, although Denplan will mean the crown should be about £150 rather than £300.
I've emailed my dentist to get his opinion on the cost, when he referred me he said it'd be around £800 so he's well off...
Tedious decisions, as others have said it'd beich nicer to have a holiday and make some memories. But my memory of the infected tooth is so raw I feel like if spending a massive amount of money is "better" then I want to do that.
Sigh. No fun outcome here.
Thanks again.
With a crown included, and a difficult tooth, that makes more sense, but it still sounds a bit on the expensive side, altnough not as outrageous as initially thought...
Or are you saying the crown is extra cost in addition to £1300 for the root canal??
If you get cashback through denplan or whatever for the crown, can you not also claim something against the root treatment?
@mattyfez it's £1333 plus the crown. So about £1600 total. Oof as my teenage son would say.
No cashback from Denplan as it's a private specialist... Would be my choice to go off plan to hopefully achieve greater probability and duration of success.
I’ve emailed my dentist to get his opinion on the cost, when he referred me he said it’d be around £800 so
Sounds more like it. Could you try someone else?
For the sake/cost of a full consultation (as in X-ray, treatment plan etc,) with a different dentist, I'd get a second opinion...£1600+ your almost getting into implant territory, cost wise, which might be a better long term solution.
Maybe not in the UK but a Spanish friend of mine got a single tooth implant done for about €1300, I think she said it was one of the front/side teeth though rather than a molar, I'm guessing a molar might be a bit more...
I mean you could fly to Spain and make a weeks holiday out of it and have an implant for the sort of money you are being quoted for a RCT and crown...
I'd keep the tooth, it's not like you'll grow another. I would try to find a cheaper option though, that sounds pricy. Mind you I've never had anything more than a quick check and scrape. But my wife has a root canal and implant after a crash and they've both been fine now for over 25 years.
I had loads of fillings done in my teens ( over enthusiastic dentist) redoone in my -0s and 30sleading to loads of root canals in my 40s leading to dead teeth being pulled in my 60s I now have not much of a bite left and am looking at implants or a plate.
Keep your teeth as long as you can - but FFS look for a cheaper option. I take it no NHS dentistry left round your way? all mine have been done NHS
Keep your teeth as long as you can – but FFS look for a cheaper option. I take it no NHS dentistry left round your way? all mine have been done NHS
NHS adult dentistry pretty much doesn't exist beyond checkups and simple procedures. The mechanism is they get paid a flat rate for a "root canal" by the NHS. That flat rate nowhere near covers the costs of the procedure for anything more complicated than a front tooth. So they won't do it.
Welcome to a privatised NHS.
I still have NHS dentistry who will do root canals and other complex treatments
Pulling isn't without risk either, can mess up your bite, tjm, nerve damage if roots are long etc
I'm on the verge of paying similar after an NHS crown snapped off flush taking the remaining post of tooth and filling with it. Expected it would need an implant but advised a new root treatment and fitting an artificial post and new crown. Luckily I've got a good NHS dentist and this is my first experience of private so the cost is a shock but if it lasts for 10 years it will be worth it for me.
Jesus. This is Britain in 2024. I can't even get to see a dentist at the moment - have tooth pain and suspect I need a root canal or similar. I just have no idea where we go from here... this generally seems to be the future of healthcare in the UK.
And my girlfriend needed an implant which was slightly complicated recently by requiring a sinus lift and bits like that... the bill has come to nearly £8000 which luckily she has the money for due to some inheritance...
....but realistically... who the **** has £8k sitting around for this kind of thing? It's totally unhinged.
I also think that £1600 is expensive. Maybe you can ask around for more dentists that may offer a better price. I had mine pulled out, but it was the rear most tooth.
I had a molar root canal treatment done on the NHS, She told me at the time that the roots were complex and she wasn't guaranteeing success. She offered me a referral to a endodontist but said she was prepared to take it on. What should have been 3 visits turned into 5 visits but she thought she'd done it. It never quite 'settled down' and she told me that, after 6 months it was unlikely to 'go right all by itself' - sooner or later it would be either extraction or re-treatment by endodontist. <br /><br />So off to the endodontist it was and he seems to have fixed it. One thing he did say though was that "root canal treatment is an exercise in delaying extraction". It may outlive me. I may get 10 years out of it - in which case I'll be glad I had it done. If it needs pulling in 5 years of less, I'll wish I'd had it pulled at the very beginning.<br /><br />
only problem I have is occasionally getting a peanut caught in the gap.
^ my main reason for not wanting an extraction - I have a bag of salted nuts pretty much every time I go to the pub.
I've had two done. Probably about £1500 each. It was private. One of them wouldn't have been needed but for a previous bad job filling elsewhere.
It was a few visits. Drill out and pack, go back to finish, fill and measure crown, fit crown.
That seemed a out the going rate private locally. I have an insurance plan which reduced the cost but didn't cover it. It's an expensive business. I was consulting at the time and his rates were lower than mine so I couldn't complain.
I'm aware they'll probably need doing in the future. I could pay put of savings comfortably so I saw no point going for the cheaper extraction at this point. They would have been partially visible. As others have said that isn't without risk complication and expense later.
I've had two done. The first was a molar done privately. The procedure went a bit wrong (one of the implements ran out of battery half way through, which resulted in the dentist shouting at his dental nurse, who then started crying, meant that by the time it was finished the pain relief was starting to wear off - fun times). It then gave me the worse pain i've ever had for several days - horrible pain in your head you can't ignore. Then after a few years it all went wrong again, so I had it pulled on the NHS.
My second one was closer to the front so I opted for a crown. Much better experience and didn't hurt. I got the root canal done privately and the crown on the NHS which saved a fair amount of money. This was on the advice of my dentist (not the one who made his nurse cry) who said getting the root canal done by a specialist was worth it.
TLDR, i'd get a rear molar pulled, nearer the front I'd get the crown. My teeth are shit so i've got more in my future!
I had one pulled a few years back, second from back on the bottom leaving a gap before my wisdom tooth. Once it had healed (no dry socket thankfully) it has caused me no problem whatsoever.
Same here - a crack had appeared under a previous filling (that had been done well, apparently) so I had it pulled. Considered a dental implant but decided against it.
Still get a fractional amount of blood when I brush my teeth but I brush my teeth a lot and it's been like that for years. But basically no problems.
I'm going through quite a bit of dental work currently - the result of years of stupidly avoiding the dentist.
I'm working my way through a long, have had 7 appointments so far - another 6 or so to go!
We pay 50€ for an extraction - I've had 2, 50€ for a normal filling - I've had 3 so far 2 to go, 70€ for a more serious filling - 1 done, 1 to go and 580€ for root canal work and crown. I need 3!
🙁
Had a root canal on upper molar one from back due to agonising infection. Was a complex one apparently and done on NHS about 15 years ago. 3 years ago agonising pain worst of my life from same tooth. Had it pulled. Have phobia around dentist due to various issues and bad experiences now so left the gap. All healed fine and no bother with the gap though really hope the other side stays good as more chewing done over there now. Good luck .
My story was on here a few year back under my old account. Undetermined cause of pain, nothing showing on xrays, dentist wanted £1k for root canal and crown. Even then it involved signing a waver effectively saying I lose the money if it doesn't fix it, the tooth breaks or the drill snaps off in the process and I won't sue.
I asked if they could just pull it. Advised against as it would weaken the neighbouring tooth at the back which would be on its own.
Was going to go ahead, then noticed a crack had opened up. Only option was to pull it. £90.
Tooth at the back so not noticeable or bothers me eating. Just mainly annoyed at losing it in the first place and nearly wasting £1k, plus suspicious of filling redone on that tooth a couple years before when didn't seem to need it may have triggered it. Wasn't happy with dentist's attitude generally (new dentist after old nice one retired).
my experience fwiw... last year I had that week of agonising toothache, followed by dentist exam, my dentist says can do root canal cheap-ish but she only has a 50/50 chance of a successful outcome (my dentists are routinely slated on FB as the worst in town)... or refer to the specialist up the road where its like 800 quid plus inspection etc. So I go for option two. Procedure wasn't as bad as I was expecting , apart from you soon discover that holding your mouth wide open for 3 hours starts to feel like the kind of torture experienced by caught USAF pilots during the Vietnam war. Ah well, just a grand I thought, why didn't I go for the dental insurance plan work offer? Next its back to my useless dentist for the crown, do I want ugly shiny metal or a nice white one? er... the white one please? That'll be 800 pounds please! So all in all, almost 2 grand. That was just after a 2k vet bill, a 1k gas boiler bill, a 600 pound MOT fail, and having to shell out 2.5k for ground rent & services on an empty property. And then the Mrs wanted a nice holiday in the sun.... SO your quote sounds about 500 quid too much
I had a bad tooth infection that exacerbated by trying to rescue it (another dentist) while also considering root canal with a crown. I had it extracted because my dentist (new at that time) could not guarantee that the infection would go away. Was quoted nearly £2k private many years ago but decided extraction would be better and cost me £70 to £90 if I can recall. I would go for the root canal with a crown even if it means £2k but money was tight and no guarantee so end up with an extraction.
I have two other root canal. One without a crown while the other with crown. The one without a crown as done back home in Borneo where one of my "bunny" tooth got badly infected. The dentist just drilled a hole and let whatever was there leaked out. Then insert some antibiotic whatever into the hole to seal it up for few days. Then returned to fill up the hole with permanent filling. Painless throughout the entire process.
The second one was a very badly decay lower molar and the dentist rescued it by giving it a root canal and a crown. Again, painless process was painless and all well. Didn't cost me much if I can recall.
Oh ya, go for root canal if you can afford it. Missing one tooth does not feel "complete" and a gap.
Just had a root canal redone on one of my front teeth. £750. The original root canal was 1 year older than the dentist who re did it!
Bit of pain for a week as it was a bit awkward to get all of the old filling out and required a bit of oomph to get the new filling all the way to the top of the root.
Also was able to bleach the discoloration (the tooth has been 'dead' for 29 years!) for a couple of days before filling the back of the tooth again.
This is my 3rd root canal (one NHS, 2 private) and all successful so far. Touch wood...
