Dental Costs
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HI
Yesterday I had an emergency app. where I was charged £60 just to be seen.
I was then quoted £60 for the tooth to be extracted or £360 for root canal to save the tooth.
Does this seem a reasonable price?
That is a lot of money for us to find two weeks before xmas and will put us in financial difficulty however I really dont like the idea of extraction. Am I being selfish ? £420 just on one tooth for me?
Also which is more painful?
Thanks
Yesterday I had an emergency app. where I was charged £60 just to be seen.
I was then quoted £60 for the tooth to be extracted or £360 for root canal to save the tooth.
Does this seem a reasonable price?
That is a lot of money for us to find two weeks before xmas and will put us in financial difficulty however I really dont like the idea of extraction. Am I being selfish ? £420 just on one tooth for me?
Also which is more painful?
Thanks
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Comments
Last time I had an extraction (I'm NHS, in Scotland) it was about £10.
Which hurts more? Depends how the root canal goes. If it goes OK, it may not give you much pain at all, if it doesn't, it could be very painful. Root canal treatment is not meant as a lifelong solution as well (dentists never seem to mention that though). From what I could find out, if a tooth that has root canal treatment lasts 10-15 years, it's doing well.
Extraction, assuming the tooth comes out in one piece without too much hassle, will be sore but I had a a molar out almost two weeks ago (she tried to fill it first but it was just too knackered) and it feels pretty much OK now. I was eating chunky soup and chili the day after it was removed. If the tooth shatters though or it gets infected, I imagine it would hurt a hell of a lot more .... thankfully, thats never happened to me.
I don't know where you gleaned such information, but I can say that it is complete rubbish!
There are multiple factors which affect the success of root canal therapy:
Degree of existing tooth damage/restoration
Shape of the roots
Morphology of the canal system
Degree of infection arising from the affected tooth
Diet & oral hygiene of the patient
Occlusion (bite) of the patient
...etc.
As with everything else in life, the worse each of the above, the poorer the prognosis for initial & long-term success. Again, as with everything else in life, there is no such thing as a 100% success, because one cannot foresee the future!
Most teeth receiving root canal therapy with a reasonable (75%+) prognosis will survive the life of the dentition, i.e. roughly the same length of time that the rest of the teeth in the mouth survive.
The back teeth will typically require a crown (cap) within 3 years of root canal therapy to maintain full function, as a result of the chewing forces and the loss of natural tooth structure from decay & necessitated by the root canal therapy.
This is my professional opinion based solely upon the information provided by the OP and my training and qualifications as a general dental practitioner.
To be honest (you're gonna hate this) ..... I think it was probably the internet.
Although, the tooth I'd had root canal done on did eventually have to be removed. I think it lasted around 12 years. I do seem to remember mentioning the lifespan thing to the dentist I had at the time and I don't remember him disagreeing with me.
But, of course, I bow to your professional knowledge on the subject.
I know you hate the internet-info thing but it does turn up a few gems. I'd never have found out about air-pockets under fillings causing problems when flying (it's happened to me ..... not nice!) if it wasn't for the internet.
Actually I think the internet is very useful, but it's advisable to check the SOURCE of the info.
There are some bleeding nutters out there who peddle a lot of crap about healthcare, while having no qualifications, or who have an axe to grind.