I'm in the UK and have always had a brilliant NHS dentist. A car accident decades ago required me to have my two front teeth pin crowned - no problems, no issues - regular check ups, two fillings and an occasional lecture.
A week ago I bit into something unexpectantly hard and one of the crowns fell out. I went to my NHS dentist but, as I was not in pain, I would have to wait three weeks for an appointment - three weeks with a yawning gap in my front teeth !!! ... so I went to a private dentist
First thing I was greeted with was a bill for £70, for making the appointment it seems, I hadn't even seen a dentist at this time. they sat me down in the plush waiting room and had me filling in a medical questionnaire - I had started to declare my type 1 diabetes, my heart attack and my warfarin treatment but was ushered in to a dentist chair and the incomplete questionnaire lifted out of my hands
The dentist told me I needed an X-ray (£20), so I had one. She then said she needed to redo the X-ray so I had another one (another £20) which was exactly the same as the first. She explained an infection may have pushed the crown out, I explained I had bitten into something hard. Undeterred she said that the X-rays didn't show any infection but it could be hidden, so she needed to do a root canal treatment requiring four return visits before the crown could be reattached - total cost £1,000
I looked at the X-rays, I could see the original root canal 'post' in place; the X-ray (to my untrained eye) seemed no different to the attached crown right beside it, I couldn't see any infection or anything else. She ignored this and told me that she would have to drill out the original root canal but there was a risk she would destroy the remaining tooth root, then requiring an implant at £3000
I told her I could not afford this and could she simply not glue the crown back on, I could then go to my NHS dentist for any follow up treatment. This only paused her "You're registered with another dentist ?", before she told me I required at least three visits to the private hygienist, a complete check up, two further X rays all with her private practise - only £400
She was probing around in mouth constantly, while doing what I realised was a sales pitch. I recall her paying particular attention to one of my lower teeth, I thought she had found a problem
Eventually she simply glued the crown back on, charged me a further £300 for this and gave me a recommended treatment plan. My mouth was constantly bleeding, I told her I was taking warfarin, her reaction was "Oh" but nothing else. She offered me a private prescription for antibiotics, I asked her if there was an infection and she quickly said "its precautionary" - in hindsight I should have asked her what the proposed root canal was for if infection-control was 'precautionary'
I paid and fled, the 40 minute ordeal had cost me £410
I went to my NHS dentist who confirmed that the crown had been reattached really well, he said he would have done it between patients at a maximum of £62.10 if I had known I was in the waiting room … I mentioned the requirement of a root canal, his reply was "Why?", I mentioned the requirement of three visits to a hygienist, his reply was "that's always wise, but why three?" … X-rays "Why?"
Two days later I started to suffer quite bad pain from one of my lower teeth, the one the private dentist had shown so much interest in. Scared her suspicions of a problem were correct, and in pain, I got an appointment with my NHS dentist (£22.70) - after a cursory glance, he asked if I had done anything to rock the tooth in its socket - I replied that I had not, but well aware that the private dentist definitely had - he said to give it a few days to settle down and sure enough, two days later, the pain that would have had me scurrying off to the private dentist had gone away
I can understand the sales pitch, I really can, but it appears that she was willing to destroy a perfectly good crown to justify an implant and to sabotage a tooth to force a return visit …. anyone got any opinions, similar experience ?
A week ago I bit into something unexpectantly hard and one of the crowns fell out. I went to my NHS dentist but, as I was not in pain, I would have to wait three weeks for an appointment - three weeks with a yawning gap in my front teeth !!! ... so I went to a private dentist
First thing I was greeted with was a bill for £70, for making the appointment it seems, I hadn't even seen a dentist at this time. they sat me down in the plush waiting room and had me filling in a medical questionnaire - I had started to declare my type 1 diabetes, my heart attack and my warfarin treatment but was ushered in to a dentist chair and the incomplete questionnaire lifted out of my hands
The dentist told me I needed an X-ray (£20), so I had one. She then said she needed to redo the X-ray so I had another one (another £20) which was exactly the same as the first. She explained an infection may have pushed the crown out, I explained I had bitten into something hard. Undeterred she said that the X-rays didn't show any infection but it could be hidden, so she needed to do a root canal treatment requiring four return visits before the crown could be reattached - total cost £1,000
I looked at the X-rays, I could see the original root canal 'post' in place; the X-ray (to my untrained eye) seemed no different to the attached crown right beside it, I couldn't see any infection or anything else. She ignored this and told me that she would have to drill out the original root canal but there was a risk she would destroy the remaining tooth root, then requiring an implant at £3000
I told her I could not afford this and could she simply not glue the crown back on, I could then go to my NHS dentist for any follow up treatment. This only paused her "You're registered with another dentist ?", before she told me I required at least three visits to the private hygienist, a complete check up, two further X rays all with her private practise - only £400
She was probing around in mouth constantly, while doing what I realised was a sales pitch. I recall her paying particular attention to one of my lower teeth, I thought she had found a problem
Eventually she simply glued the crown back on, charged me a further £300 for this and gave me a recommended treatment plan. My mouth was constantly bleeding, I told her I was taking warfarin, her reaction was "Oh" but nothing else. She offered me a private prescription for antibiotics, I asked her if there was an infection and she quickly said "its precautionary" - in hindsight I should have asked her what the proposed root canal was for if infection-control was 'precautionary'
I paid and fled, the 40 minute ordeal had cost me £410
I went to my NHS dentist who confirmed that the crown had been reattached really well, he said he would have done it between patients at a maximum of £62.10 if I had known I was in the waiting room … I mentioned the requirement of a root canal, his reply was "Why?", I mentioned the requirement of three visits to a hygienist, his reply was "that's always wise, but why three?" … X-rays "Why?"
Two days later I started to suffer quite bad pain from one of my lower teeth, the one the private dentist had shown so much interest in. Scared her suspicions of a problem were correct, and in pain, I got an appointment with my NHS dentist (£22.70) - after a cursory glance, he asked if I had done anything to rock the tooth in its socket - I replied that I had not, but well aware that the private dentist definitely had - he said to give it a few days to settle down and sure enough, two days later, the pain that would have had me scurrying off to the private dentist had gone away
I can understand the sales pitch, I really can, but it appears that she was willing to destroy a perfectly good crown to justify an implant and to sabotage a tooth to force a return visit …. anyone got any opinions, similar experience ?
