A dental query

[Spreckly]

Two Saturdays since, OH broke the fillings on two of his teeth. One filling was huge. Our dentist is a round trip of twenty plus miles away, and on the Monday we phoned for an appointment, only to be told that the computers were down, so phone again, etc. On Tuesday we were still phoning, but eventually OH got an appointment for yesterday.

Off he went, expecting to have a dressing in each tooth, or perhaps a filling. No chance. The dentist told him she could not fill them - they were heavily filled. So he asked for extractions, to be informed that because he had no pain, he would have to have them crowned! The charge would be £214. OH said he would think about it, but this morning has decided to have them done. These are back teeth, and I personally would have stamped my foot, flung my weight about, and demanded extractions. For the unwelcome information, he paid a fee of £18.

As OH was unsure if the charge was for both teeth, or just one, he enquired the price again, to be told by someone at the desk that they did not know, but that the dentist would, and he would have to wait for his appointment to find out. I decided to speak to the Practice Manager, who happens to be away, but a dental nurse answered my query. It is £214 altogether, which is a relief, but still a lot of cash.

My point after this ramble is - has anyone else had this "treatment" of a no extraction policy, can we insist on extractions, or do we have to fork out a considerable sum for crowns? I have had crowns in the past, lost them, and refuse to have them again.

[perchy]

I personally think that the dentist should give you options, they did with me, I have spent hundreds and hundreds on mine, and have not been that happy with some of the treatment, crowns are not guaranteed for a long time, as there is a large area of filling so obviously not that much tooth left I personally would go for extraction, having said that if the other tooth is not so bad a crown may be the way to go, the price is fairly reasonable to be honest, when my NHS dentist retired I had to go private and I can tell you we could have had a couple of holidays for the price I have paid and they are still not ever going to be brilliant.
Sorry rambled a bit there the answer in our neck of the woods it is your choice in the end, options need to be given of course by the dentist, the thing with fillings coming out too is one minute it is fine the next you have raging toothache, he could always have another chat with the dentist when he goes again as crowns need to be made etc so some time to think things through

[Meanqueen]

Hello Spreckly. I can't answer your question but I know someone who can. If you go onto the Money Saving Expert forum, the Health and Beauty section, there are four dentists on there who are very helpful. Easy to sign up if you are not already a member.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/for ... y.php?f=81" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ilona

PS. If you don't want to sign up you can just read, maybe someone has asked a similar question.

[wendy]

Your teeth and if it is private. Then you can do what you like with them.
I also think he should have been given a choice.

[p.penn]

I needed a crown a few years back, and I am a NHS patient. My dentisit said he had to do it privately, nearly £800

I had the root canal done (£300) then ran out of money so it stayed just a stump for years.

In fact I had 3 'special' fillings last year which cost me around £250 as he couldn't do them on the NHS either

[Spreckly]

Thank you for your responses folks, which make the charge sound reasonable, but it doesn't seem right that OH was told he couldn't have fillings or extractions. Will have to wait until his appointment next week.

[Spreckly]

Dentists phoned yesterday, and I got the chance to speak with the dental nurse again. She said OH was given options (he is not that deaf), and he can have fillings, so she has cancelled next week's consultation (five minute) appointment, and he goes on July 18th for treatment (our wedding anniversary).

Hopefully the teetch will be sorted then.

[kate egg]

Good luck for the 18th, that is our wedding anniversary too! 27 years and never a cross word

[Spreckly]

Quick update on OH's cavities. He ended up losing three fillings. Kept his appointment on our wedding anniversary (not as long married as you Kate!), and the dentist never said another word about crowns, filled his teeth and he is now eating very carefully.

Normally we go out for a meal on our anniversary, but this year, we decided not to bother as OH would have been unable to eat anything harder than bread.