Fun and games at the dentist

[andrewducker]

So I went in for a dental checkup. I've been having a flare-up at the back
lower-left, and it was time for a checkup anyway (ok, about two months
ago). I get occasional inflammation there, particularly when I've been
grinding my teeth (the joys of stress).

He took one look, and immediately took some x-rays. Which is a much faster
process nowadays - pop a metal thing in my mouth, point the camera at me,
pop out of the room while the shot happens, and it was up on a monitor
within three minutes (which he spent checking everywhere else).

And it seems I have an abcess forming beneath one of my troublesome teeth.
A tooth that's only 2/3 there anyway, because of my previous trouble with
my wisdom teeth*. And when he showed me the x-ray I could see the previous
attempt at a root canal (from about 15 years ago) which only went halfway
down the sodding tooth. A complete botch job (I said so out loud, the
dentist said he couldn't possibly comment).

So now I need to have a proper root canal in two weeks time. I've booked
the day off work, but it's going to cost me about £80, and it really isn't
a lot of fun.

*sigh*


*They came through at right angles. Literally. Which pushed the teeth in
front of them together, causing a pile-up in my mouth. All of my teeth are
in good condition, apart from the four in the pile-up.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Ouch. I hope this goes well, and that the new work solves the problem properly.

[andrewducker]

Thank you!

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Is that non NHS? I'm sure my root canal wasn't even close to that much.

[andrewducker]

You're right, it's £47. And yes, I'm on the NHS. For some reason I have £80-something in my head. It may well be that that was what my total bill was last time, including other stuff.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHA. My non-NHS (private dentist) root canal cost £200. And that was half price, because my dentist was feeling sorry for me (I had only just spent £600 on a crown the month before).

Private dentistry is seriously, seriously expensive.

[lebeautemps.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. That's terrible - mouth trouble is one of those priority things. I'd inform the previous dentist about the situation and demand he cover the £47.

[andrewducker]

Sadly, the previous dentist is in a different city, and it was over 10 years ago. I suspect it would be more trouble than it's worth.

Ouch!

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

OTOH, my botched root canal/abcess bill was in the couple thousand dollar range. At east I did get a free crown replacement out of it! Good luck!

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ah, lucky you, NHS dentists for the win.

A mere 10 minute check-up with my dentist costs me £50.

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

Sympathy - I am having my wisdom tooth removed tomorrow and I suspect it's partly due to a botched filling by my previous dentist. Who also never did any X-rays, while the new one whisked me into the X-ray room before I even sat down. Pretty cool that I get to see it all on a big monitor, although not that cool when he pointed out the decay.

[andrewducker]

Ouch - good luck.

And yes, the technology of the scanning is awesome. It's just a shame that the actual work is done with tools that are a little more medieval.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

I dunno - my dentist was using pretty funky tools for my root canal. Including some sort of wire-thin electronic probe for measuring depth, and an equally tiny (and flexible??) drill. It's a step up from pliers and a big rock. :)

[davesangel.livejournal.com]

You have my complete sympathy on this :( I hope the root canal isn't too painful and uncomfortable :(

A complete botch job (I said so out loud, the dentist said he couldn't possibly comment).

I had the same experience and made a similar comment myself when I found out I'd need the work done again, and of course because it was the same practice (but not the same dentist), he was obliged to 'not be in a position to comment'. It's ridiculous.

I once heard a rumour, not sure how true this is, that dentists will often perform unnecessary work (or will do a job half-well) in order to guarantee that you have to come back to have the unnecessary or botched work repaired and therefore pay a lot more. A highly cynical opinion, maybe, but I can certainly see that there are some grains of truth in there...

[anef.livejournal.com]

I understand it isn't a lot of fun, but my Mum had one last week and said it was much less painful than she expected. I think dentistry has come on a lot in the last 20 years.