Root canal.... Would you pay £1333? Or have it pulled?

It depends how important the money is to you  . If paying that much won't really affect your finances then get it done If you can't afford it then have it pulled.  You may well fall between these 2 extremes

If it was the rear most tooth, I think I'd have it pulled. If it's between two others, I'd probably go for the crown.

Is the crown going to be porcelain or gold?

That seems expensive,  think my route canal was about £375.

Why did your dentist refer you to a specialist?

Ask the chances of a successful procedure. I had mine pulled when they said a 60% chance of successful pain free. Yeah I'll save that grand.

I’d pay, if I was short of cash I’d put it on a zero percent credit card. You won’t get any more teeth and they don’t grow back when they get yanked out.

Lastly, google dry socket. The single most painful thing I’ve ever experienced when I had a wisdom tooth extracted.

It's way cheaper than an implant, so I'd have it done . I have had it done and don't regret it (but I would say that since it worked).

That said, £1333 is pricey in my experience, even for a specialist, so you could consider shopping around. My last one (2020/21) was less than a grand including the consultation fee. That was for a molar with an abscess, so it was bad enough that my dentist recommended me to a specialist because I'd have a much higher chance of success.

If you're in or near London, I can recommend where I had it done: the Root Canal Dental Referral Centre in Twickenham. Dr Orsteen.

I've had a similarly priced treatment and it worked well, but it was completely covered by my insurance. There is risk it won't work. I'd buy a bike, but it depends how much money a grand is to you

That sounds incredibly expensive.. root canal for me, privately, was a shade under £400 if I recall correctly, that was probably 5 or more years ago but even so... £1300 sounds utterly crazy...

Get a second opinion with a different dentist!

I paid £1100 for a root canal and crown last year but I'm glad I didn't have it pulled and I'm a long way from being rolling in money 

I had it done but it was infected 6 months later and had to be pulled. Fortunately it was 20 odd years ago on the NHS.
I would do it again if I had to but that's only because I had so many taken out as a child that I haven't got many left.

Root canal specialists have a much higher chance of success, especially with difficult or infected teeth, but you pay a lot for it. I think it’s worth it since the alternative is losing the tooth. 

Depending on the position, I'd pull it. I had a forward molar pulled and I've never looked back. It was probably salvageable but cost and the work involved put me off.

The gap doesn't really show unless I open my mouth wide, and strangely the space has closed slightly as my teeth seem to have spread apart slightly. Overall this is a good thing as my teeth were impacted at the rear

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.

Also do not Google dry socket. Especially not when you have one, trust me on that 

Pulled out and have a nice holiday.

20 years from now you'll have health issues that make a tooth pull seem like a paper cut and you'll wish you had the memories of a nice holiday instead.

I had a molar pulled about three years ago so now have a hole but I barely notice it. My dentist was trying to "sell" me on a bridge or an implant but both were stupidly expensive, like four to five times what you've been quoted for root canal so a big fat nope from me. 

I also had root canal work on one of my molars but I'm not sure whether it was the one eventually pulled 🤔

I had mine pulled, despite living in the US and being very fortunate to have great company medical/dental cover. my reason was that my dentist advised that after root canal the tooth is dead and it's a matter of time until it needs pulling anyway. as I'm 39 I decided to get it done now and consider implant in future if it bothers me (6 months on and I don't notice (back lower right molar). So it might depend on your age as to whether root canal is permanent fix.

ps, I got dry socket, seriously flipping awful, but filling the hole with ulcer painkiller gel got me through it!

Not sure about the time thing. I had one done when i think about 14-16ish only time i was in enough pain to ask to go to the dentist (husband and wife who were bloody butchers) that was about 35 years ago and its been fine since.

my dentist advised that after root canal the tooth is dead and it’s a matter of time until it needs pulling anyway. <br /><br />

Interesting. I had tooth pain a few years ago. Dentist said one of my front teeth was long dead, there was an abscess and I required root canal surgery. It must have been 25 years after getting an elbow in the face in a football match and the tooth looks fine. I don’t remember what it cost, but we looked at an xray and he said it was borderline that it would work given the size of the hole. Anyway he drilled up in through the back of the tooth and sucked it all out and it’s been fine for the last couple of years. Hopefully it stays that way for a long time!

my dentist advised that after root canal the tooth is dead and it’s a matter of time until it needs pulling anyway. as I’m 39

I broke my two front teeth (longer story) aged maybe 13. I've had various surgeries including having the nerve burnt out of one if not both, they were effectively "dead." I had an abscess behind one treated maybe 15 years ago, that required a root canal through the back of a crown and up, that was proper boak but didn't hurt because Nerve as above.

"a matter of time" is relative I fear. Will it outlive you? I had a rotten premolar (cross-reference to the current 'most pain known' thread), the dentist advised "it's 50:50 whether it's salvageable, what do you want me to to do?" I said, well, try and salvage it then. He did, it jangles occasionally which gives me the fear but it's generally fine.

As a child I was a victim of removing healthy teeth to make space. I had four healthy molars pulled and never* got wisdom teeth. A full adult set is 32, I have 22. I cannot afford to lose more. Fixing over pulling any day. Your repair is £1300, how much is an extraction? The difference is your net cost.

(* - A solitary wisdom tooth erupted around my 50th birthday. It's done little other than give me a sore gum.)

£2600 last year for a tooth with a cracked filling that infected a previous root canal which then had to be cleaned out, redone and a crown fitted.  Ouch.  

Find a good review of a dentist in Poland, Czech Republic or similar. Fly out, get it sorted, come home. Having had dental work done in Czech Republic during a holiday I'd say it was at least as good as UK.

theres some good dentists in cambodia

Pay, I had the same dilemma last year with one at the back and got it pulled, absolute pain missing a tooth.

Judging by what my dentist charges for private work, I'd say it's expensive. The price list does say from £535, so likely will be a bit more.

https://www.mydentist.co.uk/dentists/practices/england/north-east-england/tyne-and-wear/78-dean-road

I'd have it pulled, based on my experiences where a root canal (NHS if it makes a difference?) was no fun and it was only a handful of years before it was pulled anyway.

I have two molars missing from failed root canals (opposite sides) and it causes me no issue.

If it was a 'smile' tooth I might feel differently, but probably not as I couldn't afford that price.

@hooli

I’d put it on a zero percent credit card.

Serious question; does such a thing still exist?

If you can afford it then get it done. 

I had an abscess in my first molar after the canine. It was ten yrs ago and as I’d not got a dentist locally due having moved and people queuing outside for hundreds of meters to register for a local dentist I never got round to it.

cue abscess, lots of pain and a trip to the emergency nhs dentist who was a young Czech girl who drilled it out and patched it up for free I think. I then managed to get an nhs dentist who did the root canal and put a temporary filling on top as he thought he couldn’t get the last bit in the bottom. 11 yrs later and I’ve still got the temp filling and never went back to get the rest done as he closed down.

I keep thinking I need to get it sorted and did register for a new dentist but he said he’d take me on on denplan if I got the thing finally sorted first! Needless to say I haven’t. Yet.

I was in a similar situation years back.
Had my wisdom teeth removed and that exposed some pretty bad decay in one of my other teeth.

The pain was so bad after a freezing nightride then hot bath I seriously thought I was having some kind of a brain hemorrhage. The nerve was exposed and the sudden change in temperature caused the pain.

Went straight to the dentist the next morning for an emergency appointment.
I was given the option of a root filling that might work or removal.
I opted to have it pulled out there and then.
Can't say I've missed it or the three wisdom teeth.

@kramer

I’d put it on a zero percent credit card.
Serious question; does such a thing still exist?

They do

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-0-credit-cards/

Had my root canal and crown done about 2 or 3 years ago on the NHS, a filling had fallen out at the start of COVID lockdown, and i just left it until the pain started, could've had it pulled, but cost wasn't huge and i know i'd hate that gap in the teeth for most things, when you have a bad tooth that hurts you kind of find out how much you use it for chewing and so on!

The price list does say <em style="box-sizing: border-box; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 15.9201px;">from £535

Roughly what I will be paying next month, no NHS available around here, so had to go private. He says a filling is failing in one of the big teeth at the back, cannot be refilled, as the sides are breaking, root canal/crown, around £500.

I was offered a root canal by the lovely but crazy expensive dentist in Cambridge near addenbrookes at about £1500.

I had it done by the lovely dentists in Cottenham for £500 and it's been fine for several years now.

So if no NHS dentists are available and you're paying NI contributions, then there should be a rebate, Shirley?
Paying for something that doesn't exist?

I had mine pulled, didn't even offer/advise another option - did manage to pass out completely whilst it was being pulled, apparently it was quite tricky 😯 only problem I have is occasionally getting a peanut caught in the gap.

I have had both done on the same tooth. Root canal by specialist, nice crown, lots of £s. It lasted 15years then I had to have it pulled*. The gap isn't that bad but I wouldn't want to add more gaps or I would be into dentures to keep the eating even on both sides.

*When I say pulled, what I mean is each root drilled and removed individually but carefully as they were v close to my sinus. They had to check I still had an air seal between mouth and sinus after, but all good thankfully.

OP why are they referring you to a specialist for the root canal, is it a particularly awkward one or is you dentist just not comfortable with it? i've had 3 root canals in the past 20 years, all done on the NHS at considerably less cost.

if you've not had any other teeth pulled / missing, i'd be tempted to just get shot and save the money now and in future costs of repair of the root canal tooth, crown and eventual extraction.

Of the 3 i''ve had done, 2 weren't straight to fitting a crown as there was enough healthy tooth to repair. however this seems to be only a temporary measure and both failed within 5-10 years and then incurred more costs for getting crowns fitted. these also eventually failed and led to extraction and more costs and discomfort.

i am not a dentist, but root canal seems to be a 10-15 year fix with an inevitable extraction at some point. unfortunately i now have 3 gaps where rear molars were, so any more and the next step will be implants - a whole different magnitude of cost and discomfort!

That seems expensive,  think my route canal was about £375.

It depends on the tooth. some are cheaper than others.

Why did your dentist refer you to a specialist?

If your dentist has had a look at the tooth with x-ray or locator, they may have seen that the roots are complex or there's more than they were expecting to see, and doesn't want to do the work. Endodontists are specialists with complex root canals, and will generally do a better job at filling, and you have a more successful outcome, and a stronger tooth to mount a crown on  especially if you need a larger one.

FWIW, I've heard of both more expensive and cheaper, A specialist endo dentist will probs charge £650-750 for the work and crowns (depending on size and quality), can easily get to £600-700, so it doesn't sound outrageous to me. Easiest is obvs pulling it, but you may live to regret it - cosmetically?

had a root canal whilst travelling 20 years ago, the dentist in sydney asked how much my insurance covered me for, i said £1k he got his calculator out and said ok thats Aus$XXXX works out about £975 converted.

it was long and aching, i had a temporary cover/tooth till i got home 8 months later and got a cap.

now i'd probably get it done again, although i cringe thinking about it.

if i was in my seventies maybe not

Dentist doing a root canal is basically going to (obviously) save a lot of money temporarily, but then cost you a lot when it almost inevitably gets reinfected down the line, and you then have to cough up for a proper endo. Would be worth it to save the tooth in a pinch though, then get proper treatment when one can afford it. Pulling a tooth is always worst case. Think of it like knee pain - going straight to knee replacement.

Very good endodontist in Baldock if you're near (easy to find on google). From experience it's something along the lines of £100 consult, ~£800 procedure, if he feels you need a CT scan because it's a complex case/set of roots it's +£200 odd

Then belleglass inlay/onlay is more ideal than a crown if your dentist can offer that, it cuts away less of the tooth. Obviously some teeth are only able to accept a crown. They are about £400 including fitting. I think crown will be similar.

So price wise you're in the ballpark of normal as long as they are very good specialists

I had a root canal done on an upper molar late 2019 - the tooth was badly decayed and not salvageable. Was recommended an endo - root canal specialist - because there was a relatively complex root system and they figured it was the best chance of 'saving' the tooth. It was expensive, but despite all the horror stories you hear about root canals, more uncomfortable and tedious than painful.

My useless NHS dentist then prepared the tooth and fitted a crown that was way too big because she hadn't made the tooth small enough. It was incredibly uncomfortable - tooth contacted before anything else when eating. Long story short, ended up using an expensive, specialist dentist who took the NHS crown off, re-prepped the tooth and fitted a new crown, which has mostly been fine ever since.

I do occasionally wonder if I'd have been better off just having the thing pulled out - financially for sure - but since I didn't, I have no way of knowing. I figured if the root canal failed, I could always go that way regardless, but you can't do it the other way round. An implant seemed like a good option, particularly when the oversized crown was doing my head in, but was very expensive and, also, might not have taken anyway.

I think some of it comes down to how sensitive you are to irregularities/changes in your mouth. In my case, very, apparently. Others not so much. And how much longer you expect to live. 

It all goes back to losing a filling on a mountaineering trip and not really trusting Bolivian dentists. With hindsight, I should have got it fixed back then, but hey.

I figured if the root canal failed

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

i had a porcelain crown done which cost probably about £600 following not long after by an implant for about £2500! (there was also some work to remove a little bit of gum!). the other option was to have them removed which would have left visible gaps. the implant is great. Felt a bit weird initially ( as there is zero feeling from that tooth) but glad i had it done.  It was an expensive year for teeth but worth it in the long run. The dentist offered interest free credit for the work.....i think this is common if you need to spred the cost.

As someone else has said the thing to consider is how likely is the treatment to be successful in the long term. dentist will tell you thins....rather than STW!!!

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.