Dentist screwed up a treatment, I now have a £500 bill!

[Kozy]

Just been to the dentist to arrange having an abcess sorted. Turns out the cause of this abcess was a failed root canal, where the filling did not completely fill the canal and as such allowed a space for bacteria to grow. I now have to shell out nigh on £500 to have this rectified and the treatment is not even guranteed to work.

Somehow, I am thinking this is not exactly fair, why should I have to pay out that much to rectify a problem that is of their doing? Do I have a comeback on this?

[DocJock]

Not the kind of thing you can advise on online Kozy, sorry.

So many factors to consider such as length of time since original root filling, which tooth it is, prognosis prior to original treatment, was the likely success/failure rate explained to you, etc.

With any medical treatment there can never be a 100% guarantee of success.

[dave_s13]

Did you sign a consent form?

If so there will no doubt be a clause stating there is chance the procedure may be unsuccessful.

[Kozy]

That is understandable I guess. The original treatment was about 5 years ago now, the abcess was bought up at my last checkup in June and I was reccomended to do something about it within 6 months. Went in for the consultation today and the dentist pointed out that the problem has arisen due to the original root filling not being completed fully. At the time of the filling, there was no talk of sucess rates or anything, it was supposed to be a straight forward proceedure and there was no warning of the possibility of this sort of thing happening.

For the record, the dental practice is the same, although the dentist in has changed since.

[Driller]

Kozy said:

Just been to the dentist to arrange having an abcess sorted. Turns out the cause of this abcess was a failed root canal, where the filling did not completely fill the canal and as such allowed a space for bacteria to grow. I now have to shell out nigh on £500 to have this rectified and the treatment is not even guranteed to work.

Somehow, I am thinking this is not exactly fair, why should I have to pay out that much to rectify a problem that is of their doing? Do I have a comeback on this?

No root canal treatment is guaranteed to go perfectly well, it's not easy you know!

You may have had a very tightly curved root or a some sort of blockage preventing the dentist from going all the way to the end.

Anyway, even "perfectly" performed root treatments are failures from time to time. Conversely, a treatment which appears diabolical on a radiograph can leave the tooth asymptomatic for the whole life of the patient.

I'm sure the dentist did his best to perform a difficult task.

You also need to consider why you needed root treatment in the first instance. Who's fault was that?

Retreatments are even more difficult and have a very small chance of changing thigs in the long term, so you should perhaps prepare yourself for the worst for your tooth.

[Driller]

Kozy said:

Just been to the dentist to arrange having an abcess sorted. Turns out the cause of this abcess was a failed root canal, where the filling did not completely fill the canal and as such allowed a space for bacteria to grow. I now have to shell out nigh on £500 to have this rectified and the treatment is not even guranteed to work.

Somehow, I am thinking this is not exactly fair, why should I have to pay out that much to rectify a problem that is of their doing? Do I have a comeback on this?

No root canal treatment is guaranteed to go perfectly well, it's not easy you know!

You may have had a very tightly curved root or a some sort of blockage preventing the dentist from going all the way to the end.

Anyway, even "perfectly" performed root treatments are failures from time to time. Conversely, a treatment which appears diabolical on a radiograph can leave the tooth asymptomatic for the whole life of the patient.

I'm sure the dentist did his best to perform a difficult task.

You also need to consider why you needed root treatment in the first instance. Who's fault was that?

Retreatments are even more difficult and have a very small chance of changing thigs in the long term, so you should perhaps prepare yourself for the worst for your tooth.

[blueg33]

Personally I would raise the issue with the practice! Tell them that they have said that it wasnt done properly if thats what the dentist said and ask them to contribute to the cost, say 50%.

I had a similar problem a few years back and had to have a general anesthtic and an operation to fix a failed root filling and its not pleasant.

[Driller]

blueg33 said:

I had a similar problem a few years back and had to have a general anesthtic and an operation to fix a failed root filling and its not pleasant.

How is the dentist's fault that you "had" to have a general anaesthetic?

[DocJock]

Driller said:

No root canal treatment is guaranteed to go perfectly well, it's not easy you know!

You may have had a very tightly curved root or a some sort of blockage preventing the dentist from going all the way to the end.

Anyway, even "perfectly" performed root treatments are failures from time to time. Conversely, a treatment which appears diabolical on a radiograph can leave the tooth asymptomatic for the whole life of the patient.

I'm sure the dentist did his best to perform a difficult task.

You also need to consider why you needed root treatment in the first instance. Who's fault was that?

Retreatments are even more difficult and have a very small chance of changing thigs in the long term, so you should perhaps prepare yourself for the worst for your tooth.

Come on D, cut the guy some slack.
You and I know the difficulties but as far as the OP is concerned he paid up good money to have his problem sorted irrespective of the initial cause.

If he'd been informed of the success/failure rate of the procedure at the time he would probably have been more philosophical about it in his original post.

[Driller]

DocJock said:

Driller said:

No root canal treatment is guaranteed to go perfectly well, it's not easy you know!

You may have had a very tightly curved root or a some sort of blockage preventing the dentist from going all the way to the end.

Anyway, even "perfectly" performed root treatments are failures from time to time. Conversely, a treatment which appears diabolical on a radiograph can leave the tooth asymptomatic for the whole life of the patient.

I'm sure the dentist did his best to perform a difficult task.

You also need to consider why you needed root treatment in the first instance. Who's fault was that?

Retreatments are even more difficult and have a very small chance of changing thigs in the long term, so you should perhaps prepare yourself for the worst for your tooth.

Come on D, cut the guy some slack.
You and I know the difficulties but as far as the OP is concerned he paid up good money to have his problem sorted irrespective of the initial cause.

If he'd been informed of the success/failure rate of the procedure at the time he would probably have been more philosophical about it in his original post.

I'm just tired of all the negative posts about dentists.

What set me going Kozy was where you went "why should I have to pay out that much to rectify a problem that is of their doing?". Nobody deliberately sabotaged the tooth, it was the persistance of bacteria that did it.

Also, if the original treatment was five years ago, by another dentist, things are very complicated.

Besides, is the tooth painful? You may have a chronic root infection which has been walled off by the surrounding tissue. This can often be surveyed with radiographs with no intervention needed and never cause any other problems.

[blueg33]

Driller said:

blueg33 said:

I had a similar problem a few years back and had to have a general anesthtic and an operation to fix a failed root filling and its not pleasant.

How is the dentist's fault that you "had" to have a general anaesthetic?

Well as my new dentist at the same practice said that the root canal had been done badly and to fix it I needed an operation (apasectomy or however you spell it) done by a dental surgeon. This required a general anathestic. So if the dentist had done the job properly I wouldnt have needed a general and I wouldnt have needed the op. If it helps clear it up in your head, the dentist that did my apasectomy was sacked by the partners of the practice.

I guess from your user name you are a dentist, and its fair to protect your profession, but like all professions and trades there will be some who are good and some who are incompetant. So maybe it would be an idea if you took off the rose tinted glasses for a bit and tried to be helpful to the op.

Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 17th September 21:41

Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 17th September 22:08

[Mclovin]

i think it is an industry in much need of regulation......

£500 is nothing, i know someone that had 2 root canals on the same tooth then a ceramic crown and the tooth was split so a write off....he also had 2 root canals in a tooth on the other side of his mouth that failed and ended up having to have an extraction at a cost of £200 then quoted £2,000 for an implant tooth...

i know of someone else joined a dentist in east barnet, told him he didnt want any amalgum fillings due to autism and low and behold he gets home looks in the mirror and he has an amalgum filling in his mouth...someone else i know got charged £80 for a temporary filling that came out in 30 minutes...

[chili1]

I had a similar problem to the OP.
I had a bridge badly fitted by a dentist, resulting in:

Bridge off and root canal = £200
New bridge = £1000

Problem still there.

Bridge off and root canal = £200
New bridge = £1000

Problem still there.

Went to another dentist who said the other dentist had butchered the tooth and there was not a lot he could do to save it (pus and all sorts coming out of gum). In the meantime the infection had spread to the tooth next to it and needed treatment.

Bridge off and tooth out = £400.
Root canal treatment through gum at "whatever its called specialist" in Cardiff = £500.
Implant = £2000.

Problem sorted in the end!

[Driller]

I can't do it, there's just too many of you












If you look back I do try to give help and advice where I can if the person in question asks nicely

[chili1]

I will add, my current dentist is a top bloke. When I was going through the treatment, his words were "I can charge you £500 and do the work, or you can pay £500 to a bloke who does these jobs all day long and teaches these procedures at the dental hospital. Personally I'd go to the specialist".
If I don't need a scrape and polish he doesn't book me in for one.
With the old dentist I needed a filling after every check up. I haven't had a filling in 3 years with the current dentist. Makes you wonder!
As mentioned earlier, there is good and bad in every industry!

[Kozy]

Driller said:

I'm just tired of all the negative posts about dentists.

What set me going Kozy was where you went "why should I have to pay out that much to rectify a problem that is of their doing?". Nobody deliberately sabotaged the tooth, it was the persistance of bacteria that did it.

Also, if the original treatment was five years ago, by another dentist, things are very complicated.

Besides, is the tooth painful? You may have a chronic root infection which has been walled off by the surrounding tissue. This can often be surveyed with radiographs with no intervention needed and never cause any other problems.

Ok I see your point on that, however the original treatment was as a result of having the tooth shattered in a car accident. Hardly my fault through negligence, I otherwise have excellent dental health.

I can appreciate what you are saying, I just assumed 5 years ago when the RC was done that that was it, it was not going to be an ongoing thing as it is clearly about to become.

For the record, the tooth does not hurt in the slightest, it has never given me any cause for concern since having the original treatment, hence why it has been left for so long.

Having an abcess for that period of time, would it be fair to say that there is only slim chance of a recification job working? The dentist mentioned calcium hydroxide to regrow the eroded bone?

[Kozy]

blueg33 said:

Personally I would raise the issue with the practice! Tell them that they have said that it wasnt done properly if thats what the dentist said and ask them to contribute to the cost, say 50%.

I had a similar problem a few years back and had to have a general anesthtic and an operation to fix a failed root filling and its not pleasant.

This is my other option at the hospital, one I was none too enthusiastic about.

What exactly do they do, how long does it take to heal etc?

[blueg33]

Kozy said:

blueg33 said:

Personally I would raise the issue with the practice! Tell them that they have said that it wasnt done properly if thats what the dentist said and ask them to contribute to the cost, say 50%.

I had a similar problem a few years back and had to have a general anesthtic and an operation to fix a failed root filling and its not pleasant.

This is my other option at the hospital, one I was none too enthusiastic about.

What exactly do they do, how long does it take to heal etc?

Ok I will tell you, but dont read whilst eating!

In my case it was an upper tooth. They cut through the gum to give access to the nasal cavity and filled the root of the tooth from insite the nasal cavity. They then stitched the gum back up.

It took a couple of weeks to heal (I was 25) but on the first night i woke up feeling wet and my whole pillow was soaked in blood and my mouth was full of it. It took several tea towels to saok it up. The blood had mixed with mucus in the nasal cavity and the only way out was for it to split the stiches and bleed out through the gum. At 2am waking up in that state was a seriously scary experience.

Strangely it wasnt too painful, not as bad as having wisdom teeth extracted. But it is not something I would want to repeat.

I have to say that I am now 44 and that tooth is stable and has never caused any further issues or problems.

[Kozy]

Well I think I will take the other route first, see how it goes. If the calcium hydroxide doesn't work they will not charge me and refer me onto the hospital, so I won't be too out of pocket if it doesn't work.

I should forward the bill on to my friend who crashed the car!

[Driller]

blueg33 said:

They cut through the gum to give access to the nasal cavity

And that, right there Folks, is what I have been talking about when I have mentioned the facts being somewhat deformed and dentists' characters being assasinated as a result.

Kozy can you not ask your dentist to survey the tooth regularly with a radiograph, if it is not causing you any pain and the "infected" area is perhaps quite tiny? I'm guessing it's a chronic abscess rather than a painful acute one?

ETA Kozy, just seen your reply above. I would suggest that after all that time it would be very difficult to judge if it would make any difference but not impossible so it's a judgement call I'm afraid. Very hard to do on an internet forum as you can understand.

Is it a front tooth?

PS Sorry to have assumed that it was decay when it was the result of something out of your control.

Edited by Driller on Friday 18th September 18:26