Endodontist Root Canal

Kaisr Sose

I have to have a Root Canal procedure on a molar tooth. My dentist said he would refer me to an Endodontist who would be in touch. They have just quoted €1,175. It will be performed in one visit, under local anaesthetic. It much more than I thought.

I was expecting €600-800 but this seems a lot. Any views on the quote? Going to Budapest would make sense at these prices. I lived in Switzerland for a while and the Swiss go there for major work due to sky high prices there.

I had emergency treatment on it so done if the work is already done (temp filling in place and infection treated)

Marty Bird

I paid €850 for a root canal in 2021 was done over two visits.

Kurooi

I recently paid €1100 for a root canal in Ireland, this was though 2 visits with microscope, 3 scans . Difficult job similar to yourself my usual dentist decided to refer me out to someone that does these specifically.

But that case was special. I've normally paid €600-800 range for root canals as you expected. The regular stuff. I'm a bit surprised it's just one visit for you even with the infection cleared.

I'm just a regular Joe by the way, not a dentist or anything related.

Luna84

I just got a molar pulled two weeks ago. Best option I thought. Wasn't too bad kind of like getting a large tattoo where you are glad when it's finished.

Flinty997

Any I've got were two visits.

dublin49

i paid 800 this January and 800 for crown , ouch

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122032498#Comment_122032498

Thanks

I have not been told it requires special treatment. The person that phoned me was going on about their experience, equipment including microscopes (which you expect them to have). I just said, I expect you have the skills and technical equipment.

I asked for a written quote and it confirmed one visit. I expected two. There is no mention of a filling. Maybe I have to return to my own dentist for that.

Anaki r2d2

I had a root canal done in Ireland in a very reputable dentist for 800e. That was it. No extra charges. They drill into the tooth, extract the root and pulp, bleach the cavity, then place a filling and your done.

Root canal might have been a big deal years ago, its no big deal now. Wisdom teeth out is 10x worse.

I had 2 follow up calls to see how I was. 5 min walk away if there was an issue.

Hibernicis

Regarding the cost, tax relief is usually allowed in respect of Endodontics. For anyone paying income tax amounts to a significant reduction.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122032938#Comment_122032938

Was that one visit and done by Endodontist ? From my research, an Endodontist seems to be the best way to go. They specialise, so more routine to them.

Consensus so far is €1,175 is expensive unless it's specialised or difficult. I was not told it was either of those.

Anaki r2d2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122032974#Comment_122032974

Yeah. It was not a ☺ dentist chain.

Dentist appointment, followed by a 45 min, one and done session with a root canal specialist.

BUT I paid 800e in 2020, before all of the stuff that pushed prices up. 1200 might be OK for here.

What do i know🤐

Kaisr Sose

That chain with a happy name has different prices across sites. None are close to what the price I was quoted. 375 increase would exceed inflati by a lot Would you mind sending the name of where you got yours by PM.

Glad the pain is gone as it was intense and I was bushed with the infection.

holliehobbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122032965#Comment_122032965

You also get 20% tax relief on root canals done by a regular dentist.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033002#Comment_122033002

It has nothing to do with inflation, the other poster’s root canal was done by a Dentist, you were quoted for treatment by a specialist Endodontist. You weren’t told it was difficult by the Endodontist, but you were told it would need a specialist referral by your Dentist, because it is difficult.

Endodontists, like other service providers set their fees based on costs, time, skill set, experience etc. The price you were quoted is likely the flat fee charged for treatment of that type of tooth. And is pretty much what Endodontists charge, you will have to consider paying for the specialist treatment, looking for a less expensive alternative provider but with the risk of a reduced prognosis (€800 may be cheaper for treatment, but it will be money gone if the treatment fails, your Dentist’s records will record that you were advised/referred to a Specialist to have it treated), or, you can consider alternative treatment options.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033388#Comment_122033388

Thanks for your reply. That poster said it was not done by their dentist. It was a root canal specialist. I got that information from asking if it was a dentist or a Endodontist. From the reply, I assumed it was an Endodontist not a dentist.

How can you say it's a dentist from the same facts? I was not told it was difficult by my dentist. They just referred me to a specialist.

The Endodontist clinic says this will take an hour. So, €1,175 reflects an hour of time, skill, experience at this practice? Thats a lot of cost for one hour..

However, you say I may also get that same time skill and experience from another similarly qualified and experienced Endodontist for less. Is that not the point of the post? Other qualified Endodontists charge less for the same routine procedure (for an Endodontist). This quote appears high, and you seem to agree with that.

You kind of make it out to be some endodontists are/may be better than others. I have no guarantee of the level of competence before hand. Everyone, including my own Dentist can be informed afterwards if there are no/are complications. As a member of the public we can't know what we are paying for, whether it's €800 or €1,175. What I do know is cheapest is not always worst, and dearest is not always best.

I am going to contact my own dentist and ask about the quote and for another referral. I cant just pay out that sort of money and not be certain the quote is justified. It does not appear to be the going rate.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033788#Comment_122033788

That is around the going rate, all Endodontists do not charge the same for the same treatment as that may lead to an accusation of cartelling. But God bless Mary Harney, she made it a legal requirement for Dentists to display prices, which most now do on websites, so it is very simple for both patients, and practitioners to see what the going rate is by spending a few minutes online.

toothy

Registered just for this

Had similar experience last year, my then dentist botched a filing and damaged my tooth in the process which then shattered one evening while having something to eat.

A very pretty younger blonde lady she had taken over the practice and just wasn't as skilled as the man who had retired, I obviously did not know this at the time.

I went back into her and she denied all responsibility for it and used air to confirm root and nerve were exposed.

Her 'solution' was to refer me to a traveling orthodontist who came to town once a month and worked out of a rented room in another practice. For the root canal work he wanted €1,200 and €500 for the crown thereafter

I rang the orthodontist anyway and asked some questions about infection and where would I go if I had any problems, to which they said they'll be no problems,

But what if I do, oh you can go to your own dentist, but she referred me to you, can I come to your main practice, X doesn't have a practice

You need to make an appointment as X is going back to India for 2 months

So what happens if I have a problem while he's in India, oh you won't but how will you know there's no infection, oh there won't be, you can always book another appointment when he comes back from India

I didn't like any of this and sure enough, tooth went ballistic and I ended up in Dental hospital

With all the pain and trauma I went fook this I'm going to an old white protestant male dentist

He did the root canal over 5 visits, an extra visit because there was and extra root and an infection flare up, it cost 150 each time and included the crown at the end

Zardoz

1175 euro , thats extortion.

I had 3 of them down by a specialist 10 years ago, cost 700 per tooth at the time and I thought that was expensive then.

Everyone of the root canals was a failure from day one, untold pain.

I dont think they work well on molar teeth, they are ok on teeth with less roots.

You'd get an implant for similar price now, thats what I ended up getting, the root canals were a complete waste of time and money.

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122034045#Comment_122034045

I'm going to an old white protestant male dentist

Where do you live? White protestant?

toothy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035027#Comment_122035027

I went up the North.

Infoseeker1975

I had one in Nov 2023, referred to endodontist, cost was €900 & it was completed over 2 trips. I have private health insurance but it did not cover this so all I could recover was €180.

After this; 2 options → get rid of tooth or get a crown, I went for the crown and this will cost around €650, again this is 2 trips as the first one gets the setting for the crown which is produced by a lab, turnaround time is 3 weeks - I am at the last step now!!

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122034278#Comment_122034278

Thanks. Its interesting to have that perspective. I know its better to keep the tooth, but extraction and crown you would be done with it. I had no idea it would be less than the root canal.

My quote makes no ref. to a filling or a crown. I know the latter would be extra but former should be included ?

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035321#Comment_122035321

I dont follow the 2 options. Did the tooth crack/break ruling out the filling ?

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035731#Comment_122035731

Root canal treatment involves removal of the centre part of the tooth leaving it weaker after the root canal than it was before. This leaves the tooth more susceptible to fracture after a root canal if it is just restored with a filling. A crown is advisable to protect the tooth from fracture.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035754#Comment_122035754

That makes sense. Strangely, none of this information has been shared with me by either the dentist or even more strangely, the specialist endodontist. There is no mention of filling or crown (I know a crown is extra). I find it bizarre I get a detailed breakdown/ pitch about how skilled they are and how amazing their equipment is, and nothing about filling or crown

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035791#Comment_122035791

The endodontist hasn’t seen you yet, the Dentist doesn’t yet know how much of the tooth will remain after the root canal is completed and whether a crown will be necessary. Though certainly the possibility/advice to have one should have been discussed.

Kaisr, typically the Endodontist advises when discussing the treatment with you whether a filling/crown is indicated. It will be up to you to decide if you want a crown. A root canal treatment attends to the pain/infection, a crown on the other hand attends to the structure of the tooth.

On re-reading your op, I unfortunately missed the part where you said you had emergency treatment on it and the infection treated. This suggests your dentist has done the first stage of the root canal treatment and removed the nerves before placing a temporary filling, is this correct? If so, that is the first stage/visit of the root canal treatment and the Dentist would have been able to asses how difficult a root filling it is, whether it needs a Specialist to complete it, and also explains why there is only one visit with the Endodontist. The root canal is being done in two visits, the first was with your own Dentist on emergency.

As a dentist, I agree root canal with an Endodontist can be prohibitively expensive, I wish they were cheaper, but unfortunately they aren’t and these guys are booked up for months, so they obviously have patients willing to pay it. A root canal, even when done by a Specialist is still considerably cheaper and less invasive than an implant, so if you can hold onto your tooth, you should strongly consider it. A Dentist may be able to do it cheaper, maybe even nearly as good a job as an Endodontist, but it will not be done to the same standard and you may have to wait years to find out the difference, or it may happen straight away. If a root canaled tooth lasts for example 10 years, how many take aways, or haircuts would you have during that period?

When it comes down to it, no one can force you to have the treatment, or to pay for the highest standard of treatment you can get, you may decide to lose the tooth or have a less qualified person do it, I’ve had a couple of these myself unfortunately, and even though I have colleagues to are very good at doing root canals, mine have been done by an Endodontist.

PmMeUrDogs

I paid 4,000 for two last year, both with crowns.

Kaisr Sose

@Dav010

Yes I had emergency treatment but not with my dentist. I am not sure the emergency treatment went to nerve removal. They just drilled, put in some meds and temp filled to deal with infection/pain. I was hoping the fee for the root canal would reflect that some work already done and infection cleared up.

There is a bit more to how I ended up needing emergency treatment. You may be interested to read..

Last December or early Jan this year, I felt something was not right with upper tooth (not pain, just a feeling pressure/discomfort/awareness of the tooth, only when chewing) and made appointment to see my dentist. Looking back, I was also feeling quite tired all the time. I attended in late Jan. They quickly said the problem was an old filling in lower jaw that should be replaced. Unfortunately, I did not say, no it's the upper and they never checked around or tapped that tooth. Just latched in to the older filling as the cause.

On leaving I realised my error in not saying hang on, it's the upper. It may not have changed the outcome but would have resulted in less pain and other issues for me.

I made an appointment to have lower tooth refilled two months later and planned to tell the dentist then the problem was the upper tooth, and they need to look at it. I never got to sit back in that chair.

A week before that appointment (almost two months later) the upper tooth began to throb for no obvious reason. I left two messages over two days for the dentist saying first, I was in a lot of pain, second extreme pain. I got no replies to my messages. It then got even worse. I had not slept properly in 2 days and even strong painkiller were not working. Anti inflammatory meds (vitafen) I had left over were much better. My whole upper jaw and cheek on one side was sore, my ear was aching and tender, and my sinus was all blocked up /infected. I also had a bad sinus infection in Feb. I was exhausted all the time. Not like me.

Now I think all that was linked to the tooth. Since the antibiotics for the infection, I feel so much better and not exhausted all the time.

I know it can be difficult to find /diagnose an abscess.. At the time I was very unhappy that having attended in Jan with a problem, it was totally overlooked, and ultimately caused me a lot of other problems. Its probably just bad luck.

toothy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035876#Comment_122035876

That's quite an indictment of the skill level of dentists. The story was always Irish dentists were inferior to their contemporaries. What I never expected was for an actual dentist to confirm it.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122036941#Comment_122036941

You understand that there is a distinction between a General Dentist and a Specialist in a particular discipline of dentistry? It would be inconceivable that after four additional years of post graduate study, that there wouldn’t be a higher skill level in endodontics, what would be the point of post graduate studies/Specialist registers if there wasn’t?. If I can use an analogy which may make it simpler for you to understand, if you have a heart condition, just because you see a cardiologist isn’t a reflection on the ability of your GP.

Incidentally, an orthodontist straightens teeth, and the gender/colour/religion of the dentist has no bearing on their ability.

Kaisr Sose

@Dav010

Thats a good analogy on the GP and Cardiologist.