Am just back from the dentist. An emergency appt as I have pain, big pain on hot and cold. So after a search to make an appt this side of Christmas I was lucky to get one today at a place that looked more than half decent.

The dentist, a very nice man, did things with air and cold and mapped out the pain in my teeth. Then said I had to make another appt for him to do whatever he had to do. At least 2 fillings replaced, maybe root canal, he couldnt work out which tooth the pain was coming from and he thinks all the teeth are still alive but he is worried about 1 of them. I looked at the xrays with him and can see some caries on the 2 that need fillings replaced, but the nerve he was talking about looked OK to me. Anyway he is the expert and even he wasnt sure. So hopefully changing the fillings will sort it out.

I thought he said I had to have my teeth cleaned before he could do fillings as the gums are angry and it would be easier for him to work, plus keeps th bacteria away from open tooth.

The nurse made me an appt for cleaning and one filling and then she made another for a filling before the cleaning?? I did query it but she said it was ok.

So I have insurance for ordinary work, but not for root canal. I am thinking its going to cost around $2000. Is there such a thing as free/cheap treatment at a dental hospital??

Hopefully there is a forum member with some inside dental knowledge

Bloddy annoying as I look after my teeth, well obviously not. Will have to change my name to gummy batty soon

Hopefully

If you have a private plan, does this not cover 50% of major dental? Most do.

Are root canals just something that happen in Canada?

I'd never heard of them before we moved here.

My boss had one last week. He said it wasn't painful, but left a horrible taste in his mouth

You could try the dental school in Toronto Batty, but even then you'll be paying - probably about half what a dentist would charge. Here's their website. I think any saving would be cancelled out by travel and probably multiple appointments due to much hanging around waiting for clinic supervisors to check work.

If you were closer to here, I know a man who can!

Mine is through college and its 10%, which is pitiful. but more than we had before.
I had one done about 25 years ago, my then dentist said I was too ruddy awkward to do and he sent me to UCH dental school where they took 3 sessions to do it. They were nice, but it was really scary going into the huge hall. I was supposed to get a crown on it, but I could never afford that so have made do with fillings ever since. Each dentist seems to regard it as a challenge.

I'll look at the website thanks. I'd eveb consider driving over to you!

Ooh no, I've had about 4 or 5 I think (lost count) - goes some of the way to explaining my loathing of a dentist chair ... but only some way. I blame the children's NHS 'care' when I was young .....

Tooth pain from a heat source is much worse than from a cold source. It usually means that the tooth is dying. I know because thats what my dentist explained to me when I recently had an abcess. I underwent root canal treatment (2 x 1 hour apointments) and my total bill was $355.20. I paid $88.80 - insurance picked up the rest.

Check with you insurance provider and get an estimate from your dentist.

Hope its a lot less painful on your pocket than you are anticipating.

That sounds a lot less, you are right there. I was also thinking of having to have crown too. I asked them for a price list but they didnt have one

Here's where I plug Sensodyne toothpaste.

Not just for brushing. My dentist recommended it and suggested rubbing a little into the teeth each night. I did it following some treatment over a year ago. It seemed to help but then got out of the habit.

A month ago I began to get some sensitivity in a couple of teeth. It actually felt like a filling or two had fallen out. Hot/Cold sensitivity, slightest pressure hurting etc.

I had a bad cold and one isn't supposed to go to the dentist with a cold. I started to apply the sensodyne again each night, it gradually eased and it doesn't bother me at all now. This time I'll keep applying it at bedtime.

It really does work for me.

Yes-can-do is correct, sensitivity to heat is a tipoff that the nerve is going bad. Did the dentist do a percussive test? (Tap firmly on the tooth). If that is painful it's another sign of a bad nerve.

If there's a dental school nearby, they might offer treatment at a discount. Won't be a 100% discount, though. Teeth that have had RC treatment really should be crowned, because removing the nerve ultimately weakens the tooth and increases the chance of fracture otherwise.

Not a dentist, but have spent many hours in the chair. Proud owner of 28 crowns.

I had to have on in England last year; I suspect you rarely hear of them because the NHS pretty much seemed to go by a policy of 'fill it or pull it', rather than doing expensive treatments like that.

Certainly my private dentist in the UK was a thousand years ahead of the NHS dentist I had as a kid in the 80s.

he did a thing with air and a cold thing test, something white in the end of a metal stick thing. No drumming or tapping

Its ok if i eat on that side tho, as long as its not hot or cold. Have been doing the sensodyne thing, always use that toothpaste along with a battery toothbrush.

$2,000 for a root canal? If you're charged that you're definitely in the wrong place even for an expensive dentist. A root canal takes little in the way of consumables for a dentist, just some drilling and some filing. Two 40 minute appointments or an hour and a bit appointment should do a root canal for a normal tooth. I had one done in the UK privately and it was two appointments to do with a temporary filling in between. Definitely not the unpleasant experience people say it is.

I'm having to have an extraction, a bone heal, a peg graft put in and then a false tooth put in for nearly $4,000, but that's a long set of procedures with some expensive parts. Root canal even at Canadian prices shouldn't cost you more than $500 I'd have thought, and even then that's probably pricey.

Standard price for root canal in Canada would be closer to $1200.

Batty did the $2000 quote include a crown.

I had a root canal plus crown and a cleaning in 2006 total bill $2400 no insurance coverage.

In all fairness, my NHS dentist in the UK now is a thousand years ahead of the NHS dentist I had as a kid