Dentist - Mini filling? Bit of a story..

skunkwerx

Alright all. 

EDIT: Tbh I think I'm just anxious about the dentist and wanted to talk lol. 

I've finally found a dentist willing to take me on as an NHS patient after almost 2 years of looking. 

Funnily enough its the same practice I went to 2 years ago for a private check up. 

Anyway. 

I went for the initial consultation which nowadays is nothing more than a visual check and an xray. 

The first and main issue is I have a wisdom tooth with a big hole in it at a crap angle right at the back of my mouth thats fully grown out into my cheek. It doesnt hurt yet.

2 years ago a dentist at the same practice told me as I knew, that it needed to be removed. He said he couldnt do it because its complex, awkward angle and likely to break mid procedure. Referral to hospital was the solution. But privately he said it may cost £1,500-£2,000 so, yeah never going to happen. 

The new dentist (same practice) said she thought she could do it, which really put me off to be honest.

She said, if its going to break, it will break at a point where she will abandon the procedure, prescribe me anti biotics and then refer to hospital. Meanwhile I have a half broken and fucked with wisdom tooth in my mouth.. going into my cheek for however long.

I told her no, because if one dentist 2 years ago wouldnt touch it, then I'd rather just be referred to nhs hospital to have the ordeal done at least in one day. 

I really get nervous with dental stuff... 

So £70 odd and shes referred me, could be 12-14 months though. Fine as its not hurting. 

Then she said I should go to the hygienist for £85 odd. Again fine, my teeth havent been cleaned by a dentist for probably 10 years since whenever they stopped doing it as part of a check up. She also said I have the beginnings of gum disease so, ok fine. 

The final part is that she said I have a small cavity in one tooth. Small enough that I would not be able to have a filling on the 'NHS'. 

She said I have two options. 

1. Wait for the cavity to get worse until I can get it on the nhs cost. 

2. Pay for a private 'mini filling' at £65. 

She said its basically a filling but they use smaller drills. 

I thought prevention is better so agreed and paid a £30 deposit. Figuring I could leave it then have to pay nhs cost for a filling in however long, at probably the same or similar cost. 

The mini filling is tomorrow.. but I tried googling and really couldnt find much about it. I found something on temporary fillings.. which the dentist did not mention that it would be temporary.. because if it is I would have not bothered, and opted to wait for a proper filling. 

I guess it is dentists discretion as to how bad it needs to get before I can pay the nhs price and have a proper filling.. and the whole wisdom tooth thing above kinda didnt inspire my confidence in them to be honest.. now I'm wondering if theyre trying it on. 

A second opinion would be pointless because the cost of it would be the same as just paying for the bloody mini filling and it would save another days holiday needing to be taken. 

Anyone had experience of this?

victorludorum

Are the mini-fillings the ones they do without any anaesthetic because it makes them cheaper?

skunkwerx

victorludorum said:

Are the mini-fillings the ones they do without any anaesthetic because it makes them cheaper?

I hope not lol. 

skunkwerx

Thinking about it, she did give me the choice of leaving it. It wasnt pushed on me. 

Philly_Q

Nothing very useful to add, I've never heard of a mini filling as such, and I don't understand why it's too small for the NHS - I'd have thought you either need a filling or you don't!  But I'm sure it won't be a temporary - temp fillings are made of some rubbish crumbly polyfilla type stuff and they're only meant to last a short time.

This does remind me I need to see a dentist.  I was with the same NHS dentist for 30-odd years but they dumped me during the Covid lockdowns, which seemed a bit unfair since they were the ones cancelling appointments, not me.  I guess I'll have to go for some kind of private plan.

boogieman

skunkwerx said:

victorludorum said:

Are the mini-fillings the ones they do without any anaesthetic because it makes them cheaper?

I hope not lol. 

A decent dentist should be able to do small fillings without injections, as long as the drill doesn’t go deep enough to touch the nerve you’d be fine. The last couple of fillings I had were done without anaesthetic and tbh the injections always bothered me more than the drilling. 

Kittyfrisk

My dentist regularly does drilling & filling without anaesthetic. It can be a bit uncomfortable sometimes, depending on sensitivity etc. but no problems so far.
No drooling afterward too, although that's something I'm fairly used to these days with getting older... 
I agree with @Philly_Q  the NHS doesn't have a mini fillings category, you either need a filling or you don't.

victorludorum

Jokes aside, she just sounds like a good saleswoman, but as you say, with teeth prevention is better than cure so getting it done now is a good idea. Clean at least twice a day and floss (once) and you should be ok in terms of the gum disease. In terms of the wisdom tooth, go to hospital and have it removed under a general anaesthetic. Soup for a day or so and you'll be laughing afterwards.

marxski

Mini filling = small filling. If I’m not mistaken it’s just the tier system NHS pricing use. So it’s the cheapest filling there is. My instinct would be just to go for it because at some point the small filling will become larger and the next tier up.

Kittyfrisk

marxski said:

Mini filling = small filling. If I’m not mistaken it’s just the tier system NHS pricing use. So it’s the cheapest filling there is. My instinct would be just to go for it because at some point the small filling will become larger and the next tier up.

Yes, but the dentist had said that it wasn't available on the NHS, when clearly it is.
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/how-much-will-i-pay-for-nhs-dental-treatment/

The final part is that she said I have a small cavity in one tooth. Small enough that I would not be able to have a filling on the 'NHS'. 

She said I have two options. 

1. Wait for the cavity to get worse until I can get it on the nhs cost. 

2. Pay for a private 'mini filling' at £65. 

skunkwerx

Kittyfrisk said:

marxski said:

Mini filling = small filling. If I’m not mistaken it’s just the tier system NHS pricing use. So it’s the cheapest filling there is. My instinct would be just to go for it because at some point the small filling will become larger and the next tier up.

Yes, but the dentist had said that it wasn't available on the NHS, when clearly it is.
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/how-much-will-i-pay-for-nhs-dental-treatment/

The final part is that she said I have a small cavity in one tooth. Small enough that I would not be able to have a filling on the 'NHS'. 

She said I have two options. 

1. Wait for the cavity to get worse until I can get it on the nhs cost. 

2. Pay for a private 'mini filling' at £65. 

Thats what confused me also. Still, it looks like its cheaper than a band 2 for a 'regular' filling. 

We shall see, I'll ask exactly what I've agreed to tomorrow after its done lol. 

Danny1969

I paid £265 a few months ago to have a tooth removed and one filled. The filling fell out so at 54 years old I still don't have any fillings but I am one tooth down.
I actually rang the dentist earlier to have it done again so there goes another £160 or so on Wednesday 

merlin

Fucking PRS weilding con artist. 

victorludorum

Danny1969 said:

I paid £265 a few months ago to have a tooth removed and one filled. The filling fell out so at 54 years old I still don't have any fillings but I am one tooth down.
I actually rang the dentist earlier to have it done again so there goes another £160 or so on Wednesday 

Surely the dentist should be re-doing it free of charge if it fell out after a few months?

Danny1969

victorludorum said:

Danny1969 said:

I paid £265 a few months ago to have a tooth removed and one filled. The filling fell out so at 54 years old I still don't have any fillings but I am one tooth down.
I actually rang the dentist earlier to have it done again so there goes another £160 or so on Wednesday 

Surely the dentist should be re-doing it free of charge if it fell out after a few months?

Mmm well I shall certainly try and get it done for nothing. I'm not really a big user of my teeth really. Don't eat meat or things you have to tear and chew. Fave food is literally noodles. soup and veg curry. 

DefaultM

I've had a sideways wisdom tooth out on the NHS. He drilled through the top (so the side) until it was split in to 2 pieces, then pulled them out really easy. He filmed it for his students, so I've got a copy somewhere. 

Shrews

Dentists are almost as bad as vets for daylight robbery. That said, when you get an abscess you'd happily pay a small fortune just to get rid.

I recently had a tooth extracted (back molar next to my wisdom tooth), it cost £250. My NHS dentist couldn't do it - what do they teach them at dentistry school nowadays? Anyway, I took the course of antibiotics then saw this guy from a private company - he said he only did extractions - but he was brilliant. He said it might be possible to save it with a root fill, but no guarantee, so I asked for him to remove it. 5 minutes later after some anaesthetic it was gone.

There's a pretty big hole there now but it's ok and no problems eating anything.

I've had three adult teeth removed now, plus one root fill, all performed by my old private dentist except this latest one. My NHS dentist of the last 10 years is ok for check-ups but I wouldn't trust him with anything more than that and I don't think he trusts himself either, hence the recent referral. 

I think the NHS dentists make their money through check-ups, hygienists and small fillings. Anything more complex and someone else can have the hassle.

victorludorum

Danny1969 said:

victorludorum said:

Danny1969 said:

I paid £265 a few months ago to have a tooth removed and one filled. The filling fell out so at 54 years old I still don't have any fillings but I am one tooth down.
I actually rang the dentist earlier to have it done again so there goes another £160 or so on Wednesday 

Surely the dentist should be re-doing it free of charge if it fell out after a few months?

Mmm well I shall certainly try and get it done for nothing. I'm not really a big user of my teeth really. Don't eat meat or things you have to tear and chew. Fave food is literally noodles. soup and veg curry. 

I would certainly be demanding that, unless he gave you fair warning before that the filling might not hold. Dentists sometimes do this when they're trying to give you a cheaper option that they're not sure will work.

yocky

Don't go for the full anesthetic

Iamnobody

Danny1969 said:

victorludorum said:

Danny1969 said:

I paid £265 a few months ago to have a tooth removed and one filled. The filling fell out so at 54 years old I still don't have any fillings but I am one tooth down.
I actually rang the dentist earlier to have it done again so there goes another £160 or so on Wednesday 

Surely the dentist should be re-doing it free of charge if it fell out after a few months?

Mmm well I shall certainly try and get it done for nothing. I'm not really a big user of my teeth really. Don't eat meat or things you have to tear and chew. Fave food is literally noodles. soup and veg curry. 

There’s a 12 month guarantee. Just make sure you remind them! 

Philly_Q

Shrews said:

I think the NHS dentists make their money through check-ups, hygienists and small fillings. Anything more complex and someone else can have the hassle.

Just trying to remember the recent news stories about how hard it now is to find an NHS dentist, I think there's an element that the NHS doesn't pay them enough to adequately cover the costs of complex work, but I may have that wrong.
(I have PRS guitars, but I'm not a dentist.)