Root filling - specialist or dentist?

[TooManyFillings]

I'm in the UK - I've always had my root fillings (more than ten of them over the years) done by a private root canal specialist who I know and trust - I may soon need a root filling in a premolar. However, the private prices are rising steeply and my dentist will do the treatment for free as part of my dental plan.

However, is a general dentist going to do as good as job as a specialist who does nothing but root canal fillings? Obviously the specialist has more advanced equipment for that particular job and I do appreciate that the skills of dentists are going to vary when it comes to root fillings. (And speaking of advanced equipment, the specialist has a device which ensures they she doesn't drill too deep, she also measures the depth of the canals and 'drills out' the pulp with very small, fine hand operated 'drill bits' of specific lengths, etc. (Sorry I don't know the names). I'm guessing that my dentist doesn't have such equipment, she'll just 'drill and fill').

My dentist is very good but she's only ever done normal fillings for me as well as crowns and various other bits of repair work. She states that she can do root canals.

So I'm a bit uncertain and, being a nervous patient, I'm after a bit of general advice while bearing in mind that you of course don't know the specialist or the dentist.

I should point out that I'm not dissing my dentist, she's great, I'm just nervous of changing but I'm also trying to save myself some money while ensuring that I still get a good root filling.

Thanks

 

[Gordon]

I'm guessing that my dentist doesn't have such equipment,

That's a rather massive assumption, quite a lot of general dentists use this kind of kit, it makes the whole process much quicker and more reliable, which is a big plus when you're working under NHS payments It's not actually that expensive (in dental equipment terms that is!).

A fairly routine root canal is easily within the remit of a general dentist, since I've no idea what yours is like that's the best I can say I'm afraid.

 

[TooManyFillings]

Thanks Gordon, appreciate your feedback. Apologies for making assumptions but that harkens back to the time when I started going to the specialist for root canals and the difference in equipment levels compared to the dentist that I had at the time (which is a different practice to my current one).