Hi,
I'm in the UK. My Mum is 50 years old and has quite regularly visited
the dentist throughout most of her life. Over the last several years my
younger siblings have been reaching particularly expensive phases in
their lives and Mum has held back on dental treatment during this time
as a result.
A few months back she visited the nearby dental hospital and the doctor
there drilled out and put a temporary filling in one of her molars free
of charge at the point of delivery. The doctor then instructed her to
make an appointment with a private dentist for a root canal treatment.

It was a month before the private dentist could be seen initially and
another month before today's first phase of the treatment could take
place. During today's treatment the sound and intact filling inserted
at the hospital 2 months ago was removed, the root cavity was cleaned
out and another temporary filling was inserted. The procedure took 20
minutes and cost the equivalent of 300 UKP per hour. When my Mum was
half way home, the filling fell out. It was a beige chalky material,
rather than the solid plastic-like material of the previous temp
filling.
Mum doesn't want to complain, so she's aiming to just wait for a week
until the next appointment and hope that the rest of the treatment can
proceed as planned.
My question: Should she accept the situation and wait or is the loss of
the filling liable to create a situation where the course of treatment
has to be extended and prolonged?
Regards,
Lila