Paying extra for crown preparation.

[Roy]

I recently had an old crown break off leaving the stump and post in place. In preparation for a new crown my NHS dentist attempted to remove the post but was unsuccessful and referred me to another practice who had more specialist equipment. This was done yesterday but being a private practice I had to pay £140 to have the post xrayed and removed.

Crowns are included under Band 3 course of treatment (£244.30) but is it right that I had to pay an additional £140 to have the old post removed – is this preparation not covered by the NHS treatment for crowns?

Thanks
Roy