Asked for Dental NHS Scale and Polish.Told "Go to Hygienist at £25 extra"

brook2jack

If a scale and polish is needed for health purposes eg you have gum disease then whatever treatment is necessary should be done on the nhs this may be band one or two treatment if more in depth scaling needed. If a scale and polish is wanted for cosmetic reasons eg you have tobacco or tea stains then you should be offered private treatment.

FulhamRd

Thanks for a quick reply!
he dentist said that I need a scale and polish, because I've got some plague and stains and that it can harm my gums. Not sure if this can qualify as an absolute clinical necessity though...

suki1964

FulhamRd wrote: »

Thanks for a quick reply!
he dentist said that I need a scale and polish, because I've got some plague and stains and that it can harm my gums. Not sure if this can qualify as an absolute clinical necessity though...

Cancels trip to London:eek::eek::eek:

FairyShazza

When I tried to book a scale and polish at our NHS dentist they told me I have to go to the hygienist and it is £60 a time! I have been recommended to go every three months as well as I have some issues with pockets. I simply cannot afford to go that often - I am a mum with no personal income as I was redundant three days after our son was born - my maternity certificate doesn't cover visits to the hygienist either

Toothsmith

FairyShazza wrote: »

When I tried to book a scale and polish at our NHS dentist they told me I have to go to the hygienist and it is £60 a time! I have been recommended to go every three months as well as I have some issues with pockets. I simply cannot afford to go that often - I am a mum with no personal income as I was redundant three days after our son was born - my maternity certificate doesn't cover visits to the hygienist either

If the dentist has said you NEED the treatment, then they must provide it to you - as an NHS patient - on the NHS. Either by sending you to the hygienist every 3 months or by the dentist giving them a clean and polish at the appropriate frequency. If they refuse this, then you should complain to them (initially) and then to the Primary Care Trust if it needs to go further.

I must say though, that a single paid trip to the hygienist - not so much for a clean up, but for a session where she shows you the problem areas, and which little brushes would be good for getting in there and cleaning them, would probably pay dividends.

It's one thing to have someone else clean them up for you every few months. It's a much better thing if you learn how to keep on top of things better yourself. A few extra minutes spent with toothbrushes each day would save you a heap of time, money and hassle in the future

brook2jack

There are dozens of reasons why you can have red patches in your mouth. They can be there one day and not the next, in other words they may not have been there very long at all and certainly might not have been there at your last check up.

However if you have certain lifestyle habits ie you smoke, drink alcohol , have certain medical history then it makes sense to biopsy lesions early.

Most biopsies are not oral cancer but there are a whole lot of other things a patch may be.

Your dentist was talking about keratosis which is basically thickening of the skin normally either where you are missing teeth or chewing cheeks or because of smoking.

All dental check ups should include all cancer checks. However red and White patches can literally appear overnight. They are diagnosed as precancerous based on appearence, location, biopsy and lifestyle and habits of patient eg smoking, etc

If you have lifestyle issues eg smoke ,drink a fair bit etc then use this as your wake up call and give up. Even if the worst comes to the worst and this is a premalignant lesion making lifestyle changes will take the risk of change right down. The overwhelming chances are it's nothing to worry about except to spur you on to a healthier lifestyle.

brook2jack

However "little" you smoke you massively increase your health risks particularly in the mouth where the smoke has a local effect ie it hits your mouth first and a systemic effect. It stops the immune system working properly in your mouth and decreases the blood supply to your gums.

As I said before a red patch can appear overnight in your mouth. Often these very subtle changes may be deemed significant by one person and not by another. However where they appear and what they look like and the fact you are a smoker has rung alarm bells with the consultant.

The best thing you can do is not to worry but to do something positive and that is give up smoking. Even if this is a precancerous lesion , the best way to get rid of it is to stop smoking , now.

Your dental check up includes a cancer/oral health screen but because it is not mentioned most people do not realise it goes on. However it is always best to remind a dentist you have had a biopsy.

4 normal dental x rays have about the same amount of radiation as a one way flight to Spain. So very,very,very unlikely to cause skin cancer, but smoking again raises your risk by an enormous amount.

brook2jack

The tests you mention are not perfect. The swabs give more false positives than real positives. The voroscope and other dye methods again give more false positives than real positives. So in other words done routinely on everyone they would result in many biopsies that are needless. Their use is controversial. Many common mouth conditions can give results that would appear to be cancerous but are not. Interestingly they are rarely used in hospitals where visual appearence and then biopsy are the gold standard.

I have seen many oral cancers over the years and many precancerous lesions. Everyone has been a smoker. Every one. Some have also been heavy drinkers, but all smoke. The medical histories we use ask about smoking/drinking for this very reason.

I had a very sad case recently of someone who some years ago we referred for a biopsy of a suspicious lesion some years ago. It was nothing to worry about so they continued smoking. More recently they came in and we spotted a tiny lesion at the back of his mouth. It is a cancer which is malignant and will be fatal. They had their warning and didn't act.

Any dentist will tell you there are lots of changes visible in a smokers mouth. Those changes (like keratosis) disappear soon after stopping smoking.

It is far more productive to give up smoking and to stop the behaviour that causes the precancerous lesions than to worry over how to get better screening for those lesions. No test is perfect, no treatment guaranteed. Prevention is the only guarantee. 6 months after stopping smoking your risk for cancer drops almost to normal allowing for other risk factors.

brook2jack

Hpv has certainly been implicated in some types of oral cancer. But there are many types and smoking/drinking/ betel nut /pan use are still thought of as main causes of oral cancer. Always treat with caution medical information recieved on the net and that includes forums.

The one most positive thing you can do for your health is give up smoking. That's not just your oral health although your mouth is the place most exposed to nicoteine etc. Look up smokers keratosis to see what physical cHanges smoking causes in the mouth that is not even cancer (link contains photos http://www.google.co.uk/m/search?q=smoker's+keratosis+pictures&hl=en&client=safari&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=BBGbToqJCMqs8QOoieXgBQ&ved=0CB0QsAQ&biw=320&bih=416)

If you have had hpv infection etc not much you can do about it but compound it by smoking on top........

brook2jack

It is true there are many things bad for your health but in terms of your oral health in terms if gum disease ,oral cancer etc there are few things as bad as smoking apart from the use of pan,chewing tobacco and betel nut.

Eg very few implantologists will place dental implants in smokers because the failure rates are so much higher than in non smokers. The progress of gum disease is more rapid and more destructive in smokers.

The mouth of a smoker undergoes physical changes . These may be the changes your consultant has spotted. Why not give up the cigs and take away a cause of what is worrying you so much now?