Is what my dentist says right or am i been ripped off

dithedancer

over eight weeks ago i went to the dentist complaining of my very wobbly teeth and continual abcesses. i seem to be always there and they seem very reluctant to do anything other than pull the odd one. i was left with 3 on top and 5 on the bottom. i insisted i saw a different dentist. he said when he examined me that they should all come out. At last i thought that someone was listening to me. he explained that if i went NHS that i would have to wait 6 weeks for my dentures or go private and for £209 they could be fitted the same day they came out . so i plumbed for private. I had my impressions done and then came the big day. but he only took out 1 tooth. i asked him about the others and he said they were flapping in the wind but that i needed them to help keep in my new dentures. i was not happy and told him that i would probably be back within 3 weeks as i could not bite properly due to them been so loose. i was right 3 weeks and 2 abcesses later i was back. he agreed to pull the other teeth. he hurt me a lot saying that they where all infected. i also told him about the lack of the gum piece at the front of my new dentures telling him that when i bite down on the softest foods they tip forward due to there been no leverage and no amount of poligrip. he said this would be fitted later when the swelling had gone down. he did not again pull all my teeth he has left me with 2 fangs, which i have already had an abcess on, and a very sensitive molar all at the bottom, i look like a wart hog when i have not got my teeth in. he charged my £48 too. this week i went for my check up he told me that the gums were not yet even enough to do further treatment. i asked him when they were even enough would the gum piece be added he then said i would have to pay another £209 pounds for another set. i feel like i have paid for something that is only partly finished and have to pay again for the job to be completed or is this normal practice. i dont want to make a fuss if im wrong.

Mrs_Arcanum

As a denture wearer I know how long it takes for your gums to settle. They are swollen when the teeth first come out and really the dentist should have advised you of everything along the way. The only way to get dentures to fit first off is to let your gums settle, then have a wax version made which they then test for fit before the permanent set is made.

Does seem like your dentist did not explain fully what was required and the problems you could have and the need to keep some teeth to keep the denture in, therefore giving you the chance to say no and get the lot taken out first off.

This is one time given all the problems you have when it really would have been better to live with just gums for a few weeks.

dithedancer

thanks for your reply. i would have gone toothless, i find nothing wrong with doing this if needed and there have been times when i have because my dentures would not go in due to the abcesses. but i need them in to go to work and cant keep phoning taking holiday days.

Mrs_Arcanum

dithedancer wrote: »

thanks for your reply. i would have gone toothless, i find nothing wrong with doing this if needed and there have been times when i have because my dentures would not go in due to the abcesses. but i need them in to go to work and cant keep phoning taking holiday days.

Here you just need to be brave and say stuff it for work & go in, teeth or no teeth. With your issues I am sure everyone is aware you have dental problems & most will be very sympathetic. I once did a TV interview with a piece of gum in place of a missing tooth from the front of my denture. :rotfl:

dithedancer

Ha ha, was it black gum or white?, may be i could invest in some fake fangs from the joke shop. did you have to pay twice in the space of a year for your dentures though?

Mrs_Arcanum

dithedancer wrote: »

Ha ha, was it black gum or white?, may be i could invest in some fake fangs from the joke shop. did you have to pay twice in the space of a year for your dentures though?

Fortunately no, but I am on a Dental plan and lost all my front teeth through abscesses at 17 & got crowns. Lucky to get them replaced when I was pregnant then DS knocked out one of the front ones so had a plate from then. Did get a load of treatment including teeth out costing £500 in the early 90s. :eek: My plate is only a partial and still cost me £170 last time.

dithedancer

poor you, not much fun when your so young having dentures or crowns i bet you felt conscious of not having the originals. i wouldn't have minded so much if i was told about it, but he's seems to be telling me one thing and then doing another not giving me time to save up for my next set. if he had told me at the start i could have budgeted for it.

Toothsmith

Getting down to no teeth sometimes takes a few stages, and without seeing you it would be impossible to say whether the way this dentist went about it was right or wrong.

I don't know why you couldn't have an immediate denture on the NHS, but the price you were charged (£209) is the same as the NHS charge would have been for the same thing, so I'm not sure if you have heard correctly what was planned or suggested.

Before a dentist (or a Dr or a surgeon) does anything to a patient they need to obtain 'informed consent'. This means that the patinet understands exactly what is going to happen to them, the advantages of the proposed treatment, the disadvantages of the proposed treatment, possible complications of the proposed treatment, and any alternative treatments.And - where relevent - the costs of all the treatments.

It is up to the clinician to satisfy themselves that the patient has understood everything that is proposed, and it is the responsibility of the clinician to explain everything in a way that the patient can understand.

From reading your post, it seems quite apparent that you have not really understood everything that was planned. Or - that somewhere along the line, the plans had to change and you were not informed properly of why.

Initial dentures, made to o in straingth after the teeth have been removed, can often look a bit strange, and not like you would imagine a denture to look like, because the fresh sockets aren't the same shape as healed up gum.

So the initial denture often has to be modified over the first few weeks/months, and then, replaced a few months later.

So - I don't think you're being ripped off. But I don't think your dentist has been very good at making you aware of just whats going on, and why.

dithedancer

thanks for the explanation. but why leave in teeth in if its obvious that they will have to be removed very soon afterwards, starting the process again.

welshdent

You don't always have to start again. Transitional dentures are ones made knowing other teeth will be lost soon but they allow you to get used to them and then have subsequent ones added on as needed. Once things settle a new final set can be made on a more stable base

brook2jack

Full dentures are a nightmare. Particularly full lower dentures. They take practice and muscle control to use and even then many people never get used to them.

It is good practice not to take all the teeth out in one go but make a temporary plate and add teeth to it gradually. Gum takes 6 weeks to heal , bone 6 months and in general your final set of dentures should not be fitted until a few months after the last extraction.

Even if you had all your teeth out in one go as the gum healed you would need adjustments you would need to pay for and a new denture you would need to pay for.

So yes you would appear to be treated and charged correctly as a nhs patient.

Unfortunately many people do not understand with immediate dentures they are only temporary, will need adjusting and replacing at extra cost so staging removing teeth doesn't add much to the cost but helps with the difficult adjustment to full dentures.