NHS and white fillings?

welshdent

Sparklyfairy wrote: »

Ok, my "bad!" I should have put "placing" instead..



The same can be said for you & brook2jacks as well...this thread has highlighted that MANY other people have had white fillings on the NHS & on their back teeth.



So you agree with me here :T !

You deliberately misquoted me. No one can give you a quote unless they see you. Simples. end of.

I know a LOT of dentists all over the country. You are not the norm believe me. We know the regulations. It is our business to know them. Look at it logically. WE fund your treatment. We buy the materials. We have an obligation to make a patient dentally fit not provide a cosmetic solution. Why would the average dentist spend 3 or 4 times the amount of money on a more expensive material which is harder to place and take longer to place when there is absolutely no obligation to do so especially when the amalgam does a perfectly good job and often BETTER job. What would you do in those circumstances?

welshdent

Sparklyfairy wrote: »

Ok, my "bad!" I should have put "placing" instead..
!

No you said mix and fill. A composite restoration involves etching and bonding the tooth then placing. Glass ionomer involved mixing then placing.

Sparklyfairy

No you said mix and fill. A composite restoration involves etching and bonding the tooth then placing. Glass ionomer involved mixing then placing.

Yes..and..?? I corrected myself. I'm not a dentist & I never claimed to be. My point was made in regards to brook2jack's statement in post#64

However they have never been available as larger fillings. They are much more demanding and time consuming to place and are not always appropriate to place. You can easily spend 45 minutes placing just one.

What s/he said is not true. S/he shouldn't make sweeping statements like that when clearly several people on this thread have had this on the NHS in a large filling. Also, again, my dentist never complained about the time it took..perhaps brook2jack isn't happy with this aspect of her job, I don't know, but their frustration is clearly evident!

welshdent wrote: »

You deliberately misquoted me. No one can give you a quote unless they see you. Simples. end of.

I know a LOT of dentists all over the country. You are not the norm believe me. We know the regulations. It is our business to know them. Look at it logically. WE fund your treatment. We buy the materials. We have an obligation to make a patient dentally fit not provide a cosmetic solution. Why would the average dentist spend 3 or 4 times the amount of money on a more expensive material which is harder to place and take longer to place when there is absolutely no obligation to do so especially when the amalgam does a perfectly good job and often BETTER job. What would you do in those circumstances?

Welshdent, I didn't misquote you. I understand you have a duty to your clients & will provide the best, most appropriate treatment as you see fit. BUT I'm not the only one who has received white fillings in a moler via the NHS & clearly my treatment has been backed up by others on this thread. I stated earlier that my white filling has been in place for many years with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Due to the concern of mercury, I'd gladly get all of my mercury filled fillings changed to white. The dentist who did my white filling has since retired & my current dentist charges an earth, so I will get them filled as & when they need replacing. Again, I have absolutely no concern about changing my other fillings to white as my current one has lasted nearly 10 years & 2 pregnancies. I'm surprised the NHS & gov't haven't banned the use of amalgam fillings as it has been banned in some countries so far.

I stand by what I have said & I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree here...

brook2jack

Sparkly fairy composite fillings on biting surfaces of back teeth were specifically excluded by the government from the NHS until 2006 ie dentists were not allowed to do them on the NHS except under special conditions with a consultants report.They are still not allowed in Scotland or Northern Ireland to the present day. So whatever filling you had on your back tooth 10 years ago is either glass ionomer (which is often a greyish white colour), not on a biting surface or your dentist broke the rules by placing composite which at the time was specifically not allowed.

From 2006 any material is allowed if it is clinically justifiable. This in practice means very small fillings on the biting surface of teeth may be done in composite but not extensive fillings as amalgam is clinically justified for most of these.

As said before nhs dentistry is there to secure dental health not provide people with cosmetic choices. If someone wants white cosmetic fillings on back teeth that are not clinically justified and that is the majority then they have the choice to pay privately. But if people think a nhs dentist will routinely provide them then they are wrong. The economics of nhs practice is such that even providing three fillings in amalgam ,check up , x rays etc is unlikely to mean the practice breaks even on that treatment. The hourly costs of running a cheap nhs surgery( one room) is around £150 an hour and on England and Wales the total earned will be £60 ish ie around 25 minutes of time. Spend any longer than 25 minutes and a practice loses money.