Unhappy with my dentist/dental treatment received

moneysaver93_2

I have a dental dilemma. In July, I was told I needed a root canal filling on a back molar (my own fault -- I hadn't been to the dentist for two years and should have gone sooner) so I paid my NHS dentist the £48 for the root canal and £120 for a private filling as I wanted a white composite filling on top. For the first two or three weeks, I was happy with it and had minimal discomfort from the procedure. Then the problems started: at first it was a little bit tender when I chewed but I thought it would settle down. But it's grown steadily more painful and the pain has been affecting my sleep. It hurts regardless of whether I chew on that tooth or not. I went back to see my dentist about it and they put me on a five-day course of Amoxicillin in case the pain was caused by an infection and inflammation of the root. That seemed to help but then the tooth started hurting again. Now, it hurts intermittently. I can have a few days when it's fine and feels normal and then a few days when it is really painful.

I also had a non-root filling done between two of my teeth but that now those teeth hurt when I drink cold things or eat anything sweet. It was just a straightforward filling so I can't see how the dentist could have messed it up but I now have pain and sensitivity in the teeth when chewing as well. To add insult to injury, I paid £180 for the white filling! This seems an extortionate amount to me -- the dentist told me that as it was between teeth (and therefore on two surfaces) she would have to charge as if it were two fillings. But it wasn't a very large filling anyway and £180 seems a steep price to me!

Since having the root canal treatment and the other filling, I have moved out of the area and it's an inconvenience for me to have to go back to my old dental practice but that is all they offered when I complained to them on the phone today. I don't want them to re-do the root canal because I've had problems from both of their treatments. In July I spent £348 on treatment from the dentist because I wanted white fillings but I am unhappy with the treatment because I am in more pain than I was when I originally went to the dentist!

I want to go elsewhere and find a new dentist in my new area but I can't afford to pay out to have the same teeth re-done. I have spoken to the dental surgery and they are very reluctant to talk about giving me a partial refund. As far as I am concerned, I have paid for a service, the service wasn't satisfactory and I think they should give me some compensation for that. Do I have a case against them?

brook2jack

Root fillings on molar teeth generally have a success rate of around 80% , some no matter how well they are done will never settle and the tooth needs to come out.

Root filled teeth are also brittle and can crack and again that can cause pain.

You are obviously someone with a high sugar diet with one tooth needing root filling. The other filling may well have been large. If there is slot of decay in the tooth it can go very close to the nerve. In removing the decay the nerve can get "irritated" and become sensitive to hot and cold. It may settle , it may need further treatment.

So both these problems may very well not be the dentists fault. They have offered to see you again to see what the problems are. In any complaint the first port of call is the practice who have to have the chance to see the problem and if necessary rectify it. As said before your problems may well not be the dentists fault but a consequence of trying to treat your problems caused by decay. You need to go back at least once to see what they can do.

As to price... White fillings are time consuming to do and surgeries charge normally on time. A cheap nhs surgery will cost £150 an hour per room to run.

Your insistence on White fillings is not sensible if you don't change your diet to stop the decay.

moneysaver93_2

brook2jack wrote: »

Root fillings on molar teeth generally have a success rate of around 80% , some no matter how well they are done will never settle and the tooth needs to come out.

Root filled teeth are also brittle and can crack and again that can cause pain.

You are obviously someone with a high sugar diet with one tooth needing root filling. The other filling may well have been large. If there is slot of decay in the tooth it can go very close to the nerve. In removing the decay the nerve can get "irritated" and become sensitive to hot and cold. It may settle , it may need further treatment.

So both these problems may very well not be the dentists fault. They have offered to see you again to see what the problems are. In any complaint the first port of call is the practice who have to have the chance to see the problem and if necessary rectify it. As said before your problems may well not be the dentists fault but a consequence of trying to treat your problems caused by decay. You need to go back at least once to see what they can do.

As to price... White fillings are time consuming to do and surgeries charge normally on time. A cheap nhs surgery will cost £150 an hour per room to run.

Your insistence on White fillings is not sensible if you don't change your diet to stop the decay.

Thanks for your post. I've already stated my diet is not high sugar. I may be young but I'm not stupid. I know what contains sugar and what does not. Furthermore, the reason I insist on white fillings is because I refuse to have mercury put into my mouth and also because I value the aesthetic appearance of my teeth. Also, amalgam fillings contain mercury which is bad for your health.

And the other filling was not large, because the dentist told me so. Goodbye.

brook2jack

A filling doesn't have to be large to be close to the nerve. Taking decay out can lead you close to the nerve and that can be a cause if pain to cold etc.

If you want the problems resolved at no further cost to yourself then you have to return at least once for them to see you, see what the problem is and between you work out a solution bearing in mind your change in where you live. No dentist is going to give you a refund without examining you as many dental problems are not due to operators fault.

However decay is not an inevitable process and in terms of money saving you need to change the behaviours that are causing it. The other factor is fluoride toothpaste..... No fluoride plus sugars=uncontrollable decay.

McKneff

moneysaver93 wrote: »

Thanks for your post. I've already stated my diet is not high sugar. I may be young but I'm not stupid. I know what contains sugar and what does not. Furthermore, the reason I insist on white fillings is because I refuse to have mercury put into my mouth and also because I value the aesthetic appearance of my teeth. Also, amalgam fillings contain mercury which is bad for your health.

And the other filling was not large, because the dentist told me so. Goodbye.

Christ almighty, you come on here, asking for help, you get free help from a respected qualified dentist and you start to get all defensive, not to mention pompous, you need to grow up pal.

j.e.j.

to be fair, I suspect post #3 is largely in response to the OP's other thread, where they asked something, and 'respected qualified dentist' decided (as he does...) to go off on one, repeatedly, at great length, about the OP's supposedly bad diet

brook2jack

"to be fair" that was in response to a small point at the end of post 2 . Op decided that decay was not due to diet but due to not visiting a dentist for two years ... A misconception that will cost in dental health and money.

There is no guarantee that I am what I appear to be or that any advice I give is correct. That can only be guaranteed by visiting mainstream sites such as http://www.dentalhealth.org/tell-me-about/topic/caring-for-teeth/diet.

However 95% of all dental treatment is avoidable. I try to post bearing in mind a wider audience may choose to read answers and may choose to make choices that will save both money and health. Or you can choose not to.

moneysaver93_2

McKneff wrote: »

Christ almighty, you come on here, asking for help, you get free help from a respected qualified dentist and you start to get all defensive, not to mention pompous, you need to grow up pal.

Yes, I got defensive because in a previous thread, brook2jack wrote at length about how I must make "radical changes" to my supposedly "high sugar" diet, despite my insistence that my diet is not actually high sugar.

"respected qualified dentist" - How do you know? This is the internet, where anyone can be whoever they choose to be. And no one's forcing brook2jack (or you, for that matter) to respond to any posts that I, or anybody else, make.

I'm going to ignore your last comment. As someone who is juggling many 'grown-up' responsibilities which include caring full-time for a seriously ill family member, commuting fifty miles to university every day and intensive studying for a degree, any rare chance to let my hair down and not be a grown-up is very welcome in my highly stressful life.

moneysaver93_2

brook2jack wrote: »

Op decided that decay was not due to diet but due to not visiting a dentist for two years ... A misconception that will cost in dental health and money.

If I could correct you, I did not actually say that. In fact, I said my need for a root canal was my own fault, due to not visiting a dentist for two years. I had a tiny cavity on the back tooth but I ignored it and just carried on as normal with my low sugar diet combined with brushing, flossing and using a dentist-approved mouth rinse twice a day. The cavity clearly worsened over the year, thus necessitating me to seek out a dentist. The root canal could most likely have been prevented, had I gone to the dentist when the cavity was only tiny and not very deep. They would have been able to fill it and sort it out before it got so bad that a root canal was needed.

brook2jack

I am presuming you are 18 or 19 years old.

A root filled tooth is a tooth with a compromised lifespan. If you are lucky you will get 20 years out of it but the statistics say you will lose the tooth by the time you get to your forties at best.

You have another tooth that has needed filling.

This now puts you in a high risk category for needing more treatment soon.

Now providing there are no complicating factors like eg using non fluoride containing toothpaste or having a dry mouth or other complicating medical factors then diet is for everyone the number one factor in decay.

Decay is not caused by not seeing a dentist , its caused by bacteria metabolising sugars/starch . a small hole would stay a small hole if there was no sugar/starch for the bacteria to convert to acid. In fact very early decay can be "healed" completely by changing diet.

Mouthwash doesnt prevent decay, in fact if used within an hour of brushing teeth it interacts with components in toothpaste stopping its action. After brushing with fluoride toothpaste you should spit don't rinse to keep fluoride in contact with the teeth.

One of the contraindications for white fillings is a high decay rate, because composite fillings tend to be more prone to decay under them.

As a student money will be especially tight and it is pointless spending alot of money on private white fillings if you don't change the behaviour that caused them in the first place and a teenager needing a root filling on a molar tooth as well as another filling that has occurred in only two years since their last visit there is something that needs changing .

You are right to be sceptical of advice on the internet but ask your next dentist about the above points and take their advice, it will save alot of pain and money.

welshdent

just to back up brook. Not seeing a dentist definitely does not cause decay. In fact SEEING one does not prevent it either. I have someone that I see every 3 months and usually they have developed a new hole despite my advice and instructions. It is because he is an athlete and lives on sports drinks. Packed full of sugar he just has them under almost constant attack. I have patients with actual malformations in the enamel and or dentine who have never had a filling despite actually having "weak" teeth. They are spotless and have a low sugar diet. As a result no dental caries.
Re amalgam fillings - the silver content can actually inhibit bacteria and hence prevent further decay. I have seen many an x ray of 2 adjacent teeth. One restored with a composite filling and one with amalgam. The composite filling has been undermined by new decay and the amalgam absolutely fine.