Dental advice?

cashmonger

I used to see an nhs dentist but wasnt pleased with their service so i went private. I found this ok if I wasnt often getting work done often since id just pay for the work £90 per filling maybe once a year and just have a check up of £35 every 6 months and a £45 clean once a year.

But recently my teeth have been bad and I paid 90 pounds for one filling and hes had to change it once cos it didnt help and sitll after the second time its not fixed. I didnt have to pay for this initial swap but he said further work will cost me. He told me that I will have to get more work done such as an inlay if it isnt fixed now which means more costs. The main reason it isnt fixed is because i refused to have a mercury filling so he was trying composite then a glass one but neither have done anything as they are too sensitive.

I notice now though that the one above is causing trouble too so worried it will be yet more costs.

So im wondering what my options are? The local nhs one was bad because they kept swapping dentists every few weeks and it was often foreigners whos authenticity i questioned. The current one who is private is really good and always tells me what he is doing and why whereas the nhs ones never bothered telling me anything but now im worried about rapidly rising costs.

What are my options?

tomtontom

If you were concerned as to the "authenticity" of the "foreigners" you could have checked their GDC registration. It seems that your ignorance has been rather costly.

cashmonger

It wasnt just because of that. it was a side matter. The main issue was they they had a very blahzay attitude and would never explain what they were doing.

asajj

Have you talk to NHS about it ? I doubt NHS would have "suspicious" foreigners work for them anyway.

Toothsmith

asajj wrote: »

Have you talk to NHS about it ? I doubt NHS would have "suspicious" foreigners work for them anyway.

I think you have a bit too much faith!!

What about that Stepping Hill nurse who recently went down for murder??

Wherever you have staff shortages, and excessive bureaucracy, you get very dangerous situations where credentials are not checked thoroughly enough.

NHS dentistry is only a bolt-on side issue. Most provided by PLC corporate private firms. (IDH, Oasis etc).

If the mainstream NHS isn't checking properly - do you think these private companies are likely to be better or worse?

As for the GDC - they are currently a bunch of mindless morons run by serial committee members rather than anyone who knows anything about dentistry (or cares).

As for options from original poster - its not easy to say without actually seeing the teeth, and knowing your full history.

But - you need to trust the dentist who does know these things, and can see your teeth. If you are happy that he is doing his best, and is explaining things well, then you need to take that at face value and just get the work done. You might ask if there is any reason he can see that this extra work is happening, and can you do anything about it. (Have your habits changed recently, and you're now having more sugary snacks or drinks, for example).

If you don't trust the dentist, then you need to look for one you do trust rather than ask unknown people for opinions on things thay can't see.

j.e.j.

asajj wrote: »

Have you talk to NHS about it ? I doubt NHS would have "suspicious" foreigners work for them anyway.

PMSL the vast majority of NHS dentists seem to be foreign, and a large number of them are indeed a bit iffy, to say the least!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-31912047

kerri_gt

Does your private dentist offer any kind of monthly payment plan that could help spread the cost of treatment? Such as Denplan or Bupa. There are different tiers depending on the state of your teeth which affects how much you pay each month.

cashmonger

my mum told me to ask about denplan which i havent done yet. I hoped i wouldnt need to as i was hoping the issues would be sorted and i could ignore my teeth agina till checkup time as has been the case int he past but i seem to have had a bad run this time.

I have great quality teeth and take good care of them tho he says i grind my teeth which is what has been causing the problems.

Owain_Moneysaver

cashmonger wrote: »

What are my options?

Find a decent NHS dentist.

And if your dentist recommends an amalgam filling then take his advice. There are many situations where other materials are inferior to amalgam (even though amalgam isn't pretty if it's somewhere visible).