Dental Hygienist Charges - grounds for complaint?

KMA

This is a bit of a dental related rant!

I had an appointment to see the dental hygienist last week. I have been to see them before. I arrived at 4.15pm for a 4.20pm appointment. Am waiting around until 4.30pm. I understand it is the end of the day so you do get delayed getting to see them. She cleans and polishes my teeth for a total of 8 minutes. I go and pay, it costs £35. I ask the receptionist how long is the session meant to be. Apparently £35 is for "up to 20 minutes".

She is a good hygienist, but 8 minutes!!!!, I managed to get out of my scheduled appointment on time for their schedule, but with a delayed start for me.


Would it be reasonable, given the circumstances, to complain about the brevity of the service?


It looked like I was the last but one appointment on the Friday afternoon so maybe they had plans to get away on time.


It is tricky as I worry that by making a complaint, I am at the mercy of and it could impact the future service I receive from the dentist and the hygienist but this is IMHO is taking the p155!

Would be grateful for your views. Before making a considered decision on what to do next...
Look forward to your views or am I being unreasonable?

Alikay

I can understand why you feel you didn't get value for money, but 8 minutes may have been enough time to remove the tartar from your teeth: Perhaps you've got nice smooth gappy teeth which make the task easier, or maybe just didn't have a lot of tartar there to be removed (in which case, perhaps a yearly hygienist appt rather than six-monthly may suffice).

15 minutes delay on an end-of-day appointment doesn't seem at all excessive IMO, given the individual personal service which a hygienist delivers, and I'd have been pretty chuffed with that....I've waited nearly an hour at my practice! Remember some of the patients may be nervous, or elderly with gum-related issues, or youngsters preparing to have braces on or off all of which take up extra time.

welshdent

FWIW I think you pay for the the skill of the hygienist and the time to not just do the treatment but also to clean down between patients and do notes.
You would have booked a standard time slot but the hygineist would not have known you could be finished so quickly. It is VERY expensive to run a dental surgery. The patient understandably only sees the fee they pay but they do not see the costs to be a dental care professional and provide the service.

It is possible the reason for the wait was because someone else was booked for the same length of time but they had heavier staining.

Did they clean all the stain and calculus off? Because if there was deposits left I would understand but if they cleaned everything I dont know what else you would want to have done? Most people cant wait to get out!!!

How often do you normally see them?

Toothsmith

I would agree with the above. You don't say anything about being unhappy with the result. Did they seem nice and clean, or was there still staining/plaque on them?

If they seemed OK - then the hygienist has done her job, and she can't clean off what isn't there. If you're quite good at it anyway - then there probably wasn't much in the way of instruction she could give you either.

Oral hygiene instruction is just as important a part of the hygienist appointment as actually cleaning the stuff off - if not more important! It's the "Give a man a fish and he has food for the day vs Teach a man to catch fish......." sort of conundrum!

Anyway - if 8 mins really was enough time to do all that you need, then the question I would be asking is "Do I need to see the hygienist as frequently as you're asking me to?" Maybe you could get away with more time between appointments?

KMA

thank you for all your responses so far and I'm really pleased to have such an input from the dental profession!


I've been going every 3 months for the past 2 years - as recommended by my dentist (on top of my 6 monthly NHS check ups)

Toothsmith

I would ask them if that is really necessary then if it can be done that quickly.

I only have quite poor oral health cases on 3 monthly visits, and none of them could be out the door in 8 mins.

barbiedoll

The hygienists at my dental surgery have a choice of either 15 minute or half hour appointments, which are priced accordingly.

If you only need 8 minutes for an appointment (lucky you!), maybe ask if they do a shorter appointment, which I assume would be cheaper?

I've had lots of hygienist appointments in a short space of time recently, but the last one was a lot shorter than the previous ones, I probably could have got away with paying for the 15 minute appointment. My hygienist is very good though, even if she finishes early, she'll spend the time going through brushing techniques etc, with me.

My dentist has told me not to have any more hygienist appointments until after I've seen him, as he wants to make sure that I'm cleaning my teeth properly myself. Much as I hate the appointments, they do make your teeth feel lovely afterwards! I've got to wait for 6 months until my next one.

KMA

thanks for the input. I was really hoping there was a 10 minute unit of appointment but at my practice it seems that the smallest billable dental hygienist unit is 20 minutes (and 40 minutes for larger jobs)


I think I will definitely reconsider the frequency of the appointments and ask about that, given the feedback on frequency and duration of the sessions you have all indicated. That seems like a money saving question to ask!


From what I understand I have had periodontal disease for at least 15 years and gave up smoking 3 years ago. I appreciate keeping my teeth is better than spending money on dentures and it is possible that I cannot have implants or a bridge, even if I could afford them ....

teddysmum

My NHS dentist does the hygiene work, herself, as part of the annual checkup, so it's included in the normal band one fee of £18.80.

givememoney

Personally I wouldn't touch them.


DH was persuaded to have a session and after he lost a filling. Worst of all the dentist charged to put it back in.


I am 67 and DH is 71 and are still in possession of the majority if not all our teeth and never go to the hygienist.

Marmaduke123

I pay a lot more than £35 but always get a full half hour. I have 2 implants so go every 6 mths as recommended. I don't need advice or instruction now as I'm told my own cleaning is of high standard. It hasn't a always been this good though, methods have changed a lot since I was young!