NHS dentist did more harm than good...

pelirocco

I needed a root canal , my dentist is an expensive private dentist , he has dentist flying in from Italy every week to preformed specialist work . I was diagnosed in June , but couldn't get an appointment until September ! I had 3 attacks of painful infection during that time , one was at a weekend which involved an emergency appointment with on call dentist who said the tooth was cracked ( it wasnt it was a line caused by having a white filling) Leading up the the procedure I was very sceptical of my dentist's treatment . However I went ahead with it , and it was a straightforward and painless procedure ( everyone told me it would be very painful) and even tho it was 3 days before i flew to the states there were no complications and its been fine ever since

What i am really trying to say is I can quite believe the road to a root canal can be a very bumpy , twisty and painful one ..........hope you get it sorted soon

This treatment cost me £1200 by the way , and i would pay it again rather then go to someone i didnt have as much confidence in

Forgot to add , the upside is I am no longer afraid of dentists !

welshdent

izzybella16 wrote: »

I understand the way dentistry works, my problem is the NHS contracts not the dentist themselves. My point is everyone would be better off without them, because people think everything will be OK any problems will get treated on the NHS under bands 1,2 or 3. If people had to get dental insurance themselves they would take more care of their teeth and if a problem did arise it would be fixed adequately. NHS contracts produces amalgam fillings and refusal to do or terrible root canals a lot of the time.

You are either mixing up conversations or trying to hijack a thread. One last time. A perforation is nothing to do with the NHS. It is to do with the complexity of the treatment/.

izzybella16

I find it hard to believe that the more timely, skilled approach used privately would result in things like this happening less.

brook2jack

Well you have obviously never done a root canal treatment then.

silvercar

I doubt dentists really rush root canals to get them done in the shortest possible time in line with what they are paid for NHS funding. More likely they will say they cannot perform the root canal under the NHS, so the patient choice is to have the root canal done privately or opt for an extraction.

justme111

I wonder whether there is any other profession or trade where public expect people to do things they are not paid for as well as things they are paid for.
Op , I would let it go. With your complaint you may cause a lot of grief to someone who genuinely tried to do their best. Perforation is indeed a recognised complication of root canal treatment , rubber dam or not rubber dam.

Undervalued

justme111 wrote: »

I wonder whether there is any other profession or trade where public expect people to do things they are not paid for as well as things they are paid for.
Op , I would let it go. With your complaint you may cause a lot of grief to someone who genuinely tried to do their best. Perforation is indeed a recognised complication of root canal treatment , rubber dam or not rubber dam.

The problem is there is no particular reason why the patient / public should have any understanding of the internal workings of the NHS system.

I have had some very helpful advice on here from several of the dentists who post regularly. Without that I wouldn't have had any idea how the dentist was paid for NHS work. I have also run a small specialised business from some premises that would have been ideal as a dental surgery so I have a good grasp of the overheads.

However, I doubt if even 10% of NHS patients have an inkling of any of that. Why should they? As far as they are concerned they are using and paying for a service that sits half way between the GP (completely free apart from prescriptions) and the private sector (Of which the majority have no experience).

What they are entitled to expect though is a professional service and they shouldn't have to make allowances along the lines of "can't expect any more because the poor chap isn't getting enough money". Surely a professional person should do a professional job or do no job at all?

Bowline

justme111 wrote: »

Op , I would let it go. With your complaint you may cause a lot of grief to someone who genuinely tried to do their best. Perforation is indeed a recognised complication of root canal treatment , rubber dam or not rubber dam.

Yes, I've resigned myself to that fact. My only niggling concern is that, having completed what she thought was the cleaning and while getting ready to place a permanent filling, she took an x-ray and didn't seem very happy. She then decided not to place the filling and to dress temporarily. I'm just wondering if a file or some material might have been left in during the x-ray which would have shown that it was not in the root canal and she realised, in which case that's a totally different story. Her demeanour was very strange.

Other than asking for my x-rays to double check (made much more difficult by the fact they were film rather than digital) I'm taking the philosophical approach and thanking my lucky stars I've found a dentist who I actually feel confident in. Almost a week since the repair and actual root cleaning and no problems whatsoever. Only problem now if fitting the second part in with my strange work schedule but he assures me the that there's a few layers of temporary filling and I'll be ok for a few weeks if needs be. Just chewing on the other side mainly.

Quick one for the dentists - there's what feels like a bony lump below the gum under the tooth in question. I've been told this will return to normal eventually but is there a timeframe usually? It's not bothering me too much but I suppose if it is bone then it might take some time.

justme111

Well if she realised she messed the tooth up and chickened out and did not tell you - what would your complaint achieve in that case?
Undervalued , everyone's definition of professional is different . Besides it is easy to say but probably more difficult to do if in making a moral stand one has to abandon the profession altogether and go and work in unqualified job because dentists are trained to do dentistry and if they can not do that it is an individual's tragedy.

izzybella16

Undervalued wrote: »

The problem is there is no particular reason why the patient / public should have any understanding of the internal workings of the NHS system.

I have had some very helpful advice on here from several of the dentists who post regularly. Without that I wouldn't have had any idea how the dentist was paid for NHS work. I have also run a small specialised business from some premises that would have been ideal as a dental surgery so I have a good grasp of the overheads.

However, I doubt if even 10% of NHS patients have an inkling of any of that. Why should they? As far as they are concerned they are using and paying for a service that sits half way between the GP (completely free apart from prescriptions) and the private sector (Of which the majority have no experience).

What they are entitled to expect though is a professional service and they shouldn't have to make allowances along the lines of "can't expect any more because the poor chap isn't getting enough money". Surely a professional person should do a professional job or do no job at all?

This is my point, NHS gives impression it provides an acceptable standard of dentistry when it does not!