Referral to hospital for extraction

marlasinger

My husband has been referred to hospital for a tooth extraction. (The dentist tried to take them out, but they broke off, so he has been referred). He's not happy with this dentist for a variety of reasons....is it worth trying to see another dentist to see if the hospital appointment is necessary, or will this somehow mess up the referral?

brook2jack

If your husband is not happy with his dentist it's probably best to seek recommendations from friends and family and change dentists.

It will not affect referral but if tooth/teeth broke badly during extraction they are obviously difficult to take out , it happens particularly if tooth has a lot of decay , large fillings, crown or the roots are curved or bone is particularly hard , or if your husband grinds his teeth. It is unlikely that a dentist on the NHS will be wiling to perform a surgical extraction but a private dentist/oral surgeon may well.

marlasinger

Thanks for the reply. He is going to try to get an appointment with my dentist, who is private so hopefully he will be able to sort it, as hubby isn't keen to go to hospital.

welshdent

Equally it could just be that the extraction is a really difficult one and many would struggle. The only dentists that have never broken a tooth during an extraction are probably telling porkies or have never taken a tooth out. If find anecdotally that in general people can be very blas! about extractions. I have lost track of the number of people that come in and can't understand why I won't just "whip" the tooth out. Extractions for me are probably the most unpredictable procedure I do and far more to do with the patient than the dentist skills. Bleeding, broken down teeth, ankylosis, difficult roots, denser bone. All sorts of reasons. Every one of those will complicate the procedure and none are to do with the dentist. In time we gain experience to recognise when something may happen but we can not always manage it.

marlasinger

It could be a difficult extraction, but for other reasons he's not happy with the dentist, and hasn't been for a while. If the new dentist says it's a hospital job, then so be it. But even if it weren't for the extraction, he would still be looking for a new dentist....it's just that now he is being forced to sort it out now, instead of waiting for the next problem.


If it is a hospital job, I take it those are reasonably routine?

Toothsmith

marlasinger wrote: »

It could be a difficult extraction, but for other reasons he's not happy with the dentist, and hasn't been for a while. If the new dentist says it's a hospital job, then so be it. But even if it weren't for the extraction, he would still be looking for a new dentist....it's just that now he is being forced to sort it out now, instead of waiting for the next problem.


If it is a hospital job, I take it those are reasonably routine?

Indeed - To those doing oral surgery all day every day, getting out a bit of root is often one of the easier things they do! Compared to say, rebuilding someone's jawbone after it's been ravaged by cancer.

There can still be problems - but it's not usually anywhere near as dramatic if they do crop up in that environment.

Nicki

Not sure if this helps OP but I had my wisdom teeth out under general anaesthetic in hospital (They were impacted) and it was a stress free pain free doddle. I've never had to anything else major done dentally (just 2 very shallow fillings years ago which didn't even need numbing) and my dentist is great, but I would imagine having an extraction done whilst awake is one of the most unpleasant dental procedures you can have done and even more so when the tooth has already broken, so in his shoes I'd definitely prefer the hospital route. Unless this is a question of cost/loss of earnings for the procedure in which case that's more understandable.

mal4mac

Why's he not happy about going to hospital? Don't they have the most highly qualified specialists to deal with this sort of thing? And isn't it free?

marlasinger

The only reason he's not happy about going to hospital is because he's never been to hospital before, so isn't sure what to expect. Everything I've read says it's pretty routine and quick, but it's just the not knowing for sure...

He now has an appointment with my dentist tomorrow, so hopefully he'll feel a bit better once he's had this first appointment.

DomRavioli

marlasinger wrote: »

The only reason he's not happy about going to hospital is because he's never been to hospital before, so isn't sure what to expect. Everything I've read says it's pretty routine and quick, but it's just the not knowing for sure...

He now has an appointment with my dentist tomorrow, so hopefully he'll feel a bit better once he's had this first appointment.

Hospital extractions are very routine for the surgeons. It literally takes minutes, perhaps he would understand and accept his referral if the new dentist stated that.

I suggest his new dentist explains this to him, in detail if it helps.

LongTallKatie

Had a similar problem with an NHS Dentist, so much so I left the surgery in tears. The next day I went to a private dentists (previously an NHS one, I used growing up) and he removed the now broken tooth no problem!