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Undervalued

Deleted_User said:

I am not a dentist, Brook2jack2 is (as far as one can tell on these forums!). However some years ago I had a large white filling on a rear tooth such as you describe done by an NHS dentist as part of a band 2 treatment. Now it may be mine had to be white composite for technical reasons, whereas amalgam is technically fine (or maybe even better) for your tooth? The NHS, as I understand it, will only fund what is necessary for dental health and not for purely cosmetic reasons.

Yeah but as I mentioned before, I'm happy to pay extra for white fillings as I'm against amalgam. 
Just because the BDA says amalgam is safe for use doesn't mean it's true. Amalgam is made from a compound of copper, tin and 50% mercury. Although it's stably chemically bonded, mercury is still released from the fillings over time as atoms are shed.

Amalgam mercury fillings are actually banned across many countries across Europe and the Nordic area.

Apologies if I have missed it but I can't spot where you said that in this thread.

Anyway, that is a completely different issue. As I understand it the NHS only provides white composite fillings for very front teeth and maybe (based on my experience) where there are exceptional technical needs at the rear. If you are happy to pay for composite that is fine but wouldn't you be better on an entirely private basis and maybe on Denplan or similar?

Browntoa

Looks like from your other thread on here that you wanted a second opinion from the dentist

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6189130/nhs-private-dentist-costs-lack-of-trust-second-opinions-not-thorough-can-i-change#latest

Undervalued

Deleted_User said:

UPDATE:

I decided to visit another dentist. I didn't tell the new dentist about my other dentist and she said my teeth were fine and one of my fillings needed a 'top-up' as the tooth wasn't exposed. 

I then came clean that I had seen my original dentist and told her what he wanted to do. She was shocked and said no way did I need that done to the tooth. She spent 5 minutes fixing up the damage and sealed the tooth. 

Dentist 1 quote: Full tooth restoration - £225 or £550 for special one
Dentist 2 quote: Told me I didn't need much work done. Cost me £22.50 to fix everything.


Follow your gut when something doesn't seem right and seek a second opinion, even if it will take a few weeks to get the second opinion. I saved myself over £200 through avoiding unnecessary work. Glad I followed my instincts. 

I won't be seeing my original dentist again.Undervalued said:

Deleted_User said:

I am not a dentist, Brook2jack2 is (as far as one can tell on these forums!). However some years ago I had a large white filling on a rear tooth such as you describe done by an NHS dentist as part of a band 2 treatment. Now it may be mine had to be white composite for technical reasons, whereas amalgam is technically fine (or maybe even better) for your tooth? The NHS, as I understand it, will only fund what is necessary for dental health and not for purely cosmetic reasons.

Yeah but as I mentioned before, I'm happy to pay extra for white fillings as I'm against amalgam. 
Just because the BDA says amalgam is safe for use doesn't mean it's true. Amalgam is made from a compound of copper, tin and 50% mercury. Although it's stably chemically bonded, mercury is still released from the fillings over time as atoms are shed.

Amalgam mercury fillings are actually banned across many countries across Europe and the Nordic area.

Apologies if I have missed it but I can't spot where you said that in this thread.

Anyway, that is a completely different issue. As I understand it the NHS only provides white composite fillings for very front teeth and maybe (based on my experience) where there are exceptional technical needs at the rear. If you are happy to pay for composite that is fine but wouldn't you be better on an entirely private basis and maybe on Denplan or similar?

Browntoa said:

Looks like from your other thread on here that you wanted a second opinion from the dentist

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6189130/nhs-private-dentist-costs-lack-of-trust-second-opinions-not-thorough-can-i-change#latest

Yes, that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth - to make a horrible pun!

However, just to play devil's advocate, you now have had two very different professional opinions. One was clearly wrong and it is very difficult for the lay person (patient) to know which. Short of getting a third opinion or letting time tell you will never know. If, hopefully it won't, the tooth gives serious problems in the near future it is just possible the first dentist was correct. Equally it is possible they are incompetent and / or dishonest. Even in well regulated professions there are sadly a small percentage of both.

I hope it works out for you.

Toothsmith

There is very rarely a 'right' and a 'wrong' way to approach a dental problem. All dentists learn pretty much the same stuff when they're training, but experiences and further training throughout their careers mean that we all tend to form preferences for certain materials, methods and philosophies and they shape their decisions around those, and other dentists with other experiences will make different decisions. 

This thread developed from your initial post where you were suspicious of your dentists because of what was almost certainly a small admin error. So obviously there was something about the dentist you didn't like anyway. That's fine - we are all individuals, and as such you're bound to get on with some people, and dislike others. the very job of dentistry means that you are only really going to be comfortable with someone you at least trust.

Your second dentists has given you an option you are happier with - so that is fine too. Stick with her. I'm sure it won't be a terrible option, and with it being a less invasive option, if there does turn out to be more decay than she thought under the old filling, that would come to light in the end, and you could go with a more invasive option then. 

The only thing in any of your posts that I would disagree with a bit was the new dentist 'looking shocked and saying no way did I need that doing'. I would have tried to put it a bit more diplomatically than that, as I'd always err on the side of caution in case there was something I might have overlooked.

Apintplease

I just want to live where the OP lives

Both my check up and hygienist appointments were cancelled first week of June, and im still sat here with a broken molar awaiting an appointment, let alone able to find two dentists that aren't seeing emergencies only

welshdent

Deleted_User said:

CocoM2020 said:

Firstly how did you even get an appointment for a checkup? I thought there was a massive backlog? Don’t they normally ask at the time of appointment regarding exemption for payment? I know, when I was exempt, I had to show some card when I went for my appointment. (This was a few years ago). But every time I go I always get asked have my circumstances changed. 

I had a check up in the first week of August on the NHS. 
My dentist seems to have submitted my band-1 to the database as being completed on the 14th September.....

I suspect NHS fraud. From my own research NHS dentists have to fill quotas per month, so maybe he moved it forward to fill quotas so he can still claim NHS money?

It doesnt work like that. The dentist would be credited the same whether you are exempt or not. The only difference is the NHS would deduct the patient charge revenue from the payment to the practice. i.e the dentist would get for arguments sake £20 for a band 1. If you pay for arguments sake £15 the NHS give the dentist £5 but if you are exempt the NHS pays £20. 

It would only be fraud if you didnt go to the dentist at all and they claimed you did. 

Apintplease

Deleted_User said:

Apintplease said:

I just want to live where the OP lives

Both my check up and hygienist appointments were cancelled first week of June, and im still sat here with a broken molar awaiting an appointment, let alone able to find two dentists that aren't seeing emergencies only

Damn, what county are you from? 
I've been able to find appointments within 2-3 weeks at around 5 NHS practices in my area. 

County Antrim

Thought Id update today as I rang my Dentist to see if there was a chance of seeing the hygienist ( I have severe gum disease and need to go every 3 to 6 months and last appointment was cancelled) and was told not a chance this year. I then asked when my check up would be rescheduled as was told they were looking at December 21

So, broken molar, gums peeing blood with every brushing, gums peeling back where plate is rubbing and eating painful, but nope Im not an emergency ( which I fully understand ) but we are looking at me suffering another year till I can get seen

brook2jack2

Treatment of gum disease is 90% your effort and 10% hygienist. If gums are bleeding you need to spend more time getting the toothbrush down onto them and use interdental brushes every day . Your gums will bleed even more when you start to clean properly https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/how-to-keep-your-teeth-clean/ and then the bleeding will get less. 

Leave your denture out at night and scrub the denture where it fits against your gums with a tooth brush .

give up smoking , if you do, get your diabetes under control if you have that. 

Your hygienist should have shown you how to brush and use interdental aids and using them effectively will make your gums much healthier until you can get an appointment. 

Apintplease

brook2jack2 said:

Treatment of gum disease is 90% your effort and 10% hygienist. If gums are bleeding you need to spend more time getting the toothbrush down onto them and use interdental brushes every day . Your gums will bleed even more when you start to clean properly https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/how-to-keep-your-teeth-clean/ and then the bleeding will get less. 

Leave your denture out at night and scrub the denture where it fits against your gums with a tooth brush .

give up smoking , if you do, get your diabetes under control if you have that. 

Your hygienist should have shown you how to brush and use interdental aids and using them effectively will make your gums much healthier until you can get an appointment. 

I do all that, and more

I have a severe gag reflex which makes reaching the molars nigh impossible for me and they are so compacted Ive even had the floss sticks get stuck lol 

I do actually spend a lot of time and attention to my teeth now Ive got over my fear of the dentist. I have a fantastic dentist and a great surgery, been going faithfully since I found it 14 years ago, before that it would have been 14 years between visits. I fully appreciate that things are very difficult for them. Someone brought sweets into work today and I refused, stating I daren't risk anymore damage, with that a colleague done what I feared - and broke a tooth. He is being seen tomorrow as he should be - hes in pain, exposed nerve

elsien

Have you told them that you're in pain? I was told no standard check ups until next year but they are triaging and seeing people who are having issues before then, depending on how bad it is.