Pain in teeth- really scared (Scaredy cat)

Lady_E

Hi, I am a 46 yr female who with the best will in the world has a fear of the dentist. Over the years I have tried really hard to conquer the fear but even taking my kids to the dentist brings me out in a cold sweat. The noise of the equipment, the chair, the mouthwash makes me want to gag and having any cotton wool etc in my mouth or having injections makes me want to run a mile.

THAT said , the last time I went to the dentist was about 8 yrs ago and it looks as if I need to go again. I have pain/discomfort in all of my fillings (total of 4 fillings 2 upper left and right, 2 lower left and right) and I am now freaking that it might be an indication of heart disease. My gums feel inflammed and I feel run down. The receptionist has made an appt for 30/6/08 and I am using painkillers, she has said that I could try for an emergency appt if the pain gets worse. Without seeing my teeth, do you think I should ask for an emer appt? It kept me awake all last night and I am worried about the heart disease side of things .

Sorry if it sounds OTT but this is frightening me .

Thanks for reading.

Sugarhunny1

Morning Lady E

Sorry to hear about your discomfort. If the pain kept you awake last night then i think its unreasonable to keep you waiting till the end of the month, I would phone this morning and ask for an emergency appointment. I wouldn't be too concerned about the possibility of heart disease, this is VERY VERY unlikely.

When you go to the dentist PLEASE PLEASE make them aware of your phobia, they can take longer to treat you (NHS patients dont have much time) and if its really bad then they can provide medication, valium or something similar.

Let us know how you get on!

Sugar xxx

Toothsmith

The link between dental disease and heart disease is still unclear.

The link that seems to be emerging is between people with chronic, long standing gum problems and heart disease.

NOT between someone who has a toothache suddenly dropping down dead with a heart attack! Or even someone with heart problems developing a toothache.

Panic ye not.

That said - people who stay away from regular dental examinations are the people who are more likely to develop chronic gum conditions.

Find a dentist you're happy with, go regularly and ypou will live a long and healthy life!

Lady_E

Thanks Sugarhunny1 and Toothsmith, have just returned from the Dentist and have managed to get an emer appt for tomorrow at 830am. They have marked me down as a very very nervous patient and both the receptionists have said that whatever it is the dentist will be able to deal with it and put my mind at rest.

Feel a bit more chilled but am not looking forward to having to explain my absence and probably the state of my mouth.

On a positive side , the dentist I am seeing is my childrens one and both of them loving seeing her as she always tells them how "sparkly" their teeth are, and gives them stickers.

Thanks for your support and I will keep you all posted

poet123

if you are registered with an NHS dentist and need an emergency appt because you have been up all night in pain is it reasonable for the receptionist to refuse such an appointment without asking the dentist?

The reason I ask is that his happened to my (adult)son on Monday the receptionist was quite "off" and said that as we had postponed some appointments in the past she was not going to give him an emergency one. Now since we last postponed an appt we have all seen the dentist and the last set of appointments they cancelled as the dentist went on holiday!!

I did phone back and speak to another receptionist who was very sympathetic but said she could not overule the first one as she was the senior person!!

Eventuallly we managed to get an emergency appt via the PCT and he has an abscess.....the receptionist there was lovely and has agreed to take on the entire family as NHS patients as she was appalled by how my son had been treated.

If there is a rule re duty of care, or time limits for seeing a person in dental pain, then when we are settled with new dentist I will complain

Toothsmith

poet123 wrote: »

if you are registered with an NHS dentist and need an emergency appt because you have been up all night in pain is it reasonable for the receptionist to refuse such an appointment without asking the dentist?

The reason I ask is that his happened to my (adult)son on Monday the receptionist was quite "off" and said that as we had postponed some appointments in the past she was not going to give him an emergency one. Now since we last postponed an appt we have all seen the dentist and the last set of appointments they cancelled as the dentist went on holiday!!

I did phone back and speak to another receptionist who was very sympathetic but said she could not overule the first one as she was the senior person!!

Eventuallly we managed to get an emergency appt via the PCT and he has an abscess.....the receptionist there was lovely and has agreed to take on the entire family as NHS patients as she was appalled by how my son had been treated.

If there is a rule re duty of care, or time limits for seeing a person in dental pain, then when we are settled with new dentist I will complain

Bit complicated this one.

If you're in England or Wales, then nobody is registered with an NHS dentist and the only patients that a dentist has any duty of care to are the ones currently undergoing treatment.

Everyone else will only be seen if the dentist has 'capacity' to see them. That means time, and enough NHS 'points' left to complete the treatment.

Who a practice see or don't see is pretty much up to them, so long as they are not just selecting one category of patient. So not just patients who are exempt from paying, or just children, or just people who don't need much doing.

Not giving appointments to people who have mucked them about in the past is probably valid. Whether you feel you have actually ever mucked them about is between you and them. It's quite hard to process a complaint that is about someone being a 'bit off'.

I would do exactly what you have done. Get a different dentist, and don't recommend the first place if anyone asks you.

Before complaining I would ask yourself what you would like the outcome of the complaint to be?

You have an alternative dentist, not much is likely to change at the first place, and there will be no financial settlement for this.

I would suggest it would be a waste of time, ink and stress levels!

alison999

poet123 wrote: »

if you are registered with an NHS dentist and need an emergency appt because you have been up all night in pain is it reasonable for the receptionist to refuse such an appointment without asking the dentist?

The reason I ask is that his happened to my (adult)son on Monday the receptionist was quite "off" and said that as we had postponed some appointments in the past she was not going to give him an emergency one. Now since we last postponed an appt we have all seen the dentist and the last set of appointments they cancelled as the dentist went on holiday!!

I did phone back and speak to another receptionist who was very sympathetic but said she could not overule the first one as she was the senior person!!

Eventuallly we managed to get an emergency appt via the PCT and he has an abscess.....the receptionist there was lovely and has agreed to take on the entire family as NHS patients as she was appalled by how my son had been treated.

If there is a rule re duty of care, or time limits for seeing a person in dental pain, then when we are settled with new dentist I will complain

theres no suc thing as registration on the nhs so unless your son had a open course of treatment the dentist is not obliged to see them. sometimes, if people put off trt that the dentist has recommended, our dentists wont squeeze them in, as it is a "situation of their own making", im not saying it is in your case but in some instances it is. its not fair on other, regular patients that we turn them away de to their being no appointments because we've squeezed in someone that has put off treatment again and again. as you work, you get to know a dentist. maybe the other receptionist knew it wasnt worth asking? howver, if soeone completes all their treatment and takes up all the necesary treatment that the dentist recommends, doesnt miss appointments etc. then they will generally, be squeezed in.

poet123

The real problem here was that when we made appointments they had to be made 3 months in advance, and sometimes with a family of 5, 2 away at Uni,2 working and 1 in school ,life intervenes.

Add to that the fact that we are all prone to cold sores(and have been turned away fom the dentist when suffering from one), add to that the fact that the dentist does not work school holidays,and 4 of us work/study in colleges, schools, and add to that the fact that said dentist is approaching retirement and takes days off at almost no notice,.....and you can see the mix is not good.

When we have cancelled it has always been with at least a weeks notice,except in the case of cold sores,and this has happened 3 times on our side, and 3 times on their side during the treatment.

Son was having ongoing treatment and we had kept our last appointment (prior to the one they cancelled).

What I would hope to get out of a complaint is for the receptionist to realise that by her intractable response she caused my son unecessary pain,which, as it was an abscess, could have had more serious repercussions.

I would hope that she would be disciplined and told not to allow her personal problems, or the fact that she got out of the wrong side of bed that morning to influence her job related decisions. I got the distinct impression from the other receptionist that this was not the first time this had happened and that the rest of them were sick of her causing problems in this way. So maybe a complaint is just what she, and the practice, needs to ensure a better standard of customer service.

Unfortunately with the state of NHS dental provision most patients cannot complain for fear of being refused further treatment,which is probably why she has got away with it.

I had an earlier incident with her re my 10 yr old,who chipped a front tooth playing football. Another dentist in the practice saw him (our dentist was off yet again!)and commented that he should have come earlier....when I said I could not get an appointment he seemed annoyed,as did the dental nurse. So it seems to me that this woman needs reminding that she is employed to help, rather than hinder patients.

if I can achieve such an outcome, it will be time,and printer ink well spent, IMO!

Toothsmith

poet123 wrote: »

if I can achieve such an outcome, it will be time,and printer ink well spent, IMO!

Fair enough.

Write this down and send it to the practice in the first instance. You should get a response acknowledging your complaint within 2 working days. It should include their complaints policy, which should have addresses and phone numbers of where you can continue your complaint if you are unhappy with the outcome from the practice.

alison999

poet123 wrote: »

I would hope that she would be disciplined and told not to allow her personal problems, or the fact that she got out of the wrong side of bed that morning to influence her job related decisions. I got the distinct impression from the other receptionist that this was not the first time this had happened and that the rest of them were sick of her causing problems in this way. So maybe a complaint is just what she, and the practice, needs to ensure a better standard of customer service.

i dont know the receptionist you talking about, obviously, but its worth remember that there are only so many appointments available. a lot of people @ the practice i work at complain that they are not see quick enough, but there are only certain situations that are clinically an emergency.

poet123 wrote: »

I got the distinct impression from the other receptionist that this was not the first time this had happened and that the rest of them were sick of her causing problems in this way.

you cant put words in peoples mouths. people !!!!! about my manager/and the dentists to me, and i just usually smile & nod, you have to be very careful whwn you open your mouth because its not just what you say, but how you say it that matters.


im not trying to stick up for the receptionist involved, but someone complained about me, that i didnt offer him a appointment fast enough when he had a abcess. what he failed to mention was that he didnt bother to ring until 11am, and t first didnt even tell me what his appointment was for, so i offered him one for the next day, and two for the afternoon that very same day, and it still wasnt good enough. i can go all out trying to offer "good customer service" but all too often have it thrown back in my face. also, its worth remember that she might have just dealt with a very abusive/difficult patient before taking your call. its all too easy to say she shouldnt take that out on you, but when a patient (or 5!) has a go at me it can take me a good hour or so to get over it myself. many people think that reception is a very easy job, but it really isnt. its very stressful trying to please everyone

poet123

I appreciate your comments, but my call was placed bang on opening time at 9am so she cannot have had too many difficult patients to deal with that morning IMO.

I fully explained the situation(This was Monday morning)and she was very unsympathetic and offered an appointment next week! I pressed her and again explained he had been up all of Sunday night with extreme pain and still she said she could do nothing. When I rang back yet again and spoke to another receptionist she said if a patient is in pain we usually fit them in the same day....but as the first woman was head receptionist she could not really go over her head.

The woman at the PCT was distinctly unimpressed too, as the emergency services are for people with no access to a dentist not those who have unco-operative dental receptionists to deal with their patients.

Where am I putting words into someones mouth ?(no pun intended I am sure!) I did not say she said anything untoward ,but both her reactions and those of the previous dentist and his nurse, spoke volumes about their opinion of this womans customer service skills.

I am aware that it can be a stressful job,but then most people have stressful jobs these days but still have to provide a good and accountable service.

Once I am established with another practice I will be making a complaint and following it through.