[MidlandsM]

So, I had to get a back lower tooth out, it was broken and decayed, so I decided it was time for it to go.

I tried to contactmy own regular dentist but after attempts to call him, I came to the conclusion he ceased to trade/practice.

So, i went to the new one local to me......and booked my self in for an extraction and was told it'd be €90 over the phone........fine says I, and felt safe in the knowledge that they were very busy and booked out but would squeez me in in approx 2 days......*busy thought I, shure they must be good*


So, In I went on the day, and the dentist examinted the tooth and said, fine I'll take it out. The dentist X-rayed it, and went at it.......this is where it all went wrong.......after over 1/2 an hour in the chair and the sweat rolling off me, my jaw hinges were sore,my skull bursting, and my head braced by the dental hygenist, the denist gave up citing they were unable to remove it.

I was in immense discomfort.

I was sent out to the waiting room (for ages) until they were able to contact a dentist who could surgically remove it.......and then I was sent home with 2 tablets of solpadol (is that the stuff??)...that was the last i saw or heard of them, they never contacted me since to see how i got on.

Anyways, the specialist dentist could not see me till lunchtime the next day. Then ensued an evening and night of immence pain - really really sore....it was incredible pain......I hardly slept a wink.......I never experienced such sore piercing dental pain before.....

Next day, went to the next dentist, who was really good.....very professional and efficent.....looked at the x-ray, and said that the tooth was never going to come out conventially.....so, he went at it, split the gum, drilled the roots and removed it, and stitched me up without the massive discomfort I experienced the day previous...much to my relief .
He has since follwed up with me to check on my recovery/progress....very impressive to be fair.

It cost me over €450 all done, with fuel costs, prescriptions, and not to mention the pain and time off......I'm still not healed, very tender, and feel strongly that the first dentist caused major hurt to my gum/socket/tooth etc.

Thing is, I'm really really annoyed at the first dentist.......and would like to know what recourse I have now to taking them to task for going at a tooth that was not going to come out conventionally......?

Can any professionals here give their thoughts/experience on this please?

Thanks

[scholar007]

Had a somewhat similar bad experience with a dentist about twenty five years ago. Never went near one since and I still have all my own teeth and never a days trouble.

[Dianthus]

Get in touch with both the general dentist& the specialist oral surgeon for feedback on the whole situation.
Can you give a breakdown of the €450?

[MidlandsM]

Originally Posted by Dianthus

Get in touch with both the general dentist& the specialist oral surgeon for feedback on the whole situation.

I hav'nt spoken to the original dentist yet, hence my post seeking advice from the professionals on here, but the specialist who finally "fixed me", said it was "never going to come out conventionally" going by the x-ray and said it was " a difficult tooth to remove - and i have that in writing!

€120 consultation
€260 extraction proceedure
roughly €70 for extra fuel/meds/prescription/mouth washes etc

none of which i claim any of back, no medical card, self employed etc.

[Dianthus]

All fees are related to the specialist oral surgeon or not? Were you charged by the first dentist?

[pwurple]

Did the first dentist charge you?

I'm not a dentist, but it sounds normal enough to me. You phoned up and asked for an extraction. You were quoted the standard price, and an appointment booked at short notice.

He had a small go, and then referred you to a specialist. The specialist completed the extraction.

What's the problem?

[MidlandsM]

Originally Posted by Dianthus

All fees are related to the specialist oral surgeon or not? Were you charged by the first dentist?

all fee's were paid to the specialist........the first dentist tried to charge me on my departure, but I refused to pay......citing I need to think about the situation.

Originally Posted by pwurple

Did the first dentist charge you?

I'm not a dentist, but it sounds normal enough to me. You phoned up and asked for an extraction. You were quoted the standard price, and an appointment booked at short notice.

He had a small go, and then referred you to a specialist. The specialist completed the extraction.

What's the problem?

It was'nt a "small go", it was a long protracted painfull tough experience......that i would'nt wish on you or your worst enemy.
Plus, they took an x-ray prior to having the "go", so they in my opinion made an error there, and should have no had the "go", causing me such a traumatic tough dental experience.

[pwurple]

Originally Posted by MidlandsM

after over 1/2 an hour in the chair

It sounds traumatic, but hardly long and protracted. I've had a clean and polish that lasted 1/2 an hour. My dentist usually tells me if I'm having any difficulty, I should put up a hand and ask him to take a break.

I'd guess that the dentist wasn't specialised enough to know from the xray that it would be too difficult.

Either way, a) you didn't pay him, and b) your tooth was taken out well by the person he referred you to.

So, I'm not sure what you would achieve. You have your results.

[MidlandsM]

Originally Posted by pwurple

It sounds traumatic, but hardly long and protracted. I've had a clean and polish that lasted 1/2 an hour. My dentist usually tells me if I'm having any difficulty, I should put up a hand and ask him to take a break.

I'd guess that the dentist wasn't specialised enough to know from the xray that it would be too difficult.

Either way, a) you didn't pay him, and b) your tooth was taken out well by the person he referred you to.

So, I'm not sure what you would achieve. You have your results.

1/2 an hour in the chair getting your teech cleaned is a world apart from 1/2 an hour in the chair with someone pulling the hell out of your jaw, the sweat rolling of me, severe pain and my head braced by a hygenist.......
actually looking back it was probably longer, appt was at 12noon, and it closer to 1.45 when i got outta there....

what I want to achieve is for no one else to have this experience.

[digzy]

i'm unsure what you're hoping to achieve here bar having a rant letting off some steam!
IMHO the only thing the first dentist did wrong was try to charge you. personally, if someone comes in for an extraction and if I dont succeed I dont charge.
Other than that what do you expect? The dental council might pay you lip service, send him a nuisance letter, the dentist will get advice from his indemnity provider and they'll draft a well worded response to the council who'll reply to you in turn. result: it'll waste a load of time and wont improve your situation one jot. The council are only worried about serious stuff like sexual assault or drug issues tbh.
As regards the procedure itself, predicting difficulty from an x ray is a joke. people who say they can should know better. it gives a good indicater but it's NOT black or white.I'm extracting teeth since 1999 and you never know for sure till you're doing it.
I'd a lad in 2 weeks ago for extraction of an impacted lower wisdom tooth-complete nightmare (i'd a fair idea before i started!). His corresponding one acted up soon after and he was told he'd have a 2 week wait for the oral surgeon. I reluctantly agreed to extract it....and guess what it was out in under 1 minute, to my amazement as much as his.
so basically what i'm trying to say is that dental extraction can be a difficult business. it's not like getting a haircut.

Ponder this.
My 5 year old car started acting up a month ago. took it to a local guy to run diagnostics, found nothing wrong. charged me 100 quid. to be fair he put a nice bit of time into it. however it didn't solve the problem. had to take it to the main dealer and shell out 1500. I dont think there's a garage council i can moan to. what i can do is be reasonable. deduce that the car had a complex issue above the local guys abilities and accept that complex jobs cost money. he would'nt know whats required before he started so i dont blame him. thats life.

[Dianthus]

The overall cost of €450 is wholly related to the oral surgeon specialist, who himself said you would have ended up seeing him one way or another (either due to the extent of the decay, or the anatomy of the area, or both).
Had the general dentist managed to get the tooth out in the end, you'd only be €90 down, and he'd be a hero.
As it stands, he tried, 1.5hours of (unpaid) surgery time was taken up, & an appointment was arranged with a specialist for you to be seen within 24hours.
Re the pain during the procedure- as an adult, it's up to you to communicate; either request more local anaesthetic, or request the dentist stops the procedure. They're not mind readers, it's assumed all is ok unless you say otherwise. Why complain afterwards?
Re the pain after the initial procedure, again, communication. I'm sure the dentist would willingly have given you a prescription for stronger painkillers had you informed him that you needed them. Whilst it's nice to get a phonecall from the dentist after a difficult procedure, it's not always possible if they're up to ninety at work, it doesn't mean they "don't care". And the phoneline goes both ways
Re the current pain/discomfort, it's a chicken and egg situation, most likely if the oral surgeon said it was a difficult extraction you should expect that healing will be slow& uncomfortable to an extent. He can advise you on pain management if needs be.

[fitzgeme]

all sounds reasonable to me op, you had a hard time but that's sometimes the case with difficult jobs. The dentist tried his best but if every extraction was simple then there would be no specialists.no I wouldn't charge either, but that's me and the dentist was within his rights to charge for the time taken In the attempt, after all you knew he was not a specialist and he was charging accordingly.

Best to calm down, think about the fact that dentists are people too, and that none of this would have happened if you tooth wasn't bad in the first place. Btw half an hour is not. A long time in the chair, I routinely have people in the chair for 6-8 hours.

[Oral Surgeon]

Originally Posted by MidlandsM

So, I had to get a back lower tooth out, it was broken and decayed, so I decided it was time for it to go.

I tried to contactmy own regular dentist but after attempts to call him, I came to the conclusion he ceased to trade/practice.

So, i went to the new one local to me......and booked my self in for an extraction and was told it'd be €90 over the phone........fine says I, and felt safe in the knowledge that they were very busy and booked out but would squeez me in in approx 2 days......*busy thought I, shure they must be good*


So, In I went on the day, and the dentist examinted the tooth and said, fine I'll take it out. The dentist X-rayed it, and went at it.......this is where it all went wrong.......after over 1/2 an hour in the chair and the sweat rolling off me, my jaw hinges were sore,my skull bursting, and my head braced by the dental hygenist, the denist gave up citing they were unable to remove it.

I was in immense discomfort.

I was sent out to the waiting room (for ages) until they were able to contact a dentist who could surgically remove it.......and then I was sent home with 2 tablets of solpadol (is that the stuff??)...that was the last i saw or heard of them, they never contacted me since to see how i got on.

Anyways, the specialist dentist could not see me till lunchtime the next day. Then ensued an evening and night of immence pain - really really sore....it was incredible pain......I hardly slept a wink.......I never experienced such sore piercing dental pain before.....

Next day, went to the next dentist, who was really good.....very professional and efficent.....looked at the x-ray, and said that the tooth was never going to come out conventially.....so, he went at it, split the gum, drilled the roots and removed it, and stitched me up without the massive discomfort I experienced the day previous...much to my relief .
He has since follwed up with me to check on my recovery/progress....very impressive to be fair.

It cost me over €450 all done, with fuel costs, prescriptions, and not to mention the pain and time off......I'm still not healed, very tender, and feel strongly that the first dentist caused major hurt to my gum/socket/tooth etc.

Thing is, I'm really really annoyed at the first dentist.......and would like to know what recourse I have now to taking them to task for going at a tooth that was not going to come out conventionally......?

Can any professionals here give their thoughts/experience on this please?

Thanks

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience op but it is not too uncommon...

As mentioned before, I also think that you can't determine with absolute certainty the difficultly of an extraction by an xray. I have seen both poles, an easy looking tooth on X-ray that's very tough clinically and visa versa. I tell nearly every patient that their extraction is or likely will be surgical but I have that luxury as people expect a difficult when coming to see me, also a surgical extraction for me is quicker more comfortable and predictable than a conventional extraction.
In general a tooth may look easy or very difficult but then theres that big grey area...

Unfortunitely most dentists will not be able to sort this out as quickly as someone who does it 10 times a day every day. Does that mean that you should have been referred from the start, probably not and the vast majority of extractions done in general practice go fine. Dentists can't put all of their patients to the extra expense of specialist surgical extractions if they can sort them out themselves 99% of the time.

Undortunitly, you were the person with the failed extraction and in fairness you were seen and treated by a specialist in a day, not bad so job sorted... You should expect some discomfort for a few days regardless...
As for trying to charge you.... I wouldn't....

I wouldnt bother with the dental council, there's no case here.

All the best,
Os

[RUCKING FETARD]

Can you not name dentists on here???

[helimachoptor]

Originally Posted by RUCKING FETARD

Can you not name dentists on here???

Nope