Incompetent dentist?

I'm pretty blazing right now, as after another trip to my new dentist here in London, I've learned I have fairly bad gum disease. He was surprised this was the first time I'd heard it - I've been for checkups every 6 months since I was a child and it has never been mentioned. In fact my local dentist has never even checked my gums as far as I remember. Until recently, all my checkups involved a quick check of my teeth, and me being told my dental hygiene/practice was excellent and to keep it up. The only thing my local dentist noticed was erosion of the enamel on my front teeth which I try to control by not drinking acidic drinks and so on. The new dentist was shocked when I told him I hadn't had a professional cleaning in years. It simply has never been mentioned to me. Maybe this is something I should have known, but when I go to the dentist for a checkup twice a year, I expect to be told what I need to do or have done. I assumed I never had cleanings because I didn't need them. The new dentist told me everyone should have them regularly to remove tartar, and someone with gums like mine, every six months. This is all news to me - I didn't even know I had a problem with my gums. I had had some bleeding on and off which I mentioned to the dentist and he told me everything was fine.

Now I have to pay 55 quid for a cleaning, as I have to go private, which I wouldn't have had to do before, and I've needed several appointments to sort out stuff which I think should have been sorted before I ever came to London. I have seen my local dentist about 5 times this year. Is this just bad luck or is it a case of my old dentist being incompetent? I just think with all the times I've seen him, this stuff should have been picked up. I don't believe it's only just happening now. I also had to beg him to take X rays of my wisdom teeth, as I believed they were decaying and he told me the black spots was just staining. I was treated like a hypochondriac until the X rays showed I was right. He had told me my teeth were fine - who knows how long he would have left them decaying if I hadn't insisted? I'm sure it was missed at previous checkups as the level of decay was quite bad. It wasn't until I started to get a really bad taste in my mouth that I was sure something had to be wrong. Now, I know nobody is perfect and dental things are sometimes hard to see, but it's his JOB. I feel like he just wasn't thorough enough at all, as superficially my teeth would look quite good. Any thoughts?

BryanL

Teeth cleaning is provided on the NHS, it would be a band 2 charge to you and it's not dependent on the number of visits.

How Strange

IMO, incompetence pure and simple.

I had a similar experience with undiagnosed gum disease. I've paid a small for tune over last 2 years on various treatments which incidentally have been successful. I'm still very angry about it but afaik there's nothing I can do. In my case there were 3 different dentists; two I attended regularly for years and the third twice when he bought the practice. The third dentist is now advertising himself as qualified in periodontal and implant dentistry. :eek:

A band 2 charge is still quite expensive, I think?

I'm just so angry that this was never identified. I don't know what exactly I can do about it, but it's so frustrating to be told your teeth are perfect for years and years, and then find out there's tons of problems with them. I'm not an irresponsible person, if my dentist had even mentioned gum disease, I'd have been absolutely neurotic about flossing and so on. I was given the impression I had nothing to worry about.

ovalu

[quote=[Deleted User];62902247]A band 2 charge is still quite expensive, I think?

I'm just so angry that this was never identified. I don't know what exactly I can do about it, but it's so frustrating to be told your teeth are perfect for years and years, and then find out there's tons of problems with them. I'm not an irresponsible person, if my dentist had even mentioned gum disease, I'd have been absolutely neurotic about flossing and so on. I was given the impression I had nothing to worry about.[/quote]


Dont get too carried away immediately. Basicly almost everybody (in Ireland anyway) has gum disease to an extent, some dentists may focus on this more than others, obviously I wouldnt know to what degree you have it but I would say in Ireland practicly all my adult patients technicly have gum disease but I wouldnt always ram this down their throats, as mild gum disease in a lot of cases is just part of life, and frightening people by informing them they have a disease is not always beneficial to them(in my opinion, in terms of unnessecery stress induced). When I worked Stateside I would have informed people infinately more often, as the culture is different, but I honestly thought that the expense that a lot of these people went to paying periodontists (gum specialists) huge sums was way over the top (I'm only referring to mild cases, severe cases is a different ball game).

PCPhoto

not trying to disagree with you but -

if you pass a car to a mechanic to get the oil changed do you expect the mechanic to look at the filters too ?

sorry about talking about it in terms of cars - but have had a number of problems with my car recently and fairly obvious faults were not looked at by the mechanic because I didnt tell him to look at them - so when I get the car back - couple of days later I notice the same things - so have to go back to mechanic with new list of stuff.

These people are simply reactive and not proactive.... if a dentist actually took the time to properly examine EVERY patient they wouldnt get through as many in one day, it seems your guy was in the same situation - he was just going through the daily routine of examining patients of their complaint - nothing more..... its more complacency than his incompetance.

Did YOU ever suggest a cleaning ? surely you knew its been a while since you have had a proper clean..... so in essence I dont consider this situation to be incompetance.

you went to the Dentist every 6months and not once did you ask him to clean your teeth.

PCPhoto

PCPhoto wrote: »

not trying to disagree with you but -

if you pass a car to a mechanic to get the oil changed do you expect the mechanic to look at the filters too ?

sorry about talking about it in terms of cars - but have had a number of problems with my car recently and fairly obvious faults were not looked at by the mechanic because I didnt tell him to look at them - so when I get the car back - couple of days later I notice the same things - so have to go back to mechanic with new list of stuff.

These people are simply reactive and not proactive.... if a dentist actually took the time to properly examine EVERY patient they wouldnt get through as many in one day, it seems your guy was in the same situation - he was just going through the daily routine of examining patients of their complaint - nothing more..... its more complacency than his incompetance.

Did YOU ever suggest a cleaning ? surely you knew its been a while since you have had a proper clean..... so in essence I dont consider this situation to be incompetance.

you went to the Dentist every 6months and not once did you ask him to clean your teeth.

Sorry, but that's not the same thing at all. The whole point of going for a dental 'check up' every six months is to identify problems you might not have noticed. Until this year, I had never gone for any specific reason. It's nothing like going to have one part of a car repaired and complaining that the mechanic missed something else. If you wanted to compare it to a car, you could say you left your car in for an NCT, you were told that everything was fine, you asked if anything needed to be done and were told no, then a short while later you were in an accident because the mechanic had missed something.

It doesn't take long to check gums, an extra couple of minutes, tops. From what my new dentist told me, it's absolutely standard as part of a check up. I didn't know how often cleaning should be done, in my case. Surely that is what a dentist is paid to tell me, as a professional, by looking at the state of my teeth and so on. They seemed fine to me. Why on earth would I ask him to clean my teeth when I didn't see any reason for it? I am ALWAYS asking the dentist for advice, about things that might need to be done, or ways I could improve my oral hygiene, and he just tells me to keep up brushing as well as I do and to floss ideally once a day or so. Wouldn't you think he'd say 'well you should book in for a cleaning, as you can't remove the tartar yourself'? I'm not irresponsible or lazy, but I don't go looking for problems, I have enough issues with my health already. If I go to the dentist and pay for a checkup, I expect to be told what I need to do. Getting to the dentist is my responsibility, pointing out what needs to be done is his, IMO.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Gum disease is real difficult one. Get it treated and keep it at bay. A periodontist is a dentist who has specialist exams, experiance and qualification in treating all types of gum disease. Maybe ask your dentist to send you to a sepcialist for an opinion. Whats gone on in the past does not fix the gum disease you have now. Oral health first.....

ballsymchugh

[quote=[Deleted User];62902247]A band 2 charge is still quite expensive, I think?

I'm just so angry that this was never identified. I don't know what exactly I can do about it, but it's so frustrating to be told your teeth are perfect for years and years, and then find out there's tons of problems with them. I'm not an irresponsible person, if my dentist had even mentioned gum disease, I'd have been absolutely neurotic about flossing and so on. I was given the impression I had nothing to worry about.[/quote]

the band 2 charge is 45.50.
what was the gap between your last visit to your old dentist and the first at your new one?
there are some pretty agressive forms of gum disease that can do a lot of damage in a relatively small space of time. if you're under 30 then you really should get to a specialist, but you should make sure that your new dentist isn't over exaggerating things too.

ballsymchugh

ballsymchugh wrote: »

the band 2 charge is 45.50.
what was the gap between your last visit to your old dentist and the first at your new one?
there are some pretty agressive forms of gum disease that can do a lot of damage in a relatively small space of time. if you're under 30 then you really should get to a specialist, but you should make sure that your new dentist isn't over exaggerating things too.

A couple of weeks. This new dentist told me not to panic or anything, so I gather what I have is relatively common, but still, it was the first I'd heard of it. I'm 24.

ballsymchugh

[quote=[Deleted User];62927868]A couple of weeks. This new dentist told me not to panic or anything, so I gather what I have is relatively common, but still, it was the first I'd heard of it. I'm 24.[/quote]


ok, if the dentist said not to worry about it, then don't. there are some pretty bad kinda gum diseases the affect people under 30 that need specialist care asap, but if you've not been told that, then it's probably pretty mild. like someone said previously, almost everyone has gum disease to an extent. apart from me, fitz, georgie, big g, galwaygirl, and a few noticeable others!

ballsymchugh

ballsymchugh wrote: »

ok, if the dentist said not to worry about it, then don't. there are some pretty bad kinda gum diseases the affect people under 30 that need specialist care asap, but if you've not been told that, then it's probably pretty mild. like someone said previously, almost everyone has gum disease to an extent. apart from me, fitz, georgie, big g, galwaygirl, and a few noticeable others!

Why don't you have gum disease? I'm not sure exactly what the situation is but the dentist sensed my anxiety disorder and told me not to panic about it. He told me to brush properly etc but I already do. I hope the professional cleaning helps.

ballsymchugh

[quote=[Deleted User];62928418]Why don't you have gum disease? I'm not sure exactly what the situation is but the dentist sensed my anxiety disorder and told me not to panic about it. He told me to brush properly etc but I already do. I hope the professional cleaning helps.[/quote]

mainly because i'm fantastic.

Big_G

lolz

BryanL

[quote=[Deleted User];62928418] I hope the professional cleaning helps.[/QUOTE]

How many times is he going to see you for cleaning? Normally to treat gum disease it would take 4 x 1 hour appoinments with a quarter of your mouth "numbed up" and cleaned at a time.
Bryan

How Strange

ovalu wrote: »

Dont get too carried away immediately. Basicly almost everybody (in Ireland anyway) has gum disease to an extent, some dentists may focus on this more than others, obviously I wouldnt know to what degree you have it but I would say in Ireland practicly all my adult patients technicly have gum disease but I wouldnt always ram this down their throats, as mild gum disease in a lot of cases is just part of life, and frightening people by informing them they have a disease is not always beneficial to them(in my opinion, in terms of unnessecery stress induced). When I worked Stateside I would have informed people infinately more often, as the culture is different, but I honestly thought that the expense that a lot of these people went to paying periodontists (gum specialists) huge sums was way over the top (I'm only referring to mild cases, severe cases is a different ball game).

All I can say is :eek:

How Strange

[quote=[Deleted User];62895828]I've learned I have fairly bad gum disease.[/QUOTE]

Otto Dead Eye wrote:

Gum disease is real difficult one. Get it treated and keep it at bay. A periodontist is a dentist who has specialist exams, experiance and qualification in treating all types of gum disease. Maybe ask your dentist to send you to a sepcialist for an opinion. Whats gone on in the past does not fix the gum disease you have now. Oral health first.....

BryanL wrote:

Normally to treat gum disease it would take 4 x 1 hour appoinments with a quarter of your mouth "numbed up" and cleaned at a time.

+1
In my experience, the cleaning is the first stage and meticulous oral hygiene is a must. I still have my teeth cleaned every 3 months.

Well he only suggested one cleaning so I guess I'll ask more questions when I go. I could benefit from better flossing I guess, I always find it so awkward and difficult but I'll step it up now. I have noticed an improvement in the sockets the teeth were extracted from since I started brushing them thoroughly (I had been a bit hesistant due to the pain/bleeding). The lump thing I had went away and just now a shard of bone came out which the dentist said would be good. I'm hoping it keeps improving!

ballsymchugh

[quote=[Deleted User];62967987]Well he only suggested one cleaning so I guess I'll ask more questions when I go. I could benefit from better flossing I guess, I always find it so awkward and difficult but I'll step it up now. I have noticed an improvement in the sockets the teeth were extracted from since I started brushing them thoroughly (I had been a bit hesistant due to the pain/bleeding). The lump thing I had went away and just now a shard of bone came out which the dentist said would be good. I'm hoping it keeps improving![/quote]


if you don't floss you miss half the dirt building up on the teeth, so get one of these.
http://www.dentalshop.co.uk/acatalog/Wisdom_Easy_Floss.html
it's a doddle with them. 4 x 1hr appts are what i would imagine you'd need if you never took a brush to your teeth ever. one thing you should ask when you go back is why you're paying more than you should for the cleaning, it should be 45.50 on the nhs (that's if it's bad too, otherwise it's just band 1)

ballsymchugh

How Strange wrote: »

+1
In my experience, the cleaning is the first stage and meticulous oral hygiene is a must. I still have my teeth cleaned every 3 months.

if you have meticulous oral hygiene then why would you waste your time and money every 3 months?? not being an ar5e, but is it your preference, or were you just told to come back?
i had one patient who wanted to come back every 3 months for his own preference, and it basically turned out to be 5 mins checking everything and 10 mins polite chat. every time i told him he was wasting his money!

How Strange

ballsymchugh wrote: »

if you have meticulous oral hygiene then why would you waste your time and money every 3 months?? not being an ar5e, but is it your preference, or were you just told to come back?
i had one patient who wanted to come back every 3 months for his own preference, and it basically turned out to be 5 mins checking everything and 10 mins polite chat. every time i told him he was wasting his money!

Hopefully I'll get to that stage soon (fingers crossed). The cleanings are taking less and less time every visit. It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario at the beginning because how do you know you have meticulous oral hygiene unless you're visiting a hygienist regularly who tells you that what you're doing is working.

Depending on the severity of the gum disease, 4 cleans may not be enough. It wasn't for me and I have a hygienist and a periodontist both of which I visted every 3 months for the last year and a half. Both agree now there has been a huge turnaround in the state of my gums which is down to me being meticulous about flossing and brushing but it takes a while to get into the habit of effective flossing. For the first 6 months when it was diagnosed I was flossing incorrectly which was very frustrating and it was the hygienist that picked up on it and kept showing me how to do it properly.