Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Tooth Just Fell Out- Medical Card.

Options
  • 08-03-2012 1:49pm
    #1
    zef
    Closed Accounts Posts: 947 ✭✭✭


    A few mins ago I was walking down the stairs & my tooth just... fell out!
    It is a front tooth, to the right beside the 2 main 'front teeth'.


    2 years ago i slipped in the snow & broke the tooth to the right of that- so now i am missing my 2 teeth there, I went to the dentist, and he got a false plate made up, but it had a wire 'clasp' that held onto another back tooth to keep it in place.
    After 3 weeks of wearing it, the back tooth which was holding it , (it had a big filling the dentist had just done, even he said 'I hope it holds it) , the filling came out and the tooth fell to bits, so i could not wear the false plate at all.

    I am in reciept of Disability Allowance, and have a medical card. I 'used up' my 2 fillings (yes, one on the tooth that just fell out today) last month, and he also removed the wisdom tooth that was holding the false plate in place.

    I think the dentist should have noticed if the tooth was delicate when he filled it in Feburary. To say i am unhappy about my dentist is an undertantement, he is not Irish, and I don't think he understands everything I have said to him.

    Can anyone give me any advise? The root of the tooth is still in my mouth, there is an exposed nerve- i think, it hurts and has a jagged piece sticking out. I am so self concious as well. Thank you.


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    helimachoptor
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 21,646 Mod ✭✭✭✭helimachoptor


    Op get to a dentist asap. Whether its the same one or a different one you need to see one.


  • Options
    #3
    btkm8unsl0w5r4
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,538 ✭✭✭btkm8unsl0w5r4


    OK. For starters its time to take responsibility for your own oral condition. Having teeth crumbling and falling out is not the dentist fault, the dentist tried to fix them for you because they were broken, decayed etc. If the clasp of the denture fractured a tooth it wasn't a very good tooth to start with. You have missing teeth and wisdom teeth requiring removal, your mouth cannot be in a good condition. Working under the medical card the dentist has to fix teeth using fillings, sounds like the tooth is fractured to a point where it neededs a crown, so again the dentist did his best under your limited resources, where the dentist is from, bears no relevance. Your also free to go to any dentist you like.

    You can either pay privately for more advanced treatment, or have the tooth out an another denture made under the medical card. A filling will no hold onto a speck of tooth.

    Sorry to be blunt but these are the facts. The best person to complain to is the minister for health who has slashed the medical card dental coverage to the point where its pretty useless.


  • Options
    #4
    zef
    Closed Accounts Posts: 947 ✭✭✭zef


    Thanks for the replies.
    I am quite nervous of the dentist, afraid to go back to the last one, but i will try get an appt with the dentist I had when working, he was much nicer.
    Teeth went downhill after a traffic accident in 05 i'm afraid.
    Yea the 'new' dental services on GMS are pretty bad, read some horror stories, now I look like a horror story!


  • Options
    #5
    yobr
    Registered Users Posts: 375 ✭✭yobr


    Vanessa Faint Minion wrote: »
    The best person to complain to is the minister for health who has slashed the medical card dental coverage to the point where its pretty useless.

    I note from the PCRS website that in 2010 they paid €75.7m to dentists under the medical card scheme. Its surprising to hear someone label a spend of €75.7m as being pretty useless.

    While I appreciate the volume of recipients in this scheme has increased, it should not be forgotten that we probably got the €75m from the EU/IMF and ECB. As like other services, both health and non health, we just have to start living within the resources we have available to us. This issue has already been challenged in the High Court where two dentists, supported by the IDA, lost their case, see link below.

    http://www.irishdentist.ie/news/news_detail.php?id=3738


  • Options
    #6
    Oral Surgeon
    Registered Users Posts: 3,240 ✭✭✭Oral Surgeon


    yobr wrote: »
    I note from the PCRS website that in 2010 they paid €75.7m to dentists under the medical card scheme. Its surprising to hear someone label a spend of €75.7m as being pretty useless.

    But that was 2010.... €75m is a lot of money but not when it's €20 here and €30 there for treatment that take some time and effort and are supposed to last 7-10 years.... That €75m was spent on many low to medium cost procedures, not a few big expensive jobs...

    Medical card dental coverage is very poor


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    yobr
    Registered Users Posts: 375 ✭✭yobr


    Oral Surgeon wrote: »
    But that was 2010.... €75m is a lot of money but not when it's €20 here and €30 there for treatment that take some time and effort and are supposed to last 7-10 years.... That €75m was spent on many low to medium cost procedures, not a few big expensive jobs...

    Medical card dental coverage is very poor

    I'm not sure exactly what you point is? If the OP got a filling that did not last, then that is something s/he should investigate with their dentist.

    I would reiterate that €75m is a lot of money and perhaps we need to look at the dental procedures its spent on? While the coverage might be poor, its all we can afford unless we can restructure how the service works.


  • Options
    #8
    Oral Surgeon
    Registered Users Posts: 3,240 ✭✭✭Oral Surgeon


    yobr wrote: »
    I note from the PCRS website that in 2010 they paid €75.7m to dentists under the medical card scheme. Its surprising to hear someone label a spend of €75.7m as being pretty useless.

    While I appreciate the volume of recipients in this scheme has increased, it should not be forgotten that we probably got the €75m from the EU/IMF and ECB. As like other services, both health and non health, we just have to start living within the resources we have available to us. This issue has already been challenged in the High Court where two dentists, supported by the IDA, lost their case, see link below.

    http://www.irishdentist.ie/news/news_detail.php?id=3738
    yobr wrote: »
    I'm not sure exactly what you point is? If the OP got a filling that did not last, then that is something s/he should investigate with their dentist.

    I would reiterate that €75m is a lot of money and perhaps we need to look at the dental procedures its spent on? While the coverage might be poor, its all we can afford unless we can restructure how the service works.

    Well then, similarly I'm not sure what your point was...

    When people start listing the millions paid to doctors and dentists there is a insinuation that enough is being spent on the service so patients should be happy or that dentist are getting paid enough from the scheme so they should be happy but the reality is far from that.
    Both patients and dentists hate the scheme equally... I don't work with the medical card system as it is useless.
    Where the money comes from is a topic for another thread altogether....:)


  • Options
    #9
    yobr
    Registered Users Posts: 375 ✭✭yobr


    Oral Surgeon wrote: »
    Well then, similarly I'm not sure what your point was...

    When people start listing the millions paid to doctors and dentists there is a insinuation that enough is being spent on the service so patients should be happy or that dentist are getting paid enough from the scheme so they should be happy but the reality is far from that.

    Let me further explain my points so as to avoid any possible confusion.

    The reason I quoted the amount spent on the scheme is to highlight the significant amount of taxpayers money which is being spent on it.
    yobr wrote: »
    I would reiterate that €75m is a lot of money and perhaps we need to look at the dental procedures its spent on? While the coverage might be poor, its all we can afford unless we can restructure how the service works.

    Given that it is unlikley that this scheme will attract any further funding then, as I have suggested, we need to see if it can be restructured.


  • Options
    #10
    Oral Surgeon
    Registered Users Posts: 3,240 ✭✭✭Oral Surgeon


    yobr wrote: »
    Oral Surgeon wrote: »
    Well then, similarly I'm not sure what your point was...

    When people start listing the millions paid to doctors and dentists there is a insinuation that enough is being spent on the service so patients should be happy or that dentist are getting paid enough from the scheme so they should be happy but the reality is far from that.

    Let me further explain my points so as to avoid any possible confusion.

    The reason I quoted the amount spent on the scheme is to highlight the significant amount of taxpayers money which is being spent on it.
    yobr wrote: »
    I would reiterate that €75m is a lot of money and perhaps we need to look at the dental procedures its spent on? While the coverage might be poor, its all we can afford unless we can restructure how the service works.

    Given that it is unlikley that this scheme will attract any further funding then, as I have suggested, we need to see if it can be restructured.

    Very good


  • Options
    #11
    btkm8unsl0w5r4
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,538 ✭✭✭btkm8unsl0w5r4


    Just going to point out that the 2010 figures would have been mostly before the cuts......in 2011 since the cuts only 51.5 million was spent. Before the cuts the medical card scheme was not great but provided unlimited basic care. Now its a total joke.

    Dentists work for the scheme at per item rate which are shocking low. The money spent would also include special needs clinics, Dental hospital treatments, and health boards dental clinics for children. The figures so pointedly quoted would be a multiple of what was spent one medical card dental treatment the OP is referring to. Now lets keep it on topic.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    Stheno
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,687 Mod ✭✭✭✭Stheno


    To the OP I would say you have no comeback, you post that at the time of filling your dentist wondered if it would last

    As for the other posts, given I've never paid less than €70 over five years for routine cleaning, were the HSE/PRSI so much lower in their payments?


  • Options
    #13
    Big_G
    Moderators Posts: 1,589 ✭✭✭Big_G


    I thought the scheme was a joke before the cuts, it incentivised extractions but didn't pay enough for adequate dentures leading to a population dentally crippled. It prioritised front teeth over back teeth, which is like losing the two rear wheels from your car. Now it's not a service, it's a disservice. It should be scrapped altogether or restructured.


  • Options
    #14
    zef
    Closed Accounts Posts: 947 ✭✭✭zef


    Only getting back to this now, sorry, and thank you to those that replied.
    Went back to the dentist to find a really pleasant european female dentist there instead. Grateful to live in a country where I can walk into a dentists office and be seen and attended to.
    I will be getting my false plate remodelled to add an extra tooth in there. It's been a horrible experience but I am grateful for the medical card, and a kind Dentist!

    I wasn't looking for "comeback" by the way, just completely in shock when this happenned and trying to explain the situation with my dentist, (my fear of seeing him) and explaining why the tooth was weak in the first place.


  • Options
    #15
    Oral Surgeon
    Registered Users Posts: 3,240 ✭✭✭Oral Surgeon


    zef wrote: »
    Went back to the dentist to find a really pleasant european female dentist there instead.

    We Europeans are very nice indeed


  • Options
    #16
    zef
    Closed Accounts Posts: 947 ✭✭✭zef


    I guess ethnicity is nothing to do with it, I stand corrected. :)
    Thanks for your help.


  • Options
    #17
    zef
    Closed Accounts Posts: 947 ✭✭✭zef


    Hi, just to update & mention another little problem.
    Was amazed the lovely dentist had them ready today, and initially they were a bit tight, so she loosened them . They felt fine.
    Now a few hours later at home and i'm getting a kind of gagging reflex, even tho the denture is nowhere near the back of my mouth. I am not one for vomiting at all (v . v. rarely in my life unless i had a tummy bug). It's driving me a bit nuts, have you heard of this reaction before please? Thanks.


Advertisement