Q.
NHS dentists in my area are almost impossible to find. When I had to find a new dentist, he only gave my teeth a very basic clean once in two years, insisting they didn’t need cleaning. I found another NHS dentist who gave me the most painful scale that I’ve ever experienced. She was holding my gums up with a hook and they were bleeding for days after and hurt for a further two months, also I experienced sensitive teeth for the first. At my next visit, I told them I had a toothache and a bad taste in my mouth. They said I had gum disease and would have to go to a private clinic to have my gums peeled back and scaled. The cost would be up to £3,000. I booked to see a private dentist for a second opinion. He told me that the situation wasn’t that bad and that he could do what needed doing. He also gave me a filling for the tooth that he believed was causing me problems. The bad taste is still with me now and the gum is still sore around the tooth but the dentist gives no suggestions for this. Anyway, I soon develop a pus filled lump on my gum and also got very poorly. I wasn’t well enough to get to the dentist that day so gargled with warm salt water and it went down by morning. When I went to the dentist, he said “Well, there’s nothing there now”. Even though there are signs of it, a little tear in the skin. This lump has come up three times now often at the weekend when the dentist is unavailable and makes me poorly each time but goes down with salt water. The last time it came up, the Doctor gave me antibiotics (4 weeks ago) and my mouth felt like it was totally back to normal and the bad taste was gone. Within three weeks, the bad taste was back and parts of the gum are still sensitive. Also, the front tooth where the lump was, has now become slightly loose. I went to the dentist again, he has done extensive x-rays and says that my bone is slowly decreasing and I will need a bridge for the front tooth at some point. He then said that I didn’t really need my scale and polish this time. What worries me the most is that nobody seems to be dealing with my current mouth problem and I’m worried that if the antibiotics worked so well, I must have an infection that isn’t being dealt with. I am currently incapacitated from work suffering with Chronic fatigue syndrome so I don’t have the luxury of being able to check out new dentists at £100 for the initial visit. Have you any suggestions at all and am I worrying unduly that my dentist isn’t doing enough to take care of the teeth I have already. Sorry this was so long and many thanks for any advice given.