Thread: My horror story

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    1

    Question My horror story

    or am I overreacting?

    Hi all.
    I am new here, I found this site whilst googling for dental help. I would really appreciate it your thoughts on my dental story please as I am not sure what to do next.
    Sorry this is such a long story.

    I have always been lucky with my teeth, no problems. I had my front teeth crowned 22 years ago due to a very large gap, but that was it.

    2 years ago I chipped the one of the crowns, it was quite noticable, I went to the dentist and he put a temp filling on and said it needed a new crown. Because the chip was approx 1/5 of the tooth and was on the corner the filling kept coming off, the dentist kept putting a new temp on it. This went on for months and months as he kept saying that he couldn't do impressions for crown as I was in on emergency appointments and when I did make appointments they were always cancelled by the surgery due to illness etc. When he did get around to fitting the crown it did not fit properly, I assume this was due to the fact that by the time he did the impression there was so much temp filling all over the tooth that it made the tooth to thick. I did complain but he just got grumpy.

    Now, taking into account he took a lot of xrays a few months later i was getting a lot of toothache, another xray was taken and I had decay between 2 teeth, Apparently it was very bad. The decay was in the 2 molars next to the crown after the canine. I had an infection and had root canal done, it didn't work so I had root canal done again. I have since been waiting for months to get impressions done for a crown, same old story, i kept getting cancelled. Then last week the tooth broke. I had to see another dentist as mine was on holiday (surprise surprise). The other dentist put on a temp filling, I need to add without cleaning the area at all. A couple of days later it became really painful.
    I saw my own dentist and he put me back on anti biotics and has told me that he wants to try root canal again, but I have had it done twice now.He also said that he could refer me to a specialist but it will cost an arm and a leg. (I currently don't pay for dental treatment as I am on WFTC...so please don't think this post is about money, it isn't, it's about being upset by the treatment I have recieved...)
    My dentist told me that I could have the tooth extracted but I would only get a false tooth in its place, (I am in my 30s and it is the tooth next to my canine, therefore in my smile, if that makes sense) and I would have to pay for implants. Although I don't understand why I can't have a bridge? Also why root canal a tooth for the 3rd time if it had been done properly originally?

    Since having the crown fitted originally I have taken to grinding my teeth, my teeth just don't feel right in my mouth, this may sound silly but I don't know how to describe it. My teeth have also moved and I have gaps between my inscisors and canines. I have a crack in one of my canine teeth and in a bottom molar, although my dentist insists that if they don't hurt then they should be left alone.
    He did say he would refer me to an orthodontist, but again it would cost and arm and a leg.
    My teeth are also stained and yet he won't refer me to the practice hygienist as I apparently don't need it!

    I don't want miracles or a free ride, I just want teeth that look ok and don't hurt.
    I guess I am feeling upset, am I getting shoddy treatment because I don't pay?

    They are the only NHS dentist in my area so it is not as if I can even switch dentist.

    I am now due to go and see him again this Friday to have more root canal treatment done but to be honest I am freaking out, it is all really upsetting me and I just don't know what to do.

    Am I overreacting?

    Thank you for reading and I hope I have made sense.
    Last edited by fed-up; 04-28-2009 at 08:49 PM.

  2. #2

    Default

    Hi fed-up,
    this is the way the NHS in England and Wales works nowadays, unfortunately . It would be the same if you were paying the NHS charges, so it's not because you're exempt. The NHS service has been cut back to a bare minimum, meaning that you'd be hard-pressed to find a dentist who'd give you a bridge on the NHS (a bridge isn't deemed necessary for achieving "dental fitness" and thus it's now deemed a cosmetic procedure which is not usually covered). If you can at all afford it, I'd recommend getting the root canal re-treatment done by a specialist (endodontist) to avoid yet another failure.
    Wishing you the best of luck and I hope you can sort something out.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    London
    Posts
    8

    Default

    hi, i dont' think you're over-reacting at all!!
    it sounds *so* similar to the treatment that i've received on the nhs, where i originally needed two fillings but everything's gone wrong and i might even lose a tooth because of it :-(
    there are good nhs dentists (i think the ones who mix nhs and private patients are better because the private patients 'fund' the nhs patients to some extent) but the system overall is *crazy*.
    i think that bad nhs dentists probably cause more tooth loss than gum disease and cavities put together do!!! that's my experience at least...
    i'm also in my 30s and it would be horrible to lose teeth so young, especially through bad dental treatment, it just seems ridiculous.
    all i can say is that i understand how you feel and you're not being silly. my advice would be that you should find a good dentist that you can trust, preferably a private dentist who can give you time. also, for the root re-treatment, if you can afford it you *must* have it done by a specialist endodontist as this will maximise the chances of saving your tooth - it really does make a big difference as i discovered.
    in my opinion, nhs dentistry isn't working and it's destroying people's teeth. someone has to change the present situation...

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