NHS complaints and dentists
Discussion
MrBrightSi said:
Bit of a long shot and a chance for me to vent some bile.
Have an issue with a wisdom tooth trying to burst through my gum. It's been over a month with a hole in my gum causing my aches and pains throughout the day and serious pain when eating if something strays over to that side of my mouth.
Dentist appointment found this and was told "Surgeon will be in touch within a week to book an appointment"
Week passes nothing, contact them to be told "Oh, it seems you require a further xray"
Wait another week for this xray "Surgeon will contact you in a week to book an appointment"
Two weeks pass to be given an appointment for the end of the month
Manage to get a cancellation for today and book a day off work
Get to the dentist to be told "I can't remove the tooth as it's too close to a nerve and you require a scan at a hospital"
More waiting! I don't know where to turn, the complaints procedures are obscure and the closest thing i can find is the local ICB which is an email that they might answer in a few days or an answer machine i leave a message on.
I know i sounds like im being entitled and there is a significant load on NHS dentist but i've booked a day off from work for treatment, my work is important to me and for the duration of this issue i've been taking heavy pain killers while working on the road which isn't exactly the most clever choice on my part but while in this treatment limbo what do i do?
Has anyone got any advice or previous experience of this kind of treatment or if im just being a big baby and need to get a grip. Tooth pain isn't fun and i can't carry on like this and with this never ending being left in the dark it's destroying me.
It takes many months for an oral surgery referral to run to completion where I am.Have an issue with a wisdom tooth trying to burst through my gum. It's been over a month with a hole in my gum causing my aches and pains throughout the day and serious pain when eating if something strays over to that side of my mouth.
Dentist appointment found this and was told "Surgeon will be in touch within a week to book an appointment"
Week passes nothing, contact them to be told "Oh, it seems you require a further xray"
Wait another week for this xray "Surgeon will contact you in a week to book an appointment"
Two weeks pass to be given an appointment for the end of the month
Manage to get a cancellation for today and book a day off work
Get to the dentist to be told "I can't remove the tooth as it's too close to a nerve and you require a scan at a hospital"
More waiting! I don't know where to turn, the complaints procedures are obscure and the closest thing i can find is the local ICB which is an email that they might answer in a few days or an answer machine i leave a message on.
I know i sounds like im being entitled and there is a significant load on NHS dentist but i've booked a day off from work for treatment, my work is important to me and for the duration of this issue i've been taking heavy pain killers while working on the road which isn't exactly the most clever choice on my part but while in this treatment limbo what do i do?
Has anyone got any advice or previous experience of this kind of treatment or if im just being a big baby and need to get a grip. Tooth pain isn't fun and i can't carry on like this and with this never ending being left in the dark it's destroying me.
Deciding who to complain about depends on a few things.
Is it NHS treatment?
Does the oral surgeon work at the practice that your dentist does or did you see them at a different place?
Did the dentist do an xray, but the oral surgeon wanted an additional one?
The surgeon is correct that any risk of nerve damage needs assessing with a scan and no NHS dentist will have an expensive CBCT scanner.
If everyone has followed the referral rules correctly then your complaint is probably directed at the ICB as they commission the services.
I'm not sure what you expect the outcome to be though. NHS dentistry is in a desperate state in the UK.
Rollin said:
It takes many months for an oral surgery referral to run to completion where I am.
Deciding who to complain about depends on a few things.
Is it NHS treatment?
Does the oral surgeon work at the practice that your dentist does or did you see them at a different place?
Did the dentist do an xray, but the oral surgeon wanted an additional one?
The surgeon is correct that any risk of nerve damage needs assessing with a scan and no NHS dentist will have an expensive CBCT scanner.
If everyone has followed the referral rules correctly then your complaint is probably directed at the ICB as they commission the services.
I'm not sure what you expect the outcome to be though. NHS dentistry is in a desperate state in the UK.
The Surgeon is in house. I was told my dentist had made a mistake in not getting all xrays sorted at the time but i had to chase this up by making first contact in regards to the surgical appointment.Deciding who to complain about depends on a few things.
Is it NHS treatment?
Does the oral surgeon work at the practice that your dentist does or did you see them at a different place?
Did the dentist do an xray, but the oral surgeon wanted an additional one?
The surgeon is correct that any risk of nerve damage needs assessing with a scan and no NHS dentist will have an expensive CBCT scanner.
If everyone has followed the referral rules correctly then your complaint is probably directed at the ICB as they commission the services.
I'm not sure what you expect the outcome to be though. NHS dentistry is in a desperate state in the UK.
My major issue has been the whole line of communication, was told the extraction is booked and that todays appointment was for this but to book the day off, arrive and then be told at the appointment that the surgeon won't do the procedure due to nerve location. It feels insulting, i know the demand they're going through, but what a waste of an appointment surely? I mean they could have contacted me by phone and given me a real understanding of what is happening but instead i was lead to believe today was for an extraction not to be told about further appointments and waiting.
The key issue is squarely on that, the waiting times are part of it, but having been miscommunicated to around xrays to then having the day off explaining to my employer and using a medical day-off i feel im going to look a fool infront of my employer and also going to be suffering more time in pain.
Really sorry to hear your predicament OP, that sounds a horrible situation to be in.
Can't help with how to go about making a complaint but to get you out of pain, has your dentist checked to see if the upper wisdom tooth is biting on the swollen lower gum? If it is, a quick way getting you into a better place is to extract the upper tooth. This plus painkillers and maybe antibiotics can bring about a quick solution to the pain.
Upper wisdom teeth are usually a doddle to get out, and are nearly always 'flick-out' jobs, way easier than the lower. It's going to be made redundant anyway if the lower is eventually removed.
Got loads of patients quickly out of trouble this way over my career.
Can't help with how to go about making a complaint but to get you out of pain, has your dentist checked to see if the upper wisdom tooth is biting on the swollen lower gum? If it is, a quick way getting you into a better place is to extract the upper tooth. This plus painkillers and maybe antibiotics can bring about a quick solution to the pain.
Upper wisdom teeth are usually a doddle to get out, and are nearly always 'flick-out' jobs, way easier than the lower. It's going to be made redundant anyway if the lower is eventually removed.
Got loads of patients quickly out of trouble this way over my career.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping said:
Really sorry to hear your predicament OP, that sounds a horrible situation to be in.
Can't help with how to go about making a complaint but to get you out of pain, has your dentist checked to see if the upper wisdom tooth is biting on the swollen lower gum? If it is, a quick way getting you into a better place is to extract the upper tooth. This plus painkillers and maybe antibiotics can bring about a quick solution to the pain.
Upper wisdom teeth are usually a doddle to get out, and are nearly always 'flick-out' jobs, way easier than the lower. It's going to be made redundant anyway if the lower is eventually removed.
Got loads of patients quickly out of trouble this way over my career.
This is a lower wisdom tooth. I do feel my cheek is getting caught a lot due to swelling but it's mainly the aching throughout the day and the sharp painful moments when eating if any food gets close to the area where theres a hole.Can't help with how to go about making a complaint but to get you out of pain, has your dentist checked to see if the upper wisdom tooth is biting on the swollen lower gum? If it is, a quick way getting you into a better place is to extract the upper tooth. This plus painkillers and maybe antibiotics can bring about a quick solution to the pain.
Upper wisdom teeth are usually a doddle to get out, and are nearly always 'flick-out' jobs, way easier than the lower. It's going to be made redundant anyway if the lower is eventually removed.
Got loads of patients quickly out of trouble this way over my career.
I miss having a dentist like yourself who kept me in some sort of loop in regards to options and the treatment itself, i am a layman and hardly knowledgeable in teeth but the bedside manner/understanding/however you'd term it is gone from the dentist practice i attend.
MrBrightSi said:
Rollin said:
It takes many months for an oral surgery referral to run to completion where I am.
Deciding who to complain about depends on a few things.
Is it NHS treatment?
Does the oral surgeon work at the practice that your dentist does or did you see them at a different place?
Did the dentist do an xray, but the oral surgeon wanted an additional one?
The surgeon is correct that any risk of nerve damage needs assessing with a scan and no NHS dentist will have an expensive CBCT scanner.
If everyone has followed the referral rules correctly then your complaint is probably directed at the ICB as they commission the services.
I'm not sure what you expect the outcome to be though. NHS dentistry is in a desperate state in the UK.
The Surgeon is in house. I was told my dentist had made a mistake in not getting all xrays sorted at the time but i had to chase this up by making first contact in regards to the surgical appointment.Deciding who to complain about depends on a few things.
Is it NHS treatment?
Does the oral surgeon work at the practice that your dentist does or did you see them at a different place?
Did the dentist do an xray, but the oral surgeon wanted an additional one?
The surgeon is correct that any risk of nerve damage needs assessing with a scan and no NHS dentist will have an expensive CBCT scanner.
If everyone has followed the referral rules correctly then your complaint is probably directed at the ICB as they commission the services.
I'm not sure what you expect the outcome to be though. NHS dentistry is in a desperate state in the UK.
My major issue has been the whole line of communication, was told the extraction is booked and that todays appointment was for this but to book the day off, arrive and then be told at the appointment that the surgeon won't do the procedure due to nerve location. It feels insulting, i know the demand they're going through, but what a waste of an appointment surely? I mean they could have contacted me by phone and given me a real understanding of what is happening but instead i was lead to believe today was for an extraction not to be told about further appointments and waiting.
The key issue is squarely on that, the waiting times are part of it, but having been miscommunicated to around xrays to then having the day off explaining to my employer and using a medical day-off i feel im going to look a fool infront of my employer and also going to be suffering more time in pain.
I'm currently having similar issues with wisdom teeth, although not experiencing the same amount of pain as the OP.
Had the initial appointment in mid Jan, did the scan/hospital appointment 4 weeks later, and currently waiting to hear back for a surgery date which they said would be 8-10 weeks. So around 3-4 months from start to finish which tbh I don't think is that bad for a public health service.
If it's just one wisdom tooth and it's causing unbearable pain surely you just go for the private option?
Had the initial appointment in mid Jan, did the scan/hospital appointment 4 weeks later, and currently waiting to hear back for a surgery date which they said would be 8-10 weeks. So around 3-4 months from start to finish which tbh I don't think is that bad for a public health service.
If it's just one wisdom tooth and it's causing unbearable pain surely you just go for the private option?
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