Choppers

[WeAreBongo]

Teeth that is. When I moved house a few years ago I had no choice but to change dentist and like most people I've had to join a private dental surgery. The dentist has been gradually changing my silver amalgam fillings for white ones whenever they get chipped however after every one I have to go back to get it adjusted as it hurts when I chomp down on something. Is this unusual? With the old silver fillings you'd be told to bite down while the filling was still pliable however now they seem to set the filling and then try to shape it to your bite. Do I just have a rubbish dentist?

[ChuckFickens]

well the title got my attention :)

sorry nothing constructive to add

[jno]

mine adjusts the fillings as soon as he's put them in (it involves biting on a sort of carbon paper so it leaves colouring on the bits of tooth that aren't correctly aligned; he then drills them down till they work properly). This is true of every dentist I've been to in the last 20 years or more. So yes, you might have a rubbish dentist.

[dannyday5821]

you did say your with a private dentist now? dont you think this might be the reason theyve changed their ways? this is a company, and their out to make money! i totally agree theres no point in having to go back all the time just cuz your filling gets chipped. sounds to me like their getting as much money as they can from ya! I go to an NSH dentist, and he is actually very good, always giving me options and asking me what i think would be best, after all, their my teeth! his fillings used for me have always been silver and they have always worked very well.

one of my friends is private and even she says what a rip off they are. she doesnt just see a dentist, they make her oppointments with a load of other people and then she gets charged like 50 quid for, as far as shes concerned, them doing nothing other than looking!

like i said, because their private, their a business. their going to work on the assumption you dont know any different, otherwise, or better. if i were you, id do some reading/research, then approach them and ask why their doing the things they are the way they are. (wow that was a good example of extremely bad english in that last sentance eh!)

[LoftyLottie]

I just second what jno has said.

[WeAreBongo]

Thanks all, I don't have any option but to go private in my area - there are no NHS dentists accepting new patients. I've got to go back to have my latest filling adjusted, after that I think I'll change to another practice. Ho-hum!

[Slooow_Jo]

Some nhs dentists whose lists are closed will still take some private patients!

[LoftyLottie]

What a terrible situation we have in the UK at present with dentists. I personally know of pensioners with real dental problems and pregnant women (who are advised to have dental checks during pregnancy) who cannot get a NHS dentist and cannot afford a private dentist. I get so angry.
I live in a very rural town so people cannot afford transport into other to find an NHS dentist and the NHS dentists who take private patients haven't any more capacity to even do that!

We will soon be back in the dark ages where we were all toothless before the age of 30!

[WeAreBongo]

I agree wholeheartedly - where will it all end? How soon will it be before doctors and surgeons realise that while they earn a lot of money on the NHS, they could earn oodles and boodles more if they became private. I've had a sore chopper for a while now but I've spent so much money on it in the past that I'm wary of having it fiddled with again. Ahem.

[MrXLA]

I appreciate many (though not all of the points raised).
But a few facts for you:
- Some NHS dentists earn MORE than private dentists FACT!
- MOST work privately either because they don't want to see an insane and unsafe number of patients or in many cases because THEY CANNOT GET an NHS CONTRACT!!
- almost all NHS dentistry is carried out in a 'business setting' so the argument of NHS vs. private setting is a laughable one.
- technically all dentists are private some simply have a contract to provide a certain amount of treatment for the NHS
- Now for the last point the bit that actually boiled my p*ss, there is I'm afraid TOO MUCH ignorance re: medicine and the NHS, if doctors had the ability to work soley privately and chose to do so it would NOT be for the money it would be because in the NHS (as will all the other NHS staff they are treated like S**t by the patients, by the realtives, by the other staff, by executives and they are finding themselves working in an increasingly hostile, inadequate and dangerous environment.

[MrXLA]

With regards to the specific dental issue you raised, my honest answer would be I'm not sure about the ability of your dentist. However placing composite resin restorations especially in'back teeth' is more difficult than amalgam. You may have just been very unlucky with these restorations, usually a dentist will assess the occlusion (the way your teeth meet) before letting you leave however sometimes your input is necessary and since you are numb you are not able to accurately determine how they feel. This is possibly more of a problem with composite fillings than amalgam.

[MrXLA]

Generally dentistry (and I am speaking generally) provided in a 100% private practice is going to be a better experience for the patient and a higher quality service.
There are numerous reasons for this:
- NB the 'private' dentist may or may NOT make more money than an NHS dentist however:
- they will typically see less patients
- that means more time with each patient
- clearly therefore to equal the income generated through an NHS list I would hope it is obvious that if for instance one has a list half the size then the income needs to be doubled from each patient if it is to equal an NHS list income
- next consider that higher quality and therefore more expensive materials are probably used
- the dentist is reliant on you for business (not exactly the case in the NHS so if anything more inclined to keep you happy
- the dentist will provide the care that is appropriate for you and of your choosing rather than that dictated by a contract written by someone who has never even seen a dental practice as in the NHS
- a private dentist has the freedom to provide additional treatments not available on the NHS
- a dentist with a specialist qualification may not be able to aquire an NHS contract and therefore is only able to provide the specialist service on a private dentist, why would a speclist oral surgeon want an NHS contract to replace amalgam fillings when they've not deen a dental drill fro 20 years?

[LoftyLottie]

I would never blame the dentists themselves as I understand the current situation all too well. But the fact remains that people who can't afford private dentistry are going to have rotten teeth and that isn't just the very poor. Something is very, very wrong with the whole system.

I am extremely fortunate to have a really excellent NHS Dentist who also takes private patients. He discusses my needs fully with me and on occasions will recommend that I have something done privately. I do not have good teeth but they are being looked after and I am a pensioner. During the last five years I have had lots of problems which I couldn't possibly have coped with if I had to pay privately and would by now have lost my top teeth.

[MrXLA]

Some of what you say lofty is clearly true, however people need to take responsibility for their own oral and general health.
Once you are in the situation where you require restorative dentistry that situation will not improve without the help of the dentist.
That said literally more than 90% of the work carried out by dentists (in the first instance, not after fillings, crowns etc already exist) could be avoided if people:
- avoided sugar containing foods
- brushed adequately twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste FACT

[MrXLA]

Please dont ANYONE state that they do they above and still get dental decay due to 'weak teeth'

There are instances where dental treatment is entirely unavoidable however this does NOT apply in the majority of cases

[LoftyLottie]

Unfortunately Mr XA, those of us oldies that were brought up differently and didn't have today's modern toothpastes etc, or information about our teeth have ended up with loads of fillings and problems that will not go however well we look after our teeth now.

My children, in their twenties, have no fillings whatsoever and perfect teeth. At their age I already had a mouth full of fillings (and I visited the dentist regularly for checkups). I also have jaw alignment problems and that has affected the way I bite and has damaged my gums. This wasn't picked up when I was younger.

There is no excuse for not looking after our teeth, I would agree, but it's not quite as simple as that. There is no excuse for a system that has helped us all to suddenly not be there for us. We need doctors and dentists however much we care for ourselves and try our best to lead healthy lifestyles.

The system is a complete shambles.

[Archburner]

I am afraid its also a list of priorities as well. By that I mean
years ago before our beloved Labour govt. destroyed the NHS and people paid a fraction of what they do now for NHS dentistry, dentists were treated as 2nd class citizens.You turn up lied about staying up all night just to get an instant appoinment and the poor already overworked dentist had to see you, esp. if it wasn't his own practice for next to nothing unless he finished treating you then and there while all the while the last time you saw a dentist was maybe 15 years ago, ignoring countless reminders to attend for check-ups etc. and preferring to buy luxuries like holidays, plasma TV's. computers.Now, everyone is whingeing they can.t find an NHS dentist.Well, you reap what you sow . Also. the current NHS dentistry pay guide lines was imposed on the industry by the govt. Ring a bell anyone? Well, its all your own fault if they go private and if you can't afford it, a bit of DIY might help like the old boy who took his teeth out with pliers.Yep. welcome to dentistry of the 21st century ladies and gentlemen of which we are all contributers to some degree. Who are the 2nd class citizens now?

[LoftyLottie]

No it doesn't ring bells with me at all. I have always had regular check ups, always looked after my teeth and teeth have been a priority over plasma screens etc. I am now a pensioner and would like to move to a different area but being unable to find an NHS dentist is one thing that makes me hesitate about moving away.

There are many others in the same boat. It is not our fault at all. And I don't think dentists have been treated as second class citizens at all.