Dentist practice-unhappy with 'minimalist' service!

[fufflebum]

I visited my dentist yesterday and as usual they had a look in my mouth, asked in any problems.

I explained no problems but although I clean my teeth twice a day they feel like they need scaling. The dentist said nothing, handed me the glasses and then proceeded to scale them! He finished said nothing and then I got up, asked when he needs to see me again and left.

My children are also registered there and we went last week. He literally counted their teeth and that was it!

Obviously I am not a dentist but it does seem a bit minimalist to me. I have had another dentist in the past and they were more thorough. However since moving I have registered with this dentist. It is Nhs but it seems to be a real money spinner.

Person after person in for 3 mins, signing the nhs form and leaving. They even asked for £1 card payment as I used my debit card!

I do not think they were negligent but they did seem to do the minimum necessary, I do not think I would have got the scale had I not asked!

Has anyone else experienced this and what can I do!

TIA

[Branleuse]

change dentist? As on facebook for recommendations?

[Circaea]

Just change dentist.

[BastardDog]

Yes I've experienced this increasingly in the last few years. I did complain at one dental practice, but no one got back to me. I changed to a different practice, but tbh they're not much better. My mums tried another couple of local ones and says they're the same too.

It seems to be a sausage factory, money making scam. High turnover of patients, very little work done for the money with regular recommendations for extra work to be done that I'm highly sceptical actually needs doing.

[MortaIWombat]

Mine doesn't treat me as NHS , but at check ups he always counts/checks each tooth and gets his assistant to make notes about "slight blah-de-blah", tells me it'll maybe need a filling one day, but for now keep it clean etc. He always feels under my jawbones where glands are, pulls out my tongue , feels soft tissue inside mouth, etc. He says it's a check for oral cancer. Maybe just because I used to be a smoker? I don't know.
He'll also recommend a hygienist once a year or so.

[pod3030]

yes, mine's like this. in and out in under a minute. i couldn't even get a scale and polish on the nhs as 'you can't get that on the nhs' even though it was an nhs dentist. i would have had to have it privately with them. felt really sausage factory.

[gingeroots]

I think they are like that .

I recently changed from my NHS dentist ( who was quick and minimal as you describe but had a lovely manner ) back to a private one that I used to go to .

Thing is ,the private one was really not that expensive .
I've not got bill in front of me but he took 2 xrays ( which he showed and talked me through ) and scaled and polished my teeth .

Total was £57 ,which as my NHS dentist didn't clean and scale and you had to be seen privately by hygienist at cost of £50 per session ,I thought was good value .

[MrsMorton]

unfortunately NHS dentists can be under a lot of pressure

A has been said, private isn't necessarily horrendously expensive and the service can be pretty remarkable. Private dentists earn only about 5% more than NHS ones on the whole but they have a far better quality of life apparently.

[gingeroots]

Although I was thinking that maybe if a lot of work needed like crowns and or fillings private might be significantly more expensive .
As I think with NHS there's a cap on cost of course of treatment .

[fufflebum]

Thanks for replies.

It is a it disappointing really- NHS being dismantled and destroyed.

Thanks everyone.

[1969Sarah]

Our NHS dentist has moved us from 6 monthly to 9 monthly now to yearly checks.
Do they make more money by having more people on their books (but seeing them less often)?

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

People seem obsessed that dentists are trying to rip you off.

I can assure you if they were just in it for the money they wouldn't be working as NHS dentists but be private.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

I am highly sceptical that private dentists only make 5% more than NHS ones.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

The reason they did the "minimum necessary" is that is what the NHS provides these days, sadly.

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

Blimey, our new dentist is NHS and they're fab! They had all the time in the world for DD on her first trip, made a big fuss of her, and let her have a little play in the chair. They gave us all thorough check-ups, and X-rays for DH.

I'd change dentist if I were in your place.

[LottieJenkins]

I was with a totally crap dentist practice. The woman i saw took nearly 45 minutes to try and remove a tooth . She didnt get it out and i had to go to the hospital to have it removed. I refused to see her after that so saw another dentist in the practice. She was supposed to see me at 9.15am and eventually called me through at 10am with no apology. I am now registered with another practice. I saw my friend yesterday who tells me that the first butcher isnt working there any more. I wonder why.......... She also told me that they have two waiting rooms one for private and one for nhs. I was a bit about this.

[notcitrus]

I'm not sure what you're unhappy with - you have no problems with your teeth, you had a checkup and descale; what else do you want in an appt. Better communication?

My dentist checks, cleans and descales every 6 months because I can't clean them very well, and attempts to count my children's teeth and advises on brushing - given no problems, there's no need for anything else. MrNC has had 3 crowns recently replaced.

The practice is very good though - and there's at least a dozen others within a mile if they weren't excellent with communication, disability awareness, etc. One advantage of south London! I have friends visiting from round the country to see them.

[EnlightenedOwl]

Mine's private. £13 a month with Denplan covers my checkups/x rays but not treatment
every six months check up involves

• full check up - he also checks the lymph glands and around my jaw for any unusual swellings etc
  
• check using a special machine which examines under ultra violet light I think thats to eliminate any signs of oral cancer
  

-full scale and polish

its always very thorough always in at least 20 minutes.

[MrsMorton]

NICE guidelines are that check ups should be at schedules of 6-24months depending on your level of risk for decay, gum disease and oral cancer. They don't get money just because they have patients on their books and in fact in England, people are only registered for as long as their course of treatment lasts.

Fanjo, you may be sceptical but it's true.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Really..not the ones I know. Am in Scotland so it may be different here..or I know some very wealthy private dentists.

[MrsMorton]

But you need to take into account the associates and the principles. Associates don't earn much in comparison.