Dentist said he'd report me

General Dental Council is the regulator.

What an idiot he is, boils my piss!!!
Tell him to go ahead and report you-infa t you would welcome it because then u wouldn't have to wait 5 years.

In a way I understand what he is saying if child was neurotypical, but ur son isn't which means he needs support with decisions.
Report him and complain and dont stop, ur a mumma bear and my guess is that he knows sweet FA about people on the spectrum. Id also suggest he goes on some sort of course to understand neurodivergence better (coming from ND mum of 2)

The problem is there’s no official diagnosis so the dentist would be going off the mothers say so he’s on thin ice if it all goes wrong

Report you? You should report him. I took a disabled relative to the dentist yesterday and they didn’t want to do anything; sit in the chair, lay back etc…. The dentist, her assistant and I had to use multiple coaxing tools to get him to comply, from reiterating that he needs to put his back, to showing him all the apparatus that would be used etc…

When we got into the room my relative didn’t want to sit down, walked away from the chair. I brought his attention back to the purpose of the visit and guided him back to the chair and encouraged him to sit down. Imagine the dentist reporting me for this! Or saying ‘well he doesn’t want to sit down so I’ll rebook the appointment’. This was a dentist specifically for disabled people.

You need to call up and speak to the surgery manager and report him!

My daughter would answer the same.
Shes on long term treatment for something medical. Of course the doctor didnt ask if she'd like it... he may have asked if she understood it. Much better phrasing.

When she was younger the dr asked her to be his Guinea pig and she was very confused. I had to explain the recent ASD diagnosis

‘Nothing to hide, nothing to fear’ is always rolled out but once it is is digital and everything combined what it to say a switch of a button by a less scrupulous future government wouldn’t switch off your access to things? We saw how easily liberty can be taken by the Covid lockdowns.

Even now whole shops stop functioning if a blip occurs with banking systems because it is all digital. We do need to be wary.

My kid has autism and I totally get it. Speed is important here before your son backs away from the idea totally. Is this a paediatric community dentist covered by the health authority. If so, immediately officially complain. Look online to find out if that's via PALS, usually it is. You need to make sure you don't go to the bottom of the queue again. In the meantime, email or write (don't phone) the practice manager. Set out what happened. Demand an appointment with another dentist trained in autism awareness, and ask what their official procedure is for a formal complaint. If they won't give your another dentist and appointment, follow the complaints procedure... Don't hand wring with them, be polite and firm and do it in writing. You know what's best for your son, and whilst the dentist may be following procedure, he's clearly not able to handle the nuances autism brings.

Not at all. It's known that dentists are refusing care to free NHS patients because it doesn't pay enough. Even if they're on their list.

The government needs to revise the dental service to make it so that everyone can have good quality dental treatment in their locality.

It is a complicated situation though, particularly when private dentists can charge around £90 just for a check up, and NHS reimbursement doesn't allow dentists to earn that kind of money.

That is truly appalling. I wonder if dentists are asking this question as a way of reducing the number of children receiving orthodontic care on the NHS. Surely it's fairly obvious that most children aren't going to LIKE having braces.

Can you book an appointment with another orthodontist, OP? And please complain. It sounds like it took a lot for your son to attend that appointment.

Why are you bring so aggy?

Its a discussion forum, for people to discuss things.

This is a mum whose child has been treated badly. She's understandably upset and wants to vent.

You could dismiss most posts on mn with 'you should go and deal with it then and stop posting on here' if you were minded to 🙄

The two are not mutually exclusive.

Get the GPs email address, write all that the Dr said down for your record. Contact the Equality Commission, fill out the application online, they'll get back to you. Describe the situation they'll advise you on what to do next. This in my experience certainly constitutes disability discrimination and neglect from health provider. Stay strong. I'd not go back to this dentist.

He doesn’t have to be a mind reader. The OP indicated on the forms and then told the dentist that her ds has autism. So the dentist should have rephrased the question

But AuDHD is not a one-size-fits-all thing that can be surmised by a test. What about non-verbal kids, or those who have anxiety disorders, or those who are (at the most basic level) very literal. I don’t want nasty dental work. Do I understand it’s probably what’s best for me? Yes. Do I want it? No. This just goes to show how utterly ignorant society is about neurodiversity, and it boils my piss on a daily basis. Trump has already pissed me off beyond belief with his utter twattery this week, and now we’re denying SEN kids NHS dental care because it’s easier to ask them a question in such a way that guarantees less effort than accommodating them with compassion and understanding. Christ, we need to do better.

Exactly how I read it. Unfortunately, I was that child who wasn’t offered braces and needed them. I have had a lifetime of problems with my teeth. Abscess after abscess due to impacted teeth and overcrowding. Awful pain to the point that labour seems less agonising. Teeth problems can be absolutely awful in adulthood, not to mention bloody expensive. I would urge anyone who has kids who need braces to get them. Even now, dentists ask me why was I never offered them, but I can’t justify the cost now.

Oh come on, I can be as pedantic as the next person but for fuck's sake the OP has a problem she wants to discuss and doesn't need pulling up on her spelling.

OK if that is the case, then she can consult a solicitor and start a claim.

Adhd & autism are covered by the disability act 2010.

I don't think much of the orthodontist that treated that patient. The treatment should never been allowed to progress that far. The patient should have been warned along the way, given chances to improve, and if no improvement, braces removed well before it got to that stage. "First do no harm".

I would have told him, you would report him for unprofessional conduct.
Frankly, he has more to lose than you.

In most health areas I'm sure you can self refer to a dental specialist hospital. In London this would likely be the Eastman Dental Hospital, which is an amazing facility.

Dentists also will refer you, if the work is too complicated or outside their remuneration regime.

I would also remind the dentist that as the child’s parent with PR, you have the right to consent to the treatment even if your child did say no anyway.

That is not true. Brace treatment is not life saving treatment. It's elective treatment. Children today very much have a right to decline treatment. Caveat that being a life saving procedure.

@Shmee1988 A person with additional needs cannot give informed consent if appropriate adjustments have not been made for their communication needs.

One way of understanding a person’s communication needs is to speak to their family!

Definitely complain.

The dentist may say informed consent not actually the issue - if your son not willing to go along with processes- so you would also need to make clear that son would most likely cope with braces.

This - disgusting way to treat you and your son, make a complaint. The dentist should understand that your son has additional needs and treat him accordingly not rush him and explain everything to him.

Is that supposed to be offering some sort of excuse or mitigation? Because that would actually be worse than it appears at first sight ie deliberately withholding treatment when he knew fine well that the child wasn’t withholding consent.