I see an NHS dentist every six months, with their private hygienist in between. Obviously I complete the official forms before-hand, although I tend to ignore the online ‘complete your forms in advance’ that are emailed a few days earlier, because their questions tend to relate to what I might want WRT private work.
So my check-ups a “any problems you want to mention?” then a quick whizz-round of my teeth and gums, occasional x-rays and generally heaps of praise from my dentist for having such a healthy mouth. Each time she then launches into a lengthy questionnaire about my health which seems to extend well beyond anything to do with teeth, such as ‘Do you suffer from anxiety’? The questions last longer than her looking round my mouth, and it is totally tedious. Last time I told her I didn’t want to continue, but I felt rather rude doing so. On the other hand, I couldn’t see the bearing on my dental treatment.
They do private work at this dental practice as well and I wonder whether she is getting paid for data collection. But maybe I should go with it, because the payments from the government to dentists for NHS work are so meagre. Do any other NHS dental Mumsnetters get bombarded with all these questions as part of their check-up?