Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To receive treatment from a person with a heavy cold .

94 replies

Whatjusthappenedthere · 18/12/2018 21:53

Just that really. I’m in bed with a stinking cold. Full on runny nose , sore throat etc.
If you turned up for an appointment with me tomorrow would you be less than pleased, especially this close the Christmas ...
Or would you be more annoyed if your (non essential ) treatment was cancelled especially this close to Christmas. My work involves me being very close to people’s faces.

OP posts:
DSHathawayGivesMeFannyGallops · 18/12/2018 22:47

If you're my dental hygienist, I'm seeing you on Thursday and I've also got a cold, so crack on, I'd rather not rearrange. However I suspect we would both be U. At the very least, inform people. It's probably best not to go in. Not worth the risks.

Ohyesiam · 18/12/2018 22:48

Sounds like it would be better all round if you took a sickie.
Get well soon

Thentherewascake · 18/12/2018 22:48

I just had an hygienist appointment this morning. I would have been really unhappy if the hygienist had had a stinking cold. A call to give me the choice first thing in the morning would have been my preferences. I would have declined! It's not urgent, it's not a treatment against pain or anything, and becoming ill then infecting my kids would have really pissed me off.

Your managers are totally unreasonable.

Doobigetta · 18/12/2018 22:48

I’d be really annoyed. I had a massage therapist once who clearly had a stinking cold. Of course I was too pathetically English to say anything, but I spent the whole massage seething silently and I never went back. It isn’t fair to inflict your virus on people if you can avoid it.

UhUhUhDennis · 18/12/2018 22:50

So it is cosmetic beauty treatments? Just call in sick! Not important and if they're "high end" they'll find somewhere else as money is probably no object. Enjoy your sick day - relax and Netflix binge!

Thisimmortalcurl · 18/12/2018 22:53

Take it off sick , I have face to face patient care and in the last month have been off sick twice , it’s not just the patients that want to avoid catching it’s the staff as well.
I feel the guilt but I actually get total brain fog so don’t feel I can do my job properly anyway.
My sickness record is usually great, just bad luck .
Work up the courage to Phone.

bonzo77 · 18/12/2018 22:53

Well, I’d dose myself up big time with nasal spray and aaall the drugs and crack on. If you can get yourself symptom free and not coughing / sneezing / mouth breathing then crack on. I do.

I’m in a very similar time to you. I don’t work if I cannot control my symptoms. But I’ve not taken a day off work sick since 2009. Actually not true. I did when I had a miscarriage and again when I had sepsis. But not for a cold.

LaurieFairyCake · 18/12/2018 22:53

I would go in and warn the patients as they come in so they can choose not to have the procedure

bonzo77 · 18/12/2018 22:54

Time? Role. I meant role.

squaksquak · 18/12/2018 22:54

Could you go in to show them just how full of the cold you are? Feign some sort of dizzy spell and head up the road

Treaclespongeandcustard · 18/12/2018 22:55

I would be really fed up if you treated me with a bad cold just before Christmas. I have low immunity and two babies. Keep your cold to yourself and take a sick day.

Thentherewascake · 18/12/2018 22:56

warn the patients as they come in

I would rather be told earlier, to save me from wasting a trip and half a day!

winterisstillcoming · 18/12/2018 22:57

Dentist here, and I suffer the same dilemma sometimes. Also it's not a job where you can afford to be tired, or have an easy day as you can make mistakes that could harm people. I find good decongestants help as they make me feel comfortable and also get rid of a lot of mucous and stuff.

Could you wear a visor just while you were Ill? I wipe so much stuff off mine after most treatments that I wouldn't be without one.

However if you don't feel that you can treat patients safely then yes, sick day no matter what management think.

Walkerbean16 · 18/12/2018 22:57

My dental hygeniest was hacking and coughing everywhere when i had a root canal. I ended up with an abcess infection in my face and in hospital for 2 days. Always thought it was her germs getting in the tooth!

TeaAndBisquits · 18/12/2018 22:58

If you were my staff member, I'd want you to be at home resting and getting better.

I'd call and rearrange the patients.

Work comes 2nd to health, but I'm told I have a more empathetic management style than most in our line of work.

I understand your predicament though. Whatever you do, I hope you feel better soon.

ohtheholidays · 18/12/2018 23:00

Please take the day off,I'm immunosuppressed and catching a cold can make me seriously ill,I know that's a chance I take every day when I'm out and about but I'd rather not have someone breathing right over my face whilst they're full of cold and especially so close to Christmas.

Take a day off and get yourself better for yourself as well as your patients.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 18/12/2018 23:02

I have a stinking cold which I got from the eyebrow threading lady. I wish she’d stayed at home. My nose is a weeping scab because I have been blowing it a zillion times a day since last Thursday. I definitely couldn’t do a scale and polish like this!

Original poster
Whatjusthappenedthere · 18/12/2018 23:03

Thanks Bonzo. That’s how I got through today. Sorry for your lossFlowers. And Sepsis. Not nice.
You reminded me when I last took some time off, it was 2012. ( ruptured appendix, removed later that day)

OP posts:
bonzo77 · 18/12/2018 23:03

@Walkerbean16 WTF hygienist should NOT be doing root canal.

Ok. I admit it. I’m a dentist and I work sick. Because the patients get cross if you cancel at short notice. And cross if you go in sick. So I get complaints either way. So I dose myself up and crack on as I’m self employed and don’t need the back log.

And no, I don’t wear a visor as it won’t work with magnifying loupes. I wear a mask and change it between patients.

Sudafed nasal spray is the business. I don’t use oral decongestants as they make me high and shakey. Paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Missingstreetlife · 18/12/2018 23:05

You are probably more infectious before you got the cold and for first couple days you have it, don't risk spreading it.
If past this point the main thing is if you feel well enough to work.
Employers should not pressure you

Grace212 · 18/12/2018 23:07

I'd much rather have my appointment cancelled.

Original poster
Whatjusthappenedthere · 18/12/2018 23:07

Thanks winter, I normally wear loupes and a pov light so a visor doesn’t fit all that well. Not sure I can work to the standard expected without them but I could always go without for one day.
It’s really a heavy cold, but now I’m making a fuss so best I get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day. Confused

OP posts:
Aneira11 · 18/12/2018 23:07

You should take the day off. Hygienist appointments are up close and personal. I’d be really annoyed if I turned up for an appointment with an unwell dentist/hygienist. Hope you’re better soon!

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 18/12/2018 23:10

Do people love seeing a dental hygienist? I think I’d be massively relieved! (No offence, OP, I’m sure you are very gentle and professional. Just going on my own limited experience).

scunner · 18/12/2018 23:13

Phone in sick early in the morning. I really would not appreciate such close contact with someone with a heavy cold when it could have been avoided.
Look after yourself and stop feeling guilty.

Swipe left for the next trending thread