To think this Dentist was a bit of a weirdo

[Iamnotagoddess]

Went to the dentist today, he’s new.

Filled out the medical form (why do you have do to it every time?).

Answered the “have you ever been hospitalised” question “yes a tumour on my spine” (also can’t give blood due to transfusion etc).

Dentist asks, how long ago was your tumour? 28 years I say. So how is it monitored he asks. It isn’t, I say. So they just monitor it then? He asks, No, I say, they removed it 28 years ago?!

WTAF. Surely he should realise this and why on earth does my dentist need to know this?

pop so in your practice the P wouldn't have to reveal all her history?

I have had counselling.

Not specifically about this tbf.

I have had interferon treatment for the Hep C and cleared it, 19 years after I was infected.

It was fucking shit.

God PoppingOneOutIn2020 you're not the dental association, give OP a break.

OP for what it's worth I completely see your point. Intrusive and unnecessary, I have no idea why in 2019 it's still paper based.

She can reveal as much as she likes, but it's there for a reason and to not disclose something could have consequences, for her or for us.

If she missed something form her medical history that had been flagged up before, we would ask.

For example

"Op, you have stated on your previously MH that you take a blood pressure tablet, is this still the case?"

"No DR X I no longer take said tablet"

"That's great news, we will put you are no longer taking said tablet"

OR

"Yes DR X I am still taking said tablet"

"Ok, we will update your medical history to say you are still taking said tablet."

So on, so forth.

Yes it very shit indeed. And it’s also shit that just still upsetting you and affecting how you feel about your interactions with HCP now. Which isn’t good. You can’t go on avoiding at all costs as you get older.

Please think about going for some more counselling. There’s no shame in it.

@farrowandballsack ballsack no but I am a healthcare professional that's concerned that OP cannot see why people who may be working with her possibly infected bodily fluids wouldnt want an up to date medical history every time she comes in.

How about some empathy for someone who has been through a lot?

You're generally all sniping about how much of a faff it is for dental staff ... Ignoring the feelings of a patient explaining why it upset her.

Large warnings on front of cards are a thing of the past. Because as PPs have said, it’s confidential, anyone could see it, and it’s potentially humiliating due to the connotations. Where I work is very old fashioned indeed and I’ve not seen it once here.

And regardless of whether you have a BBV, “universal precautions” should be taken, as not all people with BBVs will know or choose to tell us.

A new history needs to be taken each course of treatment. Stuff changes: both your health and the guidelines we have for managing people with various conditions or on certain medications. Sometimes a change of dentist will mean a previously noted factor becomes relevant. For example a long standing patient of the practice had really terrible gums. When I started at the practice I reviewed his medical history and saw that he was taking amlodipine, a blood pressure medication. Which is associated with a specific appearance of the gums. I got permission to contact the gp, who changed the medication, and the gums have improved massively with no other effort.

It is a faff for us, a faff for a good reason nonetheless.

Its box ticking st the end of the day, and it's our job on the line if it isn't done.

I think you have a low threshold for labelling someone a weirdo.

@PoppingOneOutIn2020

My “bodily fluids” are no longer infected. I went through 6 months of hell to ensure they aren’t.

As you say you are 23 years old. As you get older you will hopefully develop some empathy and some life experience which will make you kinder.

Seriously - I am not debating the “new” stuff.

I don’t want to keep having to rake up the old stuff, which WILL NOT change.

They always ask me which is my good arm. Don't they ask everyone? It's nothing to do with them thinking you're a drug user.
You need to stop assuming everyone is judging you and singling you out. You're getting the same questions as every one else.

@TheInvestigator

But you don’t know that do you?

When you have the big yellow stickers all over your notes.

(I have been BBV undetectable for nearly 10 years so no idea how it’s changed).

the bloods people ask everyone for their best arm.
many people who take drugs have to have blood tests.theyve seen it before

I'm not being unkind OP, I'm sorry if its come across that way. I'm just frustrated you're failing to understand why its necessary despite being told by more than one person in the business here.

I'm 23 and have more empathy than you by the seems. I've never called anyone a weirdo for caring, and I've never turned my nose up at a medical professional who just want to ensure you are healthy.

In speaking rhetorically regarding you having infected blood, you once were infected, that's just a fact and it's taking into consideration when were treating you.

You're not singled out though, I think have worded a few bits wrong. Everyone should be treated as if they have a watchable condition. That's how we stay safe. It's just nice that people, like yourself, made us aware that actually you are/were infected so if the worst were to happen and we stabbed ourselves with your used injection needle, we can go straight to hospital, say I've had a sharps injury from a patient with X-BBV and can seek the appropriate treatment much more efficiently.

Its literally his job as a health care professional to ensure he’s acting entirely in your best medical interests, and in possession of the full facts before he does anything invasive or irradiating to you.

Good grief!

As you get older you will hopefully develop some empathy and some life experience which will make you kinder

And what, less ready to label a perfectly normal medical professional as 'weirdo'? Pot, kettle and black.

lots of people dont add things on the medical forms.youll be suprised what some people espciecally in pain forget to put down or dont want to.but on the next visit they might.
also with a tumour,if you had to then have chemo or treatment this can massively effect what they can do in your mouth or how careufl they have to be as it effects the teeth.so they might do a different care plan.

@Iamnotagoddess

I give blood as often as I'm allowed too. You can hear what they say to the people on the beds around you, and they ask everyone which arm is best. The people asking you were not implying anything about drug use. In that one instance, you were creating your own misery by inventing an insult.

Everything else may have been awful for you, but that one comment is normal.

I thought he was going to be like the one I once went to who rested his forearm on my chest the entire time.

OP, is your practice using just paper folder with your notes? So nuted from treatment written in paper form, no notes kept on a computer?

Your practice does sound a little like they havent quite caught up to all the technology avalible, hence the big yellow stickers on your folder.
We just have a little tick that remind us to check a medical history warning when we open a patient notes on the computer system, it's very confidential. Other patients should never be able to reach your notes, I wouldnt be bothered by the sticker because unless someone is in the same boat as you, I highly doubt anyone who has caught a glimpse of your notes doesnt actually know what it means.
They probably just think it's a 'you've been good at the dentist's sticker stuck to the front of your notes.

you dont know some of the things a 23 year old could have gone through in their lives.it could give them extra empathy!
and ive a five year old who has the most empathy ive ever known.

Just to add, because others have answered your questions about why it’s necessary quite comprehensively:
Your GP will be copied into all of your medical correspondence, your dentist won’t and has to rely on you to update. That’s why your GP has fewer questions
Regular updates of your medical history is good practice and a requirement. The GDC would look pretty badly upon a dentist who didn’t do this. They would be negligent.
Dentistry is surgery. If your dentist is assessing your oral health (it’s more than teeth!) treatment planning surgery or prescribing medications they need to know things that you might consider irrelevant. You won’t be expected to know what’s relevant because you have done 5 years + training. So you will be asked everything and the dentist can judge what is relevant.
I’m sorry you find it distressing, I can understand that given your circumstances. Perhaps send an email to the practice to let them know it’s a difficult conversation for you and let them know how they can make it easier for you (whilst understanding that they do need the information)

I have secondary cancer in my bones, and my dentist needs to be in the loop, because she has to look after my jawbone, basically, and any issues are fed back to my oncologist.

I'm really sorry this has upset you though; I do know that it's stressful enough as it is getting dental treatment.