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?

Not in the dental industry, but a HCP. You wouldn’t believe the amount of patients that forget to tell me really crucial things, hence the need to ask it every time and safely assure myself of the facts to maintain their safety.

I will often speak to or see female patients at work who say they have come in because they have heavy vaginal bleeding and some severe abdominal pain, my first thought is “oh okay, maybe this is menorrhagia...let’s take some more history” and they will offload ten minutes worth of the story before I finally get a chance to ask if they’re pregnant and it’s always met with a “yes, are you stupid?!” type look, because they haven’t realised that they never actually told me that vital bit of information.

Same for people that turn up to A&E with a scratchy throat, sore ears and a few sneezes, I take a full history, and only when I get to their drug history is it apparent that they’re on biological drugs or receiving chemo, and that’s why they’re concerned enough to come to A&E.

The assumption is often that the HCP is all seeing and all knowing, but it’s always safest to check, check and check again.

Oh op I've had some unusual surgeries and medical history and I have had people ask out of pure curiosity, where it would have nothing to do with them. I don't like it as it was traumatic and sometimes I cry if I have to explain.
It does sound like though that he was just making sure he had everything covered. You are likely more alert to people asking unnecessary questions or feeling judged, but I don't think he was being nosey.

Yep - as others say - my tumour can never be fully removed without seriously damaging nerves and so it will have to monitored for the rest of my life.

I am so, so, so sorry you’ve had to go through this awful experience with the blood the health service that they gave you, and the devastating consequences you were left to live through, year after year.

I’m so so sorry you had to live through years of that same health service mishandling the way they dealt with the problems they left you with. It sounds like both the system, and many of the people themselves were crass, unfeeling and you were caught by the stigma of a disease that you should never have got in the first place.

And I am so sorry that this outdated bit of process has ended up bringing back that awful time for you... having to go through your entire medical history every 6 months, again and again and again ad nauseum, I really feel for you. It must be horribly triggering, around and round again, bringing it all back every time... that’s too much to ask you to go through.

Obviously the dentist & dental nurse at this practise didn’t do the negligent stuff that happened, or the cruel and discriminatory stuff that happened after.

But they are in a great position to ease your pain now, by making a reasonable adjustment to this process that enables you not to be re-traumatised each time you go for a debtal check up! They could just be process is process type people and not give a sh*t, or they could see a way to balance their medical history needs with a patients emotional health.

Trauma is a peculiar beast. You can think it’s all nicely buried by time, but it grabs us at random moments and makes us feels so vulnerable, or angry, or humiliated, or just plain scared... all those feelings from before, come back in a heart beat. Medical trauma exists. And it’s not just from physically traumatic events such as botched operations or near death experiences. The deed can be small but the consequences so traumatic and life changing, that it leaves a trauma that can turn into ptsd very easily.

Is that something you think might apply to yourself, in the past or now? You’ve certainly been through some pretty awful medical experiences which anyone would class as traumatic? I hope you don’t mind me asking, I’ve finally started some specialist treatment for ptsd which I picked up from health/medical based events in the past, so I saw certain similarities in your posts. I may be wrong and have it on the brain of course

Well, why don’t you call your dentist surgery and ask if they can keep your medical info on file as it’s quite long and distressing for you to recount every visit, and then you can just write ‘as previous’ on your form each time you attend? It’s not fucking rocket science is it?

chinny legally you need an up to date signed medical history

I understand that it is distressing for you OP but with all due respect that's not the dentists fault. The dentist isn't going to care about your medical history, they won't even register. And if it's any consolation we treat everyone as if they have a BBV these days, cause legally you don't have to disclose it.

The dentist is a HCP and needs an up to date medical history, if you start saying only stuff in the last 6 months then you basically have multiple medical histories, would have to look through 20 years of medical history every time a patient came in

To give an example of why that's not a good idea, when I started at our practice the previous dentist had done the "any changes to your medical history" and every year this patient had said no. Until I started talking to her and she casually mentioned she'd had epilepsy, diagnosed 6 years ago. She thought she'd said it at the time, but turns out she hadn't, and so every time had asked "any changes" she'd said no because she thought we already knew.

The previous dentist had been treating someone for 6 years with epilepsy(which has a fuck ton of dental considerations) and didn't know. Because they didn't do a new medical history every 6 months