Hello
Not sure whether this is worth a complaint. Way back in February, I had extreme tooth ache at work and managed to get an emergency dentist appointment. They examined me and and said that I needed root canal treatment as there was an infection. The dentist who saw me that day recommended I get booked in straight away as the tooth wasn't in good shape at all. He had no slots but I managed to book an appointment with his colleague.
Over the next few weeks, I started the root canal treatment, attending all my appointments. I was initially told that they were pleased to have caught it now to save the tooth and that it would likely take 2-3 appointments (2 hours at a time). I attended these as planned - it wasn't easy to get the time off work but it was obviously essential. On the third appointment I was told they should be finished that day. At the end of the appointment slot they said unfortunately the canals were awkward and they'd need a final, 4th appointment to get it done. There was a fair bit of lost time (in my non-specialist opinion) with the relevant sized files not being readily available and them having to track these down from other consultation rooms. I didn't have a huge amount of faith in the dentist performing the treatment but I am not a dentist and can't pass much judgement about her competence.
My 4th appointment was booked for early April and, due to the pandemic, this did not take place. I only found out when I checked online (wasn't contacted to say it had been cancelled). When I emailed (nobody to pick up phones) they said that I had a temporary filling in place and that should be fine until they were ready to reopen. It was around this time that I found out I was pregnant too.
Over the following weeks, I lost this temporary filling and also started to experience discomfort in the tooth. Via email, I was told to either use a temporary filling kit to repair myself or to use the wax from Babybel cheese. I told them I was quite worried about the tooth but they said that these kind of procedures can last for 'ages' and not to worry.
I called the triage line several times in May saying it was starting to get painful and was told to just keep using temporary filling kits and take paracetamol. By June, the government gave the go ahead for dentists to reopen. I called to try and make an appointment. For 3 consecutive weeks, I was told 'we are reopening next week - still waiting for our PPE and training ' - often the phone line would totally ring out. By early July I was really frustrated, spoke to the manager of the practice and explained the stress about the pregnancy wasn't good for me. She got me in for an appointment in early July where I saw the same dentist. She said they wouldn't be able to finish the root canal because of pregnancy (their policy due to X rays) but they could clean it and put a 'more solid temporary in' that should last until after birth.
That filling fell out last week, I went back to the dentist and saw somebody different who told me that I've got a palatal fracture probably due to the length of time that it's been as the tooth was more brittle and that the tooth has to be extracted and I need a bridge. I'm heavily pregnant with twins (due next month). I'm now faced with the extraction in the next few weeks, a gap in my tooth or denture for 3 months (necessary part of the process) and then having to find childcare for 2 month old babies for invasive dental treatment for the bridge after birth.
AIBU to complain about how this has been handled. I feel really let down. I respect the need for PPE and closing during Covid but this was preventable.