Is this poor behaviour on the part of my Dentist's Practice

[Mosaic123]

I've been going regularly to the same Dentist (lets call him Mr A) for many years nearby. I've been at the same practice for about 30 years.

My next appointment was booked 6 months ago.

I found out in casual conversation recently with someone that Mr A has left and been replaced by Mr B.

The dentist's receptionists ring you a couple of days before an upcoming appointment to remind you of the date and time.

This time I said I hear the guy I see has left? Were you going to tell me?

Receptionist replied that they haven't told any of their patients as they have too many.

I resent being treated like this when I'm paying.

Am I being unreasonable? Can this be the right behaviour in the dentistry code of practice? Is it just a cheeky way to treat patients.

If I was to cancel I would probably have to pay for the appointment anyway.

I've seen multiple different dentists at the place I go - I just turn up and see whoever is working there and covering the appointments that day. I've never been told a dentist is leaving. Or a doctor for that matter. Nominally you're assigned to a named GP but they come and go. I just write down the practice name for who my dentist/doctor are.

Going against the grain, I’d be really unhappy with that. I’m a bit of nervous dentist patient and a change in dentist from someone I’ve been seeing for years to a stranger is a pretty huge change for me. My dentist was unwell for my appointment once and they called and asked if I’d rather keep the date and have my appointment with the second dentist, or delay to see my dentist and I chose to delay. If I had an NHS dentist I’d be grateful for what I had and deal with it, but in a private dentist I don’t think and automated email to everyone affected is too much to ask.

My dentist of a long time very suddenly passed away, I saw on social media, the dentist didn’t let patients know because they have many patients, don’t have the time, and everyone would be asking for details which is inappropriate

Yes, it does matter when you’re nervous of dental works and you’ve chosen your dentist for their ability to calm you.

it would be good if dental practices informed people if a dentist was leaving (ditto GPs), but it doesn’t happen. As to “too many people”, that doesn’t affect our GP practice when they’re sending out a general call for (good) feedback. It doesn’t matter whether you send an email or SMS to one or hundreds.

YABU. They don't owe you to tell you Mr A is leaving. They probably should put it on the website though or emails as some sort of notice to patients but they don't have to do that or "tell you" as a special customer. You're registered with the practice not the dentist. You were assigned to be under the care of the dentist as part of his workload. Now you've been assigned to a different one.

Same with GP surgeries.

Maybe for some people, @MereDintofPandiculation . I don't know anyone who has the luxury of being able to choose their dentist (including me) and I consider myself lucky to have one at all.

Dental practices are incredibly stretched so it's understandable they're not able to tell everyone of the change, especially those who book so far in advance.

That’s true up to a point at my practice (NHS) in that I see the same dentist every time (he’s lovely - so laid back and not at all judgemental!) but I don’t think I’d expect to be notified if he left, as long as I was transferred to another dentist. I’d be really disappointed, mind you!

@liveyoungstayactive She's a customer of the practice, not of a particular dentist. I'm a private patient too. I accept that there are changes made that are sometimes out of the control of the practice despite what I pay. Not particularly difficult to grasp if you're a reasonable person.

Were you particularly attached to your dentist? I'm assuming the new one will be just as capable

What have they done wrong? You still have an appointment with the practice.

My dentist will sometimes let me know at my appointment if he thinks I might not be seen by him at the next appointment (if he is sometimes venturing into a different area of dentistry etc) but I don't think its a requirement for them to tell you.

Private patient here too.

I mean they could have sent an automated message/email out to his patients.

I'd be a bit taken aback if my dentist was replaced without them letting me know as my practice is very particular about who is your dentist - You are only allowed to see your named dentist.

No, no, no. Not when you pay privately. You see the dentist you want. You book the dentist you want. If they are not available for any reason, you are called to let you know.

If you book and pay for a service with a certain professional then YANBU but if you are booking and paying with a practice YABU.

For example if I’m paying a self employed hair dresser because she’s amazing but she rents a spot at a hair dressers I’d expect to keep seeing her unless told otherwise. If I’m paying the hairdressers as a company then I’d expect a different hairdresser and would feel that the company didn’t have to tell me she no longer works there. Not sure if that makes sense

This happened to me. I did know my dentist was leaving because my DH is also with the same practice and dentist and the receptionist told him when he went to book his next appointment. I was never officially told until the confirmation email, but my appointment was still held.

To be honest I was a bit disappointed as I really liked our dentist. However it’s incredibly difficult to get any dentist in our area and we are private cos there is absolutely no NHS provision available. So I consider us lucky that we have any dentist at all!

Totally normal

I think they should let you cancel the appointment without charging under these circumstances. When they called to remind you did they not say your appointment is on x date with Mr B? Has your original dentist moved to a nearby practice, so you can choose to keep going to him? If he's moved away or retired you would still be in the position of needing to find a new dentist.

I'm with the OP as I've had oral cancer which was not spotted by a dentist I went regularly to. I now have no roof of my mouth and have to wear a prosthetic so feel very uncomfortable with a dentist I don't know. It took me years to build up trust and go back to a dentist which I need to do for my remaining teeth. So I know it's an extreme example but it would cause me great anxiety to find I had a different dentist one day.

My dentalsurgery always informs me of the name of the dentist who will be seeing me at my appointment.
I've seen the same person for the last three or four appointments now. DH, who goes to the same practice but pays privately, always sees the head honcho and this is always confirmed.

When mine retired I made an appointment and they told me there was a new one who was very nice. (He is.) I wouldn't have been annoyed if I'd turned up and had a new dentist though.

My private practice regularly just cancels appointments and then just sends a message to rebook. I don't think I've made an appointment that hasn't been cancelled in years. It's private so should be better than that. So you've got outstanding service!

There aren't any NHS dentists in my town, nor the two towns on either side. I don't know if private dentists are different.

I don't know anyone with a NHS dentist. Everyone around here is private because there's no choice. Or they don't go until there's an emergency. Not condoning it. It's just the awful state we're in.

We had the same dentist for many years. When he died unexpectedly, we were sent a letter explaining that we would be allocated another dentist in the practice. We moved, so had to find a new one anyway.

Every time I go to the hygienist, it’s someone different, which I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t all tell me something different that I should be doing, usually involving spending more money.

would be good if dental practices informed people if a dentist was leaving (ditto GPs), but it doesn’t happen. As to “too many people”, that doesn’t affect our GP practice when they’re sending out a general call for (good) feedback. It doesn’t matter whether you send an email or SMS to one or hundreds.

My GP did, when my allocated GP retired.
In practice, I have usually seen whichever GP is available- which did include my allocated GP sometimes, but not always. I have yet to see my new GP as last time I went in, I just saw the duty GP, and the time before that was for gynae stuff, so I got a woman GP. New GP has signed off repeat prescription requests though.

I also have an NHS dentist. No idea if they're accepting new patients though. The hygienist is private, so have to pay for that. I mean, I gave to pay for dental check-ups, too, but I assume that's less than if I went private.