Hi all.
My DS (16) knocked his front tooth at the beginning of January this year. He was in the middle of orthodontic treatment at the time and his wires had to be removed and all treatment stopped because he needs a complicated root canal. We saw his regular NHS dentist who did a referral for NHS Pediatric endodontic treatment. The tooth next to it was too weak from the incident for them to put the bracket on and attempt the root canal at his regular dentist. We cannot afford private treatment. We were quoted £1500 privately just for the one root canal, before any crowns or anything else he might need. I lost my younger sibling to suicide last year and my DH and I had to pay all funeral expenses and flights for family members abroad to get here. She was on life support and we just did what we had to do to get the family to her as quickly as we could. So our savings are completely depleted. Just wanted to add that before I get shouted at for not having a savings pot. It’s been a very hard year.
Anyway, the dentist said she did the referral in January. I kept calling the practice for updates and we were told we’d be contacted ASAP. The waitlist is long. In October my DS had a cycling accident and knocked his mouth on the handle bars of his bike. He had to have plastic surgery on his lip. He still has the brackets from his braces so his gums sort of meshed into the brackets (so awful!) and he knocked his tooth again and now the tooth next to it also needs root canal and some restorative dentistry as half of it is broken. So it’s even worse now.
I called Kings College hospital to find out what was going on with my son’s referral because he is in agony. They said there was no referral on the system. It had not been done. I called the dentist who swears blindly that it was. I asked them to forward me the referral and they didn’t. I even went in and asked them to show me and they refused. I told them Kings said the practice needed them to call to get to the bottom of it and then they’d get back to me. No one got back to me. I called today because more of the tooth has broken off. Kings have said they finally received a referral in mid October. It’s the only referral they have for him. The dentist blatantly lied about referring him in January and I’m stuck with my DS in agony. Missing college. Absolutely miserable. Still eating only soft foods. The waiting list is about 12-18 months. He hasn’t had orthodontic care since January. They won’t touch him until his teeth are fixed.
I feel so useless and like such a shit mother. I unsuccessfully tried to apply for credit to get it sorted. It’s going to be in the region of £5k for the specialist endodontist and crowns. I’ve called every specialist NHS dental hospital I can think of for help. Even the undergrad program at Guys out of desperation, but my son is too young. They only help adults. No regular dentist will touch him. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please be kind, I’m doing everything I can to get help for him.
Also, as far as the dental practice goes, what do I do about their failure to refer and is this grounds enough to complain and report? Would it be unreasonable of me to officially complain to the General Dental Council about this? I can’t believe she’s done this and lied about it. I know people make mistakes but this is so serious and it’s not right.
Thank you if you read this far! I’m just so desperate and don’t know what else to do.