To report my dentist

[Hocuspoc]

This should have been a fairly simple procedure of replacing and old crown that somehow turned into repetitive painful visits.
It is a long story but involved 3 separate attempts producing replacement crowns that all had different issues, gum infection that was caused in the process, lack of emergency care causing more issues while waiting for treatment etc...
This is a private dentist and I really lost all patience and trust, but I feel that by just moving onto a new dentist and spending x amount of money for the same thing again is really me letting this slide and them 'winning' - as in getting rid of a problem they are obviously failing to resolve but getting to keep the money I spent for nothing by excruciating months of pain.

Should I even bother reporting this and using what channels - does anyone have positive experience with these sort of claims - I find all the sites on internet more like traps than offering decent advice.

Replacing crowns can be complex and nit always successful, complications can be common I think and I a member of a dental forum where often dentists quote fairly low success rates for crown replacement.
things like dental abscess can occur if an old or damaged crown has let bacteria into the root of the tooth.
i had a bad experience at my previous dentist ( expensive work went wrong and I was left needing emergency extraction). I felt things could have been handled better but I understand ( and signed a consent form stating) I accepted that dental work is not always successful and so I did not complain, but I did move practices as I needed to build trust with a new dentist.
dentistry has one of the highest suicide rates of all professionals and I personally would not want to make a formal complaint unless I was 100% sure of negligence.

It is very heartening to read such a sympathetic response. U.K. dentists are more likely to be sued than anywhere else in the world and daily I hear from colleagues old and young who are on the edge from either complaints, threats of complaints or worrying about complaints . It destroys lives and is a prime reason for colleagues leaving the U.K. or leaving the profession.

OP If you really feel you want to complain the DCS is a free and quick device that is the least stressful for all parties https://dcs.gdc-uk.org

You should also know that if the dentist had three attempts at the crown they will have already lost a considerable amount of money on the treatment.

Forgot to say your first port of call is to address your concerns, in writing, to the practice and see what they say.

Yes it can be complex, this particular one was not, the reason it was repeated is because every single issue I reported in timely manner was ignored - I was being reassured it was normal part of process until it escalated and then in the retrospective the dentist would change his tune (regarding the symptoms I reported).
The very first attempt was rushed as the appointment was running very late and I could tell the dentist was already annoyed and distressed (not by me) going into procedure.

The reason why the percentage of complaints is as high as the other poster suggests in UK does not surprise me actually as the standard is very low on average.
Some dentists I had experience with behave as they are aestheticians first, with very superficial attitude having to be reminded of possible side effects of certain procedures they very easily suggest. Dentistry is vey difficult and demanding job requiring serious medical expertise... The difference in level of care and the difference in approach compared to some other European countries I worked in is shocking.

Sorry you feel that way.

Conventionally the reason is put down to "no win no fee" starting in 2013.

Interestingly Scotland never had no win no fee , and dental indemnity (malpractice insurance) is much cheaper and far fewer dentists sued, as a consequence.

Any profession can have bad apples, in my experience the vast majority of dental colleagues practicing in the UK are trying their very best for patients in the most dentally regulated country in the world.

Interestingly many of my colleagues who graduated abroad but practiced in the UK have returned to their home countries worn out by the regulation and public hostility to dentists.

Yes that makes sense actually, the 'no win no fee' does push people more towards attempting to sue - even if you have no case whatsoever.
Haven't looked at it from that view.

But yes, sadly my experience was quite bad in UK. I once also had a tooth removed which was very much treatable - but this was on nhs and the dentist just didn't want to be bothered with the root canal procedure and I was not financially ready to go private. Sad.

The problem is , with litigation so high, any root treatment that is complicated IE most back teeth , are referred to a specialist because their success rates are much higher due to advanced training and specialist equipment.

Unfortunately , in virtually all areas , that referral will be private as there are very, very very few NHS endodontists ( specialists in root treatment).

The consequence of this litigious background is that if , as in the past , the dentist had a good attempt at the root filling and it failed they would be liable for the cost of an implant as doing your best is no defence. This gets even worse as , on the NHS , the dentist will loose money doing the root treatment as time and costs are more than the paltry fee paid for total treatment . Probably around £60 on total for the whole course of treatment when you were an NHS patient.

Therefore it's madness for a dentist , especially NHS , to attempt any root treatment with even the slightest complication. Even in a specialists hands a non complicated root treatment has a 90 to 95% success rate which falls dramatically with complications like narrow, curved foot canals.