Why do people attend routine dental appointments when they’re really ill??

[DontWantToGetSick]

I’m a dental hygienist. It’s two days before Christmas. Just had a patient in who I could hear coughing and spluttering before I even called them in. (Busy waiting room so I’m sure all the other patients loved that). Asked them if they are ok when I called them in, they said yes but feel like crap. Really sore throat, slight temperature, feel achy etc. I suggested we should rebook the appointment in the new year. Nope! Patient has a New Year’s party and they need their teeth clean for that! If I won’t see them they’ll write a complaint in as they’ve had this booked for months and I’m “not allowed to discriminate”. Lovely. So yes I can wear a mask, as we all know from Covid times they aren’t fully protective esp when you’re only 6 inches from someone’s face and they are coughing directly at you for a full half an hour. Not to mention the residual aerosol in the air for the next patient or two. That’ll be nice for me and everyone else to get sick just at Christmas. Merry Christmas.

That’s such a shame. Why? I don’t know much about the profession but the hours, for example, and salaries seem pretty good. Is it just the patients?

neither are the answer, so what is?

Don't charge, people mess you around
You charge, they turn up sick

So what's the solution?

I’m not claiming to know all the answers, just pointing out that the system isn’t working the way it is.

I would do my best to re-arrange appointment as I don't like to go anywhere if I am ill but I understand I might get charged.. Luckily we are treated with great consideration as DH was once left in agony by a dentist that didn't get their contract renewed and DH got free treatment as the manager admitted he could have sued and that would have cost a fortune .We get treated very nicely when we go along.

My dentist charges for cancellations within 48 hours.

So if I fell sick within this window I would still show up.

I cancelled an appointment 24 hours before said appointment once because I woke with the flu.
I got knocked off the list told to find a new dentist.

Got new dentist they cancelled an appointment due to staff being unwell, but I got the blamed for cancelling it, and got k locked off the list.
Even though I had proof I didnt cancell.

I now have a wonderful dentist after years of being in pain.
I could be dieing and still walk in for my appointment, as I can't afford to be knocked off again.

Why? Because at my dentist, if we cancel with such short notice due to illness, we're charged full price AND threatened with being banned.

I've been thinking the same thing. Some eople are just inconsiderate.

Are you still wondering this even after posters have repeatedly stated the same reasons on the thread?

My dentist is covered in horrific warnings of being de-registered and being charged if you don't cancel with enough warning. And I think you're only allowed two cancellations before being de-listed... Maybe this is why?

Exactly this👆🏻
I saw a lady come into the dentist to explain that she was unwell with flu, and could she postpone the appointment. She looked like death. The receptionist replied, no and that she’d have to still pay. The lady said she’d stay for the appointment. The receptionist watched her blow her nose and cough, then changed her mind and postponed her appointment!

When I got the flu, my first symptoms was at 2am and by 7am I could hardly get out of bed. If I had a dental appointment and rang at 9am to tell them I’d be charged.

because it takes 6 months to get a new one

Well this didnt go how op thought it would go.

I honestly think that dental treatment is that hard to get, and people are genuinely scared of losing their place on the patient list that many feel obliged to attend.

Sorry you have to deal with this, right on top of Christmas.

I recently cancelled a dental appointment which wasn’t routine ,it was for necessary work .
I wasn’t coughing but felt generally unwell so phoned then the day before and told them
Now they can’t see me for absolutely ages and I have a very sensitive tooth 😭

I've cancelled before for this reason and been warned I'm getting a black mark against my name 🙄

Our Nhs dentist always says not to attend if unwell. They don’t charge either.

I feel like hell on 2 feet and cancelled mine today. The next appt is mid Feb. That's probably why people turn up.

I cancelled my routine dental appointment when I was unwell out of consideration for the dentist, and as a result the practice removed me from their NHS list and blacklisted me from ever signing up as an NHS patient with them again. So, that's one reason.

Our dentist asks us on the reminder call the day before if we or anyone we live with have cold, flu, or covid symptoms and they'll reschedule no problem.

If you cancel a lot barring actual disabilities etc then you should be dropped quite rightly.

I couldn’t give a shit how it “went”. The fact is on any other thread on here if someone went somewhere ill they’d get called selfish for potentially passing it on. If I pay £300 for concert tickets and I’m ill on the day, I don’t get refunded if I don’t go. So cool, I’ll just carry on and go even if I’m coughing all over everyone else around me. If I book a table in a restaurant and have paid a deposit I might lose that if I cancel if I’m ill. I’ll just go in future. Don’t want to lose that money! And maybe we stop paying the waiters/chefs if customers don’t turn up/cancel last min?

The thing is, I’m used to not getting paid if I’m not actively working. I “lose” lots of money regularly due to people cancelling or not turning up. As I said before, I’m not in charge of who gets charged! At the end of the day, I’M the one who gets ill because of rules made by people sitting in offices. The same way it’s the people at the concert who get ill when it’s Ticketmaster or whoever making the rules of not refunding people.

And to point out, this woman didn’t say she didn’t cancel because she didn’t want to get charged. She didn’t cancel because she had a New Year’s party she wanted clean teeth for!

Anyway. I’m just frustrated after a really really fucking long year. I’ve had 4 miscarriages over the past 2 years. I’ve had to sit on towels while treating patients as I can’t afford to keep taking time off for them. And now I finally get a break and I’ll likely be ill. I’ve just tired and quite frankly have had enough.

Absolutely. Where I live there are also so few dentists that people can’t get in. It’s really difficult to find anyone taking on new patients and absolutely zero NHS dentists. Anytime an appointment is canceled either with notice or even by the surgery for sickness or other reasons it’s months before there’s another one
I pay monthly for dentistry unless I’m very ill I’m going in

Would you have charged them if they had cancelled because they were sick? If not then they are being unreasonable.