What are dentists doing exactly?

[musicalfrog]

Genuine question as I don't think non urgent dental care is available (still). Nobody can get check ups which surely is bread and butter work for dentists. What are they doing with their time, and aren't they worried about losing their regular income?

I have no idea how the system works but there must be an imbalance of some sort at play here.

Both me and both my daughters had our checks up back at the beginning of July , both of the dental surgeries contacted me to invite me to book the check ups. I'm surprised so many have still only recently been able to go or not at all, didn't realise it wasn't back to normal for the majority.

@DeadBod

I've not heard anything from my dentist since my appointment was cancelled in April. I'm surprised at some dentists charging for ppe. My dentist always wore a visor, mask, gloves and apron before Covid anyway so I hope she doesn't start charging now.

Completely different PPE required.

My kids and I had a check up in March the day before the schools closed! They phoned a couple of days before It and I had assumed they would be cancelling but no, it went ahead. They literally just looked in our mouths though, I needed a scale but they’d have had to have done it manually with no water due to the aerosol and I said no.

I do feel or dentists I think they have been in a precarious position financially and they are at such high risk from the virus as well. What a mess :(

My dentist are only seeing emergency dentists but the one near by are doing normal NHS check ups. Time to move in think

Mine is fine - private though. Is the difference in nhs and private perhaps?

Ours are refusing to do check ups or any "routine" stuff, it's emergency only - I cannot understand why they can't and they don't seem interested in getting back to normal at all.

I don't understand why private care is OK but NHS dentists can't work. Surely the government advice is one size fits all?
So if you have money you don't need to worry, if you don't you'll be left in pain.

Hope this isn't the future.

Or is different by country as health is devolved?

Our second routine check up has just been cancelled. We haven't now seen a dentist in over a year which isn't great as DH & I have gum disease and my DD needs a brace

Can't even rebook as it's impossible to get through by phone but the cancellation message said there would be nothing available until early next year!

@ssd

I don't understand why private care is OK but NHS dentists can't work. Surely the government advice is one size fits all? So if you have money you don't need to worry, if you don't you'll be left in pain.

Hope this isn't the future.

Some private patients are paying quite a lot monthly on a plan though and still not being seen, this can sometimes be well over £200 a year, PP mentioned this upthread.

It obviously varies between practices, depending on what ventilation, PPE etc they have installed. My dentist did my check up and a scale and polish, but it had to be done the old fashioned manual way to avoid aerosol generation, so no ultrasonics. He’s installed state of the art rapid air change ventilation, so can do aerosol procedures such as fillings, but then has to leave the room empty to air change after disinfection, during which time he can’t see patients, so his daily income is reduced. He therefore only does it if it’s unavoidable.

If dentists can only see a certain number of people they will prioritise the private patients who provide them with more money, not the NHS patients. It is simple economics pure greed but what can you do

My husband broke a front crown earlier this week. His dentist was fully booked for 5 weeks but rearranged a non-urgent patient to treat him. They are seeing less patients due to longer appointments to do cleaning between patients so it is hard to see a dentist right now unless it is urgent or you get lucky.

@ssd

I don't understand why private care is OK but NHS dentists can't work. Surely the government advice is one size fits all? So if you have money you don't need to worry, if you don't you'll be left in pain.

Hope this isn't the future.

It will be the future. NHS Dentists are shooting themselves in the foot - theyre proving theyre not needed as if needed people will pay to be treated privately.

You ask why Private dentists can work and NHS ones cant? Simple - NHS ones are paid by the Gov to do just 20% of the cases they did previously. Private are self employed and therefore need to work. NHS Dentists massively let themselves down.

I had a text today saying they are not taking appointments until March next year.

@AestheticWitch

If dentists can only see a certain number of people they will prioritise the private patients who provide them with more money, not the NHS patients. It is simple economics pure greed but what can you do

I don’t think it’s greed whatsoever, they are a business if taking private patients and were unable to operate for months whilst still having costs.

It is greed though. NHS patients are left to suffer so the dentist can see private patients.

I had an emergency filling and it was like being operated on by two Aliens they had that much gear on. Fair play to them i say. Must be horrendous having to work in that everyday. One in one out in our practice and emergency only.

Unfortunately/fortunately Nhs practices have to stick to the chief dental officer and Nhs guidelines, which is to prioritise emergency/urgent treatment. Fallow time after agps of an hour or 20minutes if you get air extractors fitted that comply with certain regs. I am 95+% Nhs and working more hours than before trying to keep on top of emergencies/toothaches/problems many from people who haven’t been to our practice for 5 or 10 years And have pain or haven’t ever been to us and cannot get seen by another practice as we have been asked to do this as well as looking after “our” patients by 111 and local dental committees. Many of the urgent hubs were ordinary practices that have their own patients to see and so as other practices have got equipped and up and running we are being asked not to refer to them. We bought our own ppe we were not given it free of charge by the nhs we are paying hugely inflated prices. We have managed a couple of days of check ups but as emergencies have increased again we have had to stop and concentrate on them. We are working as hard as we can in uncomfortable respirators and extra gowns and in between agps sitting on the phone triaging and reassuring/discussing less urgent problems/queries/worries and patients we speak to are almost always incredibly grateful for our time. However we have A couple of friends working at private practices in other areas that are doing no fallow time to clean in between agps/patients so yes they can see more patients. And as they have had no financial support maybe you can see why they have taken this route. Most are trying their very hardest but a lot of people are getting screwed over by unscrupulous people as in every walk of life and I cannot see it getting better for months. Probably sound very bitter but reading this thread is very discouraging

The main problem is logistics. Social distancing men’s you can’t have a full waiting room, you have to manage entrance and exiting,increased cleaning time and dressing up time (doffing and donning of PPE - I love that phrase), phone triaging of shielding patients, the list goes on.
In a large multisurgery practice it is not practical to have every surgery in use because there would be too many people flowing through to operate safe social distancing. So dentists are having to work limited sessions in isolation bubbles so if someone tests positive the practice doesn’t need to close.
All theses measures are being adjusted continually as we learn how to deal with the pandemic and we are continually risk assessing and auditing.
I work in a practice where we have five surgeries and only two dentists or a dentist and hygienist working at any time so we can leave surgeries fallow for an hour between aerosol generating procedures. It is hard work and at times stressful when you forget a patient can’t go upstairs and the ground floor surgeries are not in use.
We are lucky, some practices have one small waiting area and limited surgeries so can not operate at their normal capacity.
Added to all this is the paper work. If you arrive at the dental surgery and they ask you to fill in multiple forms please don’t moan, just get on with it. If they send you forms electronically please don’t moan and claim they contravene data protection, we already hold enough info on you to clone your identity but we don’t because we would be struck off and lose our livelihood.
Please don’t moan at our over worked and over abused reception staff. We are prioritising emergencies, and if you were in pain we would prioritise you. Your check up is not urgent, you can do the prevention yourself , cut down on sugar, cut out sugary drinks, clean your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste and avoid toffees and pork scratchings.
Don’t worry about stain building up on your teeth. If your wearing your mask appropriately no one can see it. We will be back to normal sometime next year and will be polishing teeth dawn till dusk.

I've had 3 emails to contact mine for a check up. Receptionist had now even put read receipts on!!

I know a lot of dentists were despatched into hospitals at the height of covid.

@Scarby9

My check up and hygienist appointments were cancelled in February, then lockdown happened. No appointments since. Oh well, I thought. That's the pandemic. I now find out from friends that they have had check ups and hygienist appointments in the last month. They pay privately as they go. I am on Denplan so have continued to pay now for well over a year with no dental attention at all. Not very happy.

I’m on denplan. I’ve had a check up and a hygienist appointment since June.

@Angrymum22

"Your check up is not urgent, you can do the prevention yourself , cut down on sugar, cut out sugary drinks, clean your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste and avoid toffees and pork scratchings.
Don’t worry about stain building up on your teeth. If your wearing your mask appropriately no one can see it. We will be back to normal sometime next year and will be polishing teeth dawn till dusk."

THIS is the exact reason NHS dental practices wont be here this time next year. In your own words, we can do it ourselves, we can clean our teeth and not eat toffees. OR we can pay and get our teeth properly cleaned, our gums checked, our mouth cancers found, our kids teeth straightened, our mouths looked after - we will get "WHAT WE PAY FOR" disgraceful. Think I actually WILL register at a private practice to support a dentist that is working their butt off to earn a living and look after "non-emergencies" - disgusted by these NHS earn 100% for 20% of the work "professionals".

I had hygienist and check up cancelled in April

Since then I’ve had manual scrape by hygienist in August. Don’t mind manual it’s just the noise.

This week was offered check up and need filling! Was offered both NHS and private (previously gone for white option). No extra charge for PPE.

Recently new partners at my surgery. They seem to be trying to do the right thing

They are doing private practice only.