Urgent advice needed re dentist for my dd

[Farmerswife36]

I need to get my dd to a dentist today but she has a phobia of our current dentists after a trainee dentist did a tooth extraction on her and the numbing injection hadn't worked properly. She has really bad toothache and was screaming in agony last night for a good hour until the calpol and brufen kicked in . She is 6 . She has very good oral hygiene and I limit sweets so Iv no idea why she has tooth pain . She eats tons and tons of fruit and veg and has a healthy diet . My question is can I request to move dentists and take her to a different dentists or do we have to be referred by our current dentist ? My dd says she does not want to go to the "horrible dentist" and wants to go to another one . I don't want to make her terrified for life of the dentists so will try and find another dentist if this is even possible ? Iv no idea how the dental system works ? Any advice greatly appreciated

You can go wherever you like, as long as they have space for NHS clients.
Good luck.

Hi Op.

It works the same as a GP. Just find another Dentist and register with them.

Hope your DD feels a bit better soon xx

I would just ell her the trainee is no longer there and remind her of the other good dentists. Do not pander to her - she is scared and frightened and has latched onto this as a reason not to go to the whole surgery.

However as others have said anyone accepting NHS patients will take her and transfer her records for future.

As to only sweets causing problems with teeth - you are being ridiculous and showing ignorance. ALL food can create plaque, key issue is proper cleaning of teeth and oral hygiene and even then there can still be infections caused by other issues like cuts, gaps in teeth where food trapped and un-noticed, poor quality teeth in the first place etc

Thanks . I know not only sweets cause issues . Thanks for calling me ridiculous . Only on mumsnet people immediately have a dig at the smallest of things on every post . Thank you to all who have offered advice

You can research child friendly dentists in your area (some have play areas) and ask the receptionist to register, and could she be urgently seen by the kindest dentist they have given her phobia.

They are trained to help your dd have a good experience.

If it were me I would consider taking her favourite teddy and a little chair of some kind so he can sit with her and be 'seen' as well. Make it into a game and she is far more likely to have a better experience.

Ignore silly judgy posts and just focus on dd

Your DD is understandably terrified after feeling such pain at the dentist. See a different dentist and explain her fear.
Tooth decay in children is often caused by the enamel not forming sufficiently on certain teeth while the child was in the womb. Ask your new dentist if that might be the case.
Ignore the comments telling you “don’t pander to her fears”. She’s 6yo ffs.

She is not refusing to see a dentist but just does not want to go back to the one that hurt her so much . To be honest I'm surprised she isn't terrified of all dentists as she really got a huge fright last time and was in absolute agony afterwards . I'm proud of her for agreeing to go back to the dentist and if I can help her fear by changing dentist I will do . I'm not pandering to her I'm trying to make it less frightening as I don't want her being scared for life of the dentist . Thanks everyone who has commented with advice