Gum disease NHS

[southern82]

I've just been to the dentist today as a NHS patient and I'm really confused.
I was told that my teeth are in a terrible condition and that I have severe gum disease.
I asked about root planing and the dentist looked shocked and said "where did you read about that?" And gave me some strange reply about how I'm not able to have root planing done.
She said she will clean my teeth the next time I visit, but I was under the impression that root planing is the treatment available for severe gum disease.

Should I make a complaint?

@TwoStepsAhead34 Thank you. I was simply sharing my experience and telling the truth of how British dentistry is completely broken. I am glad that somebody with experience actually agrees with what I am saying.

Wow........this is a feisty debate. My only contribution to the discussion is that i had root planing in 2002 having been referred by my dentist here in the uk to a periodontist. I've honestly never looked back. My condition has been stable for many years and i have hygienist appts every 4 months and see my periodontist at the same practice annually and i always get great feedback from him.

The one thing i would say is that you have to make a life long commitment to a strict cleaning regime at home, which i've stuck to for the last 20 years. It takes time and some nights i'm so tired that i have to drag myself through it, but i'm happy to see it through, for the sake of my overall dental health.

I have seen some appalling dental practice and have often thought to myself that it's impossible to sue a British dentist so well done to you on your £20K!

I'm pretty sure Ive had root planing in the past too

I think we are arguing over terminology rather than treatment.
In a non smoker with immaculate oral hygiene (can be measured using plaque scores of 80% plaque free plus) then the treatment of choice for pockets 4mm plus would be deep scaling to remove subgingival calculus and disrupt the biofilm. Whether the roots are “planed” during this process is irrelevant. It’s outdated terminology but amounts to the same basic process.
If your patient is a smoker or does not have immaculate oral hygiene you give smoking cessation advice, oral hygiene instruction and basic supragingival scaling and review in 3 months. Repeat until they sort themselves out , then when they do (if they do!) they then qualify for deep PMPR.
Perio treatment is 80% home care and 20% in surgery. No point in doing the in surgery if the home care isn’t perfect.

@Bickles
Thanks 🙏, the nuances are clearly lost on @AmandaAmanda85. Best to just let her crack on with her Spanish dentistry and root planing 👍.

She/He'll be extolling the virtues of Turkish dentistry next.

😂 But you can get full mouth veneers for £2k there, what’s not to like??

@Bickles
And they'll all be joined together too, so win-win !! 😂
Saw a case recently with the 5th year BDS students, literally a splint-veneer ?-crown-thingy that went from LR7 to LL7 in an intact lower arch. Had to pick my chin off the floor, thank god for the masks. Love to see the textbooks/ articles these Turkish guys use.

And no it's not identifying before anyone jumps on my last point. It's far from unusual sadly. I feel desperately sorry for the many, many UK patients who get taken in by this.

@caecilius1 You are not 'Othering' Turkish dentists here are you? Your viewpoint comes across as very Eurocentric. There are some very good Turkish dentists. Just research before going out there and check their work. There is a lot of talent outside Europe and the US, you know. Venezuela is also very cheap for dental care and has some extremely talented dentists. I'm considering going out there to see a periodontist for a gum graft.

I am finding this discussion fascinating so placemarking.

I’m sure there are excellent, ethical, conservative/ minimally invasive dentists all over the world including in Turkey.
There’s a trend at the moment for dental holidays to Turkey for cosmetic dentistry. Flights, hotels and all your teeth drilled to stumps and covered with porcelain. Can look nice short term (although some look shocking!) but long term such invasive treatment can cause multiple abscesses, gum inflammation and tooth loss. The same patients seem reluctant to fly back to Turkey regularly for the mess sorting and present to NHS dentists.

I have no idea. I saw some good and some bad work from there and don't have any personal experience, but I imagine there are some good dentists there too. I do agree though, its madness that young people are getting their teeth filed down for crowns. I did see some photos where the teeth aren't single crowns and where the gums join the middle of teeth at the front it is white instead of gum colour - looks like those halloween teeth. When a dentist is putting crowns on perfectly healthy teeth, they ONLY do crowns and don't have their own teeth done, I think you have to question why.

Saw this article today and thought of this thread. A dentist admits he would have given her the treatment it turns out she needed if he had been in his Athens office rather than in the UK. Poor woman's life is ruined.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/20/dentists-would-not-treat-my-toothache-now-my-health-has-been-wrecked-for-ever?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Othe

PMK

The thing is if clinical and radiographic examination don’t show anything often the best thing to do is nothing to start off with.
It’s a very strange article. How would one necrotic pulp cause 12? How would it cause scoliosis and all the other things she attributes to it?
No one should have to suffer toothache untreated but Dentistry and Medicine are not always clear cut and diagnosis isn’t always easy. In March 2020 to July 2020 Dentistry was closed anyway, by order of the government.

I agree it's a strange article. I wonder how she's allowed to write all that because presumably she's suing.

What a daft article. An infection causes an increased blood supply to the area, hence redness, not blanching.

Agree it's a weird article, none of it makes sense clinically. I wonder what the real story is.
The only patients who've acquired 12 root fillings in a v short space usually have undiagnosed trigeminal neuralgia.
I wonder what this mysterious health condition is that the writer claims to have contracted as a result ?
All very strange !!

Guys, have a look on Instagram. Turkish dentists have a very lucrative business model. Albeit, very unethical... Huge demand and mostly from UK, particularly young people under the age of 30. I have researched this, and honestly, I was having nightmares last night when I saw the amount of perfect teeth filed down for crowns. Also, was a little shocked that people who looked as though they had gum disease were having full sets of crown veneers fitted. I think this particular dentist is around 30 years old and will perhaps be able to retire within five years. Its madness. I have never seen such a craze, people are going mad for this treatment. 😱

I actually got a quote for an implant and is £510 for everything, post and crown. I definitely won't be going down the crown route, but £510 compared to £2000+. It seems amazing.

I hear your can get a full mouth of veneers and your bunions done as free gifts with a boob job in Turkey these days.