Any dentists here? Am I being swindled?

[Tidalwave9]

I have been with a dental practice for many years now, very happy with them but we moved about 45 min away and out of the blue I was contacted by a really old practice we used to attend saying I was due a check up. I thought how fortunate! They are 10 minutes down the road, and had availability the next day, so off we went.

They took X-rays, and told me I need 5 fillings. They kind of pointed to pictures of my teeth and said I wouldn’t be able to see it, but there was decay. I was told that yes I could choose to have it done under NHS, but I’d need them replaced eventually and they would turn my teeth grey. They instead said they would push I choose tooth coloured fillings (at a cost of £1k - but not to worry because they’ve got finance options).

I had a check up 6 months ago with my old dental practice and was told everything was fine and dandy, and now I need 5 fillings. I’m not against having the work done if I really need it, but can a dentist even swindle you? I have a friend that attends this practice and they needed 3 fillings in December and have been told they need a further 2 now.

I’m tempted to go back to my old practice for a second opinion, but then if they say my teeth are fine I’m not sure who to believe. I just never really been in this position before and a thousand pounds is a huge amount of money to us. WWYD?

Pretty sure I read somewhere that 50% of dental treatment is unnecessary 🤔

i wonder why they had an appointment so quickly if they were so good? You’d think they’d be booked up.
I think they are at it.
If the decay was so bad you needed five fillings surely they must be a fair size and able to be seen. I’d go back to your own dentist and tell them about it and see what he says. Dont know who oversees dentists but I’d be reporting to someone and they could give a second opinion and get those cowboys done, if they are indeed dodgy.

I think you are being swindled because almost exactly the same situation happened to me.
I had no problems with my teeth but was told I needed 3 fillings by a new dentist. I declined and left the dentist. I didn’t then have a dentist for a few years but had no problems during that time. When I eventually got a new dentist they did a scale and polish but no suggestions of needing fillings. 10 years later and I still haven’t needed any fillings.

Dentistry is not an exact science , give one patient to two dentists and you will get three different treatment plans , all equally valid .

A dentist who has been seeing you for many years may see teeth that look a bit dubious and keeps an eye on them . If they don’t get worse then they will continue to monitor.

A dentist who has not seen you before may look at those same teeth and , quite legitimately , decide to fill them as they do not know if they have just started to deteriorate and will get much worse by your next appointment.

It is important that you trust any dentist you see , so go back to your old dentist, get a second opinion and take it from there.

Complete rubbish. Any dentist doing this is quickly before the GDC and struck off and you are more likely to be sued , as a dentist, in the U.K. than anywhere else in the world. The majority of cases are for under treatment of problems .

Dentistry in the U.K. is the most highly regulated in the world

As someone with bad teeth and many fillings, the silver coloured fillings do make the surrounding area of the tooth look grey, but the tooth itself isn’t grey.

But the silver coloured fillings last longer.

Tooth coloured are only done privately (unless it’s the front teeth) and whilst they look better for cosmetic reasons, they are known to not last as long as silver coloured fillings.

I would go back to your old dentist and ask their opinion. You obviously trusted them for years, so why wouldn't you trust them now?

They should be able to show you why and where you need a filling. I needed a tiny filling in a wisdom tooth - it was so small I didn't need to be numbed up. Yet still they managed to show me where it was. My dentist has always discussed in detail what was being done and showed me on screen what was being done including x rays.

I smell a rat about the invisible decay. Incidentally, I have white fillings that have lasted forty years including my wisdom tooth one. Unless it is an emergency, you don't get in the next day at my practice as they are booked solid and they have a huge focus on prevention and protecting the natural tooth as much as possible. I'd be checking online for reviews of the new place.

I’d want to see the x rays, can you get copies emailed to you?