Dentist now Doctor.. Not my day:(

[swaye]

Just need to get this one down in print and out of my system...

I went to dentist yersterday to get a temporary cap changed for a crown. After what shd have been an easy half hr appt I ended up leaving the chair an hr later in shock and pain. After 5 anaesthetic injections i was still in horrific pain. I felt i had no option to carry on with replacement as i thought the on,y other choice wld be to walk out with half a front tooth missing and as it was super super sensitive i did fancy that (been drinking through straws for 2 weeks) i went all dizzy and they gave me glucose and i was sweating buckets and crying because i was in shock from the pain. Thankfully my baby was kicking away so very reassuring (21 weeks PG). I phoned work to cancel my jobs as i was in quite a state of shock.

This morning, ( and for last few days) it has felt like an ear infection was coming on so i phoned the doc and got an emergency appt. no visible infection but gave me drops in case it starts.. All fine.

Then i mention i keep getting thrush so i asked for prescription of cream and he said i needed the pessary as well. I was sure i had read i couldnt use pessary so i told him that. He said he had prescribed hundreds of PG women this but googled it anyway. He found a forum and took the advice of a post on a baby website!!!!!! I said that the advice was not from a doctor but a post!!! So he went to the canestan site and then huffed and sighed and said he didnt have time to find out!!!!!!!!!! I was gob smacked and still in shock from the dentist and sadly i cry when im in shock, so i burst into tears ( V. Bloody annoying!) Normally i wouldnt burst into tears over that! He then lost the plot and said i can make a complaint about him if i want like everyone else and dont i realise thhe pressure he's under. I found my voice through my tears and said how unprofessional he was being and he started saying how hard his job is and how much he had helped me over the years and gone above and beyond..... Um really?? I thought he was just doing his job that i as a tax payer am paying him to do!

I left swinging his door wide and picking up a complaint form.

The thing is, he is the best doctor in the practice and obviously having a bad time of it. I dont want to make a complaint because we all have bad days in our jobs. I think he needs help though.

(The phone has just rung and it was the surgery confirming that the pessary is fine in PG.)

I might write him a letter. I dont know, what would you do?

Thanks for reading and sorry so long, it's been a bad 24 hrs!!!

Aww I'm sorry you're having such a bad day. first, yes pessery is fine in pg, but use ire finger not the stick that comes with it so you don't push it too far up!!
I think I would feel the same as you about the doc, he was being unprofessional and should have more understanding for a pregnant lady, but he may have been having a very off day and id like to give him the benefit of through doubt that he feels bad about it today too. a letter seems like a good idea if you don't want to make a complaint and you still want him to be your gp, just explain why you were upset etc.
hope you're feeling better today and your tooth is feeling better!x

Thanks roofio87. I have written a letter to him, im going to post it shortly. He is such a good doctor normally and i really think he was having a bad day, i hope my letter conveys this. I dont know that i will be seeing him for a while though as it was hurtful - one if the things he said but i wouldnt want to make a complaint about the person who is usually the best!!

Really helped me to write the letter after putting my thouts down here x

Hi swaye, sorry you've had such a rubbish time.
As a dentist, I'd like to apologise for your bad time! Sometimes, things don't go to plan, and when they don't that can include pain and stress, which feels 100 times worse when your pregnant, hope your tooth is feeling better soon!
As for the GP i agree completely he was out of order, but sounds like he was having more of a breakdown than you, because for a good GP to behave like that sounds like he's having a few complaint issues, which as a health professional can threaten you with court cases and even being struck off his professional register. I think it's really lovely of you to write a letter to him explaining what you want to say to him, I would appreciate that if someone did that to me, and I would expect him to write a letter back, or even ask to see you again to discuss it.
Hope you can have more of a relaxing week

Thanks so much Racheld33 that is most reassuring that im doing the right thing. I really feel for him because he is usually just the best doctor ever.

As a dentist, What wld u have done in my situation, would u have had no option but to carry on despite the amount of pain i was in?

Hoping to have a more relaxing run down to friday :-)

Sorry to hear about this - sounds like a tough few days. My only advice would be to sleep on the letter. Read it tomorrow in a calm frame of mind and see if you are still happy with it. I really wouldn't send anything written while still upset as you may feel a lot calmer about it in the coming days and wish you had reacted differently.

Thx SomethingSuitablyWitty. I havent gone bananas in the letter and ive read it to my OH. Ive been very kind and forgiving rather than gone ballistic at him or said anything that i will regret.

Every situation is different, but when local anaesthetic isn't working you normally have 3 options. 1. Try more injections (which with 5 injections they were obviously trying. 2. Stop treatment and book you in again for another try (for some unknown reason, sometimes people are more sensitive one day, and the week after everything is fine) 3. Continue through the pain. Only the patient/dentist can decide what to do at the time, but I do have a lot of patients who just say 'carry on' because they just want it over with! Sorry I can't be more help

Thanks Rachel. The problem i had is that half my temporary tooth had been pulled off. I thought i had no option but to carry on. But i have just found out there was another option, repair the temporary tooth and come back another day. The dentist admitted that this was an option that i wasnt made aware of.

Really apprecuate yr point of view Rachel x

Swaye I think what you have done is very selfish. You have had bad experience with dentist but you didnt complain about it As yet I guess Instead you have just put a show with crying ar your GP. It was all about you pain and dentist but GP will suffer for nothing now. Doctors are people with knowledge but they do not know everything. He was trying to help and find the answer by searching net, but couldnt find it. What is here to cry about? Your tooth pain? What is it to do with gp? Gp have 10minutes for each patient and there are lots of people waiting to see him. Did you want him to come out of the room and tell that he was planning to search for pessary and pregnancy from now on. You probably have very relaxed job and dont deal with different peoples like customer services otherwise you would never consider complain. with all this complain culture gp will soon become detached guidelines and protocols lead doctors because they will know that it doesnt matter how much you help somebody , this somebody will disregard all these in the matter of a minute and will complain

pessaries are fine to use while pregnant and you can use your finger to insert them rather than the applicator. From nhs website:

If you have thrush and you're pregnant or breastfeeding, you should always visit your GP rather than buying anti-thrush medication over the counter from a pharmacy.

You won't be prescribed oral treatment because it may affect your baby. An anti-thrush pessary, such as clotrimazole, econazole or miconazole will probably be prescribed to be used for at least seven days.

If you're pregnant, take care when inserting a pessary because there's a risk of injuring your cervix (neck of the womb). To reduce the risk, it may be better to insert the pessaries by hand instead of using the applicator.
If you have symptoms around your vulva, such as itching and soreness, you may also be prescribed an anti-thrush cream.

Thank you ilovepowerhoop that info is very helpful.

Lorakk, you comments are of no place on this post, you are obviously a callus selfish person yourself and have no respect. I have come to learn that not all people on mumsnet forum are of sound mind i include you in this group.

I have complained to the dentist, i had to wait for him to call me back which happened yesterday afternoon.

A 'show' with crying at GP is not what happened.

What makes you think the GP will suffer? I have not made a formal complaint because he is normally a very good doctor - despite him requesting me to do so. I wrote him a letter explain why i was upset which was nothing to do with him and i also said what a wonderful doctor he is and that my partner and i have a lot of respect for him.

Do not summise anything about me or my job or my life. I know pain: i have dislocated my shoulder several times and all but 1 time put it back in myself. I know pain. I think nearly passing out with the pain is not normal tooth pain!

I wrote this post on mumsnet to collect my thoughts and calm myself down, which it did and I wrote a letter complimenting my doctor; it was for his eyes only. You would know this if you had read my other comments.

Take a long hard look at yourself before you write such an awful, spiteful post as this again... Perhaps read OP's other comments too before you post.

whoa... read this post to see what all the nasty MNetters were sayin to upset you OP, but good grief you are the nasty one on this thread!!!

A poster says they think you're selfish and go on to explain why, fair enough, it wasnt a very rough post.

You on the othr hand tell them they have no place here, are selfish, callous, lack respect, are not of sound mind, hadnt bothered reading your post, were awful and spiteful.

hmmm... teeny tiny over-reaction maybe? Fwiw if you were like that with the doctor i'm not surprised he got annoyed!

Pink - I concur. And OP - very, very poor form to use mental health issues and throw in someones face who just disagreed with your as an insult - I must admit I missed that earlier.

Lovely answer swaye :-) However expected

I have come to learn that not all people on mumsnet forum are of sound mind i include you in this group.

Way to go, OP. How to offend people....

A complete over reaction I'm afraid.
It sounds like you took your stress out from the Dentist on your GP!
I am sorry though you had such a bad experience at the Dentist, it sounds awful. And, I don't really blame you for losing it with the GP.. But I don't think the GP was in the wrong. And I don't think you should complain about him.
I've had thrush in every pregnancy.. I'm currently pregnant with no4 and I too, have been really hormonal and have got emotional and over reacted.
However, I think you were particularly unkind to Lorakk and I don't think her reply to your rather ranty post deserved such unkind and direct words.
I hope you're able to relax tonight and put today behind you... Tomorrow is another day.