Dentist woes...any way of getting 3rd opinion FREE?

GinG

GinG

GinG

Soldato
Joined
22 Jul 2006
Posts
7,719
Basically in January I went to my Private dentist to get a check up, everything was 'fine. I then went for a scale & polish at the start of feb, again nothing was mentioned and everything fine.

A new NHS dentist opened up in town so I thought I would sign up and go through them as I would save a hella lot of wonga.

Now I went last week and they have said they have found a cavity and I needed to have a filling. Paid my £40ish quid and booked in for the 23rd March.

Now I am in 2 minds if I am getting conned by one of the 2 dentists. Just wondering if there is any service / group out there to get a 2nd opinion.

I wouldnt mind but after paying hundreds of pounds into the private dental to then get told by a £16.40 NHS checkup a month after I need a filling something seems a bit fishy?!

Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks
 
It's fairly unlikely they'd have conned you, if I were a private dentist I'd much rather fill a cavity than run the risk of the patient needing a root canal or something.
 
I doubt they would be putting in a filling for no reason.
Not to mention, you could say that it's more likely that it's the private practice that would be pushing to have treatments done.

For example, back in December I was having troubles with a wisdom tooth for the first time. I saw the Dentist, and he scheduled me to come back a week later to have it removed. It had actually gone back to normal by that time and he said that he would recommend still removing it, but I was a bit dubious as it was other wise healthy and the first time I'd had an issue. He then said that he didn't want to sound like a pushy used car salesman, trying to make a sale, but that there is a good chance in his expierence it would come back, though if I wanted to wait, I could.
 
Any time in the past I've had a cavity that needed filling the dentist has taken an x-ray to see how deep it was and to make sure a filling would be sufficient to deal with it. They've always shown me the x-ray and you can see for yourself the work that needs doing. Perhaps you can get his done at the one who wants to do the work? Either that or don't get the work done and try your luck to see if the tooth holds up..... :)
 
Private dentist make there money for doing work, used to go to a NHS one and end up being as expensive. Just now feel that this one doing better job and greater customer care.
 
Skyfall said:
Please do go on...
Click to expand...

Cavitys don't generally hurt.

I've had a gaping hole in my tooth for the best part of four years, and I mean the tooth had rotted away, it still didn't hurt.
Eventually managed to get back on an NHS dentist when it started to slowly bleed, had about 3/4 of a root canal and then just had it pulled.

Go to a walk in dentist clinic, just because a dentist went into private practise doesn't mean they're any more skilled than the NHS dentist. To be honest an NHS dentist is probably going to be more on the look out for cavities and stuff, the private dentist will see more posh peoples teeth so be less on the look out for it.
 
Last edited:
.Lethal said:
Common misconception by people who don't know what they are talking about.
Click to expand...

Not really, just because you've got no nerves in your skull doesn't mean cavities don't hurt. I had a filling fall out after an operation a few months back - I'd forgotten I had any, and said 'no' when they asked. The tooth hurt like you wouldn't believe until I got some temporary filler while waiting for my dentist to open, so saying cavities don't hurt makes you look pretty dumb.

It really depends on whether your nerves are still raw on the inside of your tooth - common practice now is to fill a cavity with an amalgam filling containing a high proportion of silver and mercury, with a bit of copper (about 1%), which shrinks the nerves back. Then a more permanent filling is put in about 6 months later. At least, that's how the dentist explained it to me. If you just leave your tooth to rot out of your skull, dental health is not the most important health issue relating to your head.

Edit: Also, walk-in dentists like those contacted through Dentaline work only on emergency cases (severe infection or debilitating pain) and their solutions are temporary. Antibiotics for an abscess or other infection will clear the problem, but you'll still need to get it checked out by your dentist, or doctor if you can't get one, once the course is finished. The temporary fillings they put it only last about a fortnight, and you can buy the same stuff from Boots for a third of the price, and the pain relief they offer you isn't really adequate if it's bad enough to visit the emergency dentist over - 10/500 codeine phosphate is the strongest they stock.
 
Last edited:
I work for a company that provides software for dentists and thought I'd just add a couple of points you may find interesting (In its loosest term ofc lol)

Pre 2006 NHS Dentists used to get paid for each item of work they did, which included things like X-Rays etc. So if they did 4 fillings they got paid for 4 fillings.

Post 2006 They get paid based on the type of work they carry out in 3 bands hence the pricing. They get paid the same regardless of whether they carry out 1 or 4 fillings for example. They also carry out far less X-rays than they used too as they dont get any extra.

In a nutshell, dodgy dentists pre 2006 may have given you work you perhaps didnt need, whilst post 2006 they may not give you work you DO need, i.e. If you need 2 fillings they may give you one, take your payment and get you back in for a seperate course for the 2nd filling and thus charge you again...
 
Deadbeat said:
so saying cavities don't hurt makes you look pretty dumb.
Click to expand...

Oh please you're experience with a filling doesn't justify that you are right and I am wrong, Deadbeat.

Amalgam has been around far to long, NHS dentists use that for a number of reasons (NICE currently support it), one of them being that it is cheaper than the alternative. They also have to drill more into the tooth when using this type of filling.

I'm suprised it is still being used today to be quite honest. You can request to have a composite filling which will look natural. It doesn't last as long as Amalgam which is the only negative effect. Amalgam lasts at the very most 25 years and Composite 15 years. But of course every individual case is different so it may only last 5 minutes and hurt like hell :o - Note sarcasm
 
.Lethal said:
Oh please you're experience with a filling doesn't justify that you are right and I am wrong, Deadbeat.

Amalgam has been around far to long, NHS dentists use that for a number of reasons (NICE currently support it), one of them being that it is cheaper than the alternative. They also have to drill more into the tooth when using this type of filling.

I'm suprised it is still being used today to be quite honest. You can request to have a composite filling which will look natural. It doesn't last as long as Amalgam which is the only negative effect. Amalgam lasts at the very most 25 years and Composite 15 years. But of course every individual case is different so it may only last 5 minutes and hurt like hell :o - Note sarcasm
Click to expand...

The more I think about it, the less sure I am that I've got those two the right way round - it may be the amalgam that's put in as a more permanent fixture, and another type that's used to deaden the nerve over time - glass ionomer, maybe? It sounds wrong to me, but I'm pretty sure 'ionomer' is the word I remember. Either way, my experience and the practice employed by my dentist do in fact make you wrong - unless I've misinterpreted your post, and you were actually saying that pain caused by eating/drinking can be indicative of problems other than cavities, in which case you're right, but the way you labelled it a 'misconception' says to me that you don't believe cavities can be painful in these situations, in which case you are wrong.

And as far as the composite fillings go, the two fillings I've got are in my upper-5 pre-molars on either side, so amalgam's a better choice for me - aren't composite fillings considerably softer than amalgam? It's not like the casual observer's gonna notice the fillings back there, so I'd rather have something more durable for a grinding surface.
 
Thanks for feedback so far, just to clarify:

Private Dentist: Missed the 'cavity'
NHS Dentist: Spotted it and wants it doing.

I would have thought the private would jump at the chance, I was a bit wary the NHS dentist might be on a bonus scheme...
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
In a nutshell, dodgy dentists pre 2006 may have given you work you perhaps didnt need, whilst post 2006 they may not give you work you DO need, i.e. If you need 2 fillings they may give you one, take your payment and get you back in for a seperate course for the 2nd filling and thus charge you again...
Click to expand...
While this is theoretically the case they do have to have a 3 month gap to make it a second course of treatment, and if you're going back in three months with obviously needed work then it's clear they should have done the work before hand. My dentist is good in this respect, they did a load of work in one course of treatment, about 4 hour long appts. and then said to book the next course in in 3 months time.
 
If you just leave your tooth to rot out of your skull, dental health is not the most important health issue relating to your head.
Click to expand...
Don't have the time to be checking for an opening in an dentist every week (They're pretty much all full round here, took ages to find one).
Don't have the money for a private dentist.

Some of us don't have enough spare time to mess about desperately trying to find a dentist.
 
Last edited:
GinG said:
Thanks for feedback so far, just to clarify:

Private Dentist: Missed the 'cavity'
NHS Dentist: Spotted it and wants it doing.

I would have thought the private would jump at the chance, I was a bit wary the NHS dentist might be on a bonus scheme...
Click to expand...

I've spent thousands on private dental practices over the years and they've been nothing but problematic, after having recently registered with a local NHS dentist things finally are being sorted out properly, I would trust the NHS dental practice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom