Private dentists – are they saints or sinners?

For many years I was a patient of a NHS dentist and found the service to be generally good. Around 3 years ago the practice decided to join the private sector as they were the same dentists I decided to stay. Other than regularly paying sums of money which at first was reasonable, but each check up after 6 moths was more than the previous one I seemed to have a bad breath problem most of the time which was offensive to others although I cleaned my teeth regularly and also went to their hygeniest. Between check ups a crown cracked that they had put in some 18 months prior at a charge of well over £100.00 a porcelain one.

My daughter attended a NHS dentist who fixed a brace for her prior and cured a problem she had, so I asked if the same dentist was accepting new patients and they were. When he did a routine check up he informed me that the tooth with the broken crown was rotten and the one next to it was and both needed to come out. After that the bad breath dissapeared along with the discomfort
and my bank account has a little more money in.

My wife and I have in the past used some good but expensive private dentists but in our experience are few and hard to find. Our advise to everyone is if you have a good NHS dentist stick with them as with a lot of private ones they just have a licence to take money from unsuspecting patients.

Like most of these things – There are good and bad dentists – in both sectors.

I used to belong to the Society for Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry (SAAD) – I used to train Dental Nurses and design Dental Clinics in the 1970s – and heard of terrible practices – poor quality free surgery in the NHS and poor quality expensive surgery in the private sector.

My girlfriend had Implant dental work done in 2006, The dentist only did the lower jaw but she was charged for both upper and lower jaw. The dental work started to fail just over a year later. she has been to most of the major dental hospitals in the country who use Nobel Biocare. as it is not comenly used in dental hospitals in Cheshire. she has been informed that the implants are Not fit for purpose, and are the wrong prescription. Trying to get any legal help was impossible, very few solisitors will take a private dentist on as one informed her. They have too much money and they would keep it going beyond the three year time limit, Unfortunetly she did not find out what the problem was untill after that date. We feel there should be a binding contract, between the dental manufacture, the dentist, and the patient. who is parting with a lot of money, and also the money should only go to the dentist in stages as the work is done. not all in one go. My girlfriend had to give up work and will probley never work again. she has a very bad digestive disorder and lives on Ensure Plus liquid drinks, she can not chew food, and its effecting her speach. she has lost a dramendose amout of weight. and has been diognosed with secondary post traumatic stress disorder. We can not see away out of this. she can not afford treatment to remedey this bad workmanship. Nobel Biocare as they clearly point out sell products to dentist, a sort of take the money and run. they have no techeical surport, and do not have a good working relationship with Leeds dental hospital as we have corrospondence saying this. The treatment at Sheffeild teaching hospital is going to cost £25.000/£30.000 . but as she has already got a debt relef order and has no income. our children and I are just watching her deterate. There are more Cowboy dentist around than most people realise. We feel that before anyone has exspensive dental work done, first see a few dentist, check to see if they have any legal claims against them, check that they are registered, but find out what if (implants), the nearest major teaching dental hospitals use. As Manchester dental hospital only use AstraTech. they can not help if anything goes wrong. if you live in Cheshire. you will have a lot of travelling finding another hospital that use say Mobel Biocare. We don’t know how long we have. She has a very good GP who has been a great help with her medication, but she will never be the person she once was. I never thought a dentist could do so much damage to a family like mine. This goverment and the dental council protects dentist like the one we were unfortunet to meet. A Nobel Biocare dentist based in Hale Cheshire. his dental nurse told my girlfriend when she asked for the diferent size screws, that he removed from her implants. he said he gave her in screws. Its amazing it took him three weeks, to deside it. when he never gave her any screws. and he knows it.

I have just had my annual (private) check-up. My dentist has decided that I need a scale and polish ,done by him and that 12 weeks later I should have a session with the hygienist.
This seems over the top to me. Is there any evidence that all that scraping does any good? Did I not read in Which that some authorities claim that plaque reforms within 48 hours? Does anyone know if polishing does any good, is it cosmetic or just it serve some other function?
I now feel my dentist has some sort of income per patient target now that the surgery is part of a large chain and I no longer feel the treatment he is recommending is what I actually require to keep my teeth and gums healthy.