I have Anxiety and my NHS dentist has removed me from list - incomplete partial denture treatment

[Dancerstints]

Hey, I have anxiety from a past experience at 19 with the dentist which since has left me with very little ability to go without knowing who and what I am going for and after finding the most wonderful dentist in the last three years who has been so helpful and understanding with my history of anorexia and long standing eating disorder illness since 15 which has caused a lot of damage to my bones and teeth in particular Unfortunately my dentist has now left the surgery in April and now I have had a letter from the surgery saying I have been removed from the list as I have missed to many appts or been late in the last two years (this is again due to my anxiety around the situation I had prior in the same dentist surgery) I am now having to find another nhs dentist and have been left with a partial denture plate treatment being incomplete with the last two fitting appts cancelled without notice and i am finding it hard to know where to even start to look for dentist around me in Southampton/Hampshire where I am but I don’t mind travelling at all if there is somewhere that could help support the needs I have and if there is even a chance of the partial denture treatment being completed now or not as the dentist receptionist said it might have to be started again as the nhs has kindly funded this for me due to the loss of so many teeth now. I am 32 and have just lost my job and my mental health is being affected more than ever and I am
Lost to where to go or help as I currently don’t have contact with family or many friends that are local to me. Any advice would be incredibly appreciated. S x

 

[Latwigg]

They sure don’t make it easy for us some times do they? I swear some offices can be the opposite of helpful when it comes to us anxious folks.

I don’t know anything about the nhs system because I am in Canada. Hopefully someone who knows more can help.

 

[letsconnect]

Hi @Dancerstints and welcome!

With your history of anxiety and ED, you might be able to get a referral from your GP (or other health provider) to the community dental service. Disclaimer: I have no idea what they're like in Southampton! Might be worth a shot though. You can find some more information here: https://www.solent.nhs.uk/our-services/services-listings/special-care-dental-service/

We also have some recommendations for private dentists if that's any help?

 

[Dancerstints]

@letsconnect thank you SO much

 

[letsconnect]

@Dancerstints as I said, I have no idea what the special care service is like in Southampton, it seems to be a real postcode lottery at the moment! But worth a try...

P.S. I wasn't sure from your reply if you were interested in the recommendations for private dentists or not? if so, there's some links in the South East England section of the forum here:

South East

Dentist reviews and listings for dentists in the South East of England who have an interest in helping nervous or phobia patients overcome their fears.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Also, we've got some general tips for finding a dentist that is good with nervous or phobic patients here:

How to find a dentist for nervous patients

Discover how to find a dentist who is good with nervous, scared or phobic patients - and who to avoid!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Wishing you the very best of luck with your search xx

 

[rachwrites]

I second asking to be referred to a community dentist - I had my first appointment with them in Southampton yesterday and the dentist I saw was SO lovely! Really understanding and didn’t make me feel bad at all. I have a similar history (previous diagnosis of anorexia and still struggle with my mental health and eating disorder tendencies/behaviours etc) so 100% look in to being referred