over treated ?

[Guest]

Hi I am very afraid of dental needles due to many bad experiences. I recently found a new dentist who claims she streats anxious patients, and is very good. the only worry I have is that she seens to be giving me quite a lot of treatment, more than I have had for a long while, and my old dentist was also great in helping me with my phobia but he didnt give me half as much treatment !

the treatment isnt at all bad, maybe one time the needle stung a little, and she did tend to drop her tools a lot, sometimes near my face, but she is very talkative and nice so I am sort of in between thinking she is great and also being slightly worried. She is so lovely and I dont want to hurt her feelings by questioning her treatment. Also how would I go about questioning whether my treatment in future is neccesary.

does anyone else here have any advice. I am paying an awfull lot for this. the treatment is over but I am concerned that I may need more every time I visit her !

I hope someone can give me advice

thanks for reading

 

[Guest]

Hi Mark,

It is unlikely that your dentist is giving you treatment you don't need. (Our books are so busy we really don't need to give ourselves more work!!) However, if you ever have any doubts you must ask her to explain fully what it is that needs to be done, how it will be done, what the other options are, and how much it will be. Most dentists will offer all this information without you having to ask. All must give you an answer to such queries if you have them. Don't feel embarrased to ask questions- it is quite refreshing really and should be encouraged. It's your mouth!

What tends to happen quite alot, and is likely what has happend with you, is if a patient is a regular attender at a previous practice for many years, the dentist will record certain teeth, fillings which they will 'keep under observation'- which means that they may need attention in 6 months or a year etc. The dentist may even make such a record without mentioning anything to you about it (a bit stupid I know, but it happens). When a new patient attends a new practice, the dentist starts with a 'clean slate' an usually wishes to correct all problems big and small (eg defective fillings, early cavities). I try to avoid the problem with new patients by giving a treatment plan for the more urgent treatment, and tell the patient that in 6 months they will likely require more treatment, which I will also give them a written estimate for (and which the other dentist would have probaly have done in the same sort of timescale anyway). Remember of course that dentistry is not an exact science either, and if you went to 10 dentists and had 10 treatment plans, few of them would exactly match up, although they should be similar. Although you would be wise to follow your dentists advice, there is always more than one way to skin a cat and you should always be sure of all the options for each tooth before allowing the dentist to work on it.
So unless your dentist has warned you of potential future treatment which may be needed, I would guess that you will not need much done in 6 months. If it is suggested that you do, ask questions, or even go for a second opinion. (I have seen patients on occassion who have called and said that all the want is a consultation for a second opinion about their treatment. There is no reason why this is a problem, and I will always give an honest opinion (which happily is usually close to that of their dentist.)

I hope that this helps.
Regards,
Mike

 

[Guest]

Hi Mike

thanks for your message, it was a great help. My dentist is lovely though, just worried me when she dropped her tools and lightly stung me with the injection though ! I am very over-sensitive when it comes to anything in the dentists chair because of my previous bad experiences, i get so embarassed and end up just accepting things. Then I worry like mad after, like I did about being over treated.

thanks again

Mark