Let’s call this patient John Smith. Well, John walks into my practice on a Friday night in a bit of pain. Before he’s even filled out his New Patient form his first statement is, “Everything’s perfect in my mouth, I’ve been with my previous dentist for the past 30 years.” He then goes on to tell me about how his old dentist never charged him excessively like “all other dentists”, always patched him up, got him going and everything has just been perfect for the past 30 years. He claimed this was the first time he was feeling pain, and assured me it was because his old dentist, who was simply excellent, had retired. Then he explained he was trying out the different dentists in the area to find a perfect fit for his future oral healthcare, just like he’d found for the past 30 years.
Before starting I explained to him that just like any other emergency appointment, we’d do what we could to get him out of trouble but this was by no means a thorough examination. We’d carry out some x-rays to assess and make a diagnosis. Essentially, I would be explaining what was happening in his mouth and what the problem was. Based on this understanding of the problem and the consequences, he would be deciding on how he wanted to proceed, and we’d support him in that. That’s our philosophy with every patient, and John was fine with that.
Once I explained everything to John, and once he saw the x-ray for himself, he saw the light and realised just how serious his situation was. I referred him to a specialist orthodontist for a thorough assessment, and let him know that fixing everything was probably going to cost him around 40 thousand dollars. He’d have to be prepared for that unless he was fine with losing all his teeth for life.
This was one of the more interesting incidents of supervised neglect I’ve come across at my practice, so I thought I’d share it on my blog. Hopefully this helps a lot of you understand that this is something you can’t take lightly. Always get regular assessments done, make sure you visit a dentist you can trust and who knows what he/she is doing, is proactive and not simply reactive to your dental problems! If you’re unsure how to go about finding a trustworthy dentist or have any questions feel free to give us a call on 03 9877 2035 or email us at [email protected]. You can make an appointment for a free no-obligation assessment at our practice with one of our experienced dentists, and we’d be more than happy to answer any of your questions.
This article was first published on: https://www.healthysmiles.com.au/blog/dental-care/i-had-the-best-dentist-ever-for-30-years-really/