Victoria Stack
1/5
A disappointing change of ownership and I won’t be returning. I originally phoned up about a pain in my tooth and was told that I was booked in to have an assessment. When I arrived at my appointment the ladies were charming but I was shocked to see a new dentist, as I was not informed about this over the phone. I didn’t mind so much however as it was only meant to be an assessment!
So I went in for my assessment with Ziggy, and he told me that my I would need a deep filling just by looking at my tooth and using my examination notes that was taken on the 27/01/20. He did not do any radiographs or photos himself. He told me that he was going to put a local anaesthetic in my gums and start the process. He was gentle and stopped to check that I was not in any discomfort throughout the process and can not be faulted for that.
After the filling was set and I was allowed to talk, I asked him what he had done and he explained that he put a temporary filling in and that it should last a year. To my knowledge from google and a dental friend that I spoke to afterwards, I am led to believe that a temporary filling is meant to last up to eight weeks and is put in place until the treatment can be finished with a permanent filling in its place or after having a root canal treatment. I had no idea that he was only putting a temporary filling in, I didn’t and still don’t know why I didn’t receive a permanent filling or why he thought it was okay to tell me that I had a temporary filling after the treatment was done.
When I spoke to the receptionist, I wanted some clarification and explained that I am used to receiving more information of the process with maybe an X-ray before hand or treatment plan form to sign and that I was uneasy about it all; as he is a new dentist to me and we have not built that repore. I was told by the lady in reception that “each dentist does things differently” and it’s “typical to not to have an x-ray in 6 months”. However, I was not seen 6 months ago, I had been seen 11 months ago and Ziggy had just drilled a hole in my tooth based off of my old information from almost a year ago to put a temporary filling in without my full agreement to the whole process; I had not signed any forms and had no personal dental treatment plan to look over or any information to take away with me. Ziggy shortly came out to the reception area, as he must have heard me speaking, and told me that he didn’t agree with me and believed he had provide sufficient information. He was abrupt and rude with me when I was trying to explain how I felt. I could tell he wasn’t fully interested in what I had to say and with my now numb mouth I was finding it difficult to talk so I left the conversation to mellow out.
I came away in utter dismay, as my last dentist (Rupert) was superb at ensuring that the patient was fully involved and aware of the dental treatment in place. In fact, all of my dentists in the past have shown a thorough dedication towards their duty to promote the patients involvement and care about any decisions made, so why not now? Not long after having my temporary filling put in, I called up the receptionist and she told me that she would send me a report of the treatment I received from Ziggy, as I was concerned although she did not. She also told me that he acted the way he did because he is under stress. This is his job to work in the public sector and from what I experienced on 10/12/20 he may need to reconsider his mannerisms within this profession.
Overall, I have received better explanations and have had better information provided from my hairdressers concerning my hair care plan than I did from Ziggy about my teeth; and your hair can grow back, unlike your teeth! I only have one set of teeth and I think it’s it’s crucial to know the care plan put in place, there should be no excuses. I was asked to write a written complaint, so here it is unfortunately.
