My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Does that sound reasonable?
Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Tony

My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

You will already have agreed to pay when you signed the NHS form. Take a
look at the current scale of charges for NHS work and you will see that it
has been simplified into three levels. You had a filling so the 2nd level
applies.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Tacking the attitude you have adopted will probably alienate him any way.

Does that sound reasonable?

No.

Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Possibly but in reality probably not.

Peter Crosland

On 30 Sep, 07:45, "Peter Crosland" wrote:
My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. *P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. *He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." *But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". *I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. *So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

You will already have agreed to pay when you signed the NHS form. Take a
look at the current scale of charges for NHS work and you will see that it
has been simplified into three levels. You had a filling so the 2nd level
applies.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Tacking the attitude you have adopted will probably alienate him any way.

Does that sound reasonable?

No.

Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing *work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Possibly but in reality probably not.

Peter Crosland- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK. Thanks. I'll bite the bullet on this one.
...And that'll probably cause me to break another tooth.

No harm done since he only messed with the filling.
I'm mostly frustrated with myself for my slow reactions. I didn't
want to see a locum, but having made the journey in a taxi in the rain
I said 'yes'. I shouldn't have.

Many thanks. Peter, for discouraging me from engaging in a trivial
dispute!

tony

On 30 Sep, 00:15, tonyjeffs wrote:
My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. *P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. *He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." *But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". *I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. *So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Does that sound reasonable?
Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing *work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Tony

Have they actually marked the treatment complete and given you the
bill? AIUI, under the current NHS rules, you get any number of
fillings for the same price. I'd have thought that a temporary filling
didn't constitute the full job, so you shouldn't be billed yet, but
IANAD (or NHS accountant . There could be time limits broken by P's
absence, but as the practice advised you wait to see him, that's their
problem.

Chris

On 30 Sep, 10:25, wrote:
On 30 Sep, 00:15, tonyjeffs wrote:





My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. *P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. *He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." *But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". *I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. *So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Does that sound reasonable?
Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing *work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Tony

Have they actually marked the treatment complete and given you the
bill?
No I have a new pending appointment for my actual dentist to replace
the temporary filling.
I was annoyed because I believe those two fillings the locum
'repaired' were close to perfect and shouldn't have been touched.
I don't mind paying. (good if extra filling work doesn't cost extra
though), but I was tempted to punish and expose the locum.
- but I'm going to put it down to experience instead.

Tony

tonyjeffs wrote:

I was annoyed because I believe those two fillings the locum
'repaired' were close to perfect and shouldn't have been touched.
I don't mind paying. (good if extra filling work doesn't cost extra
though), but I was tempted to punish and expose the locum.
- but I'm going to put it down to experience instead.



Are a a qualified dentist?

"tonyjeffs" wrote in message
...
My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Does that sound reasonable?
Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

I suspect it would be a matter for the General Dental Council to decide if
the work was required, but I don't think there's much point in getting
involved.

"Peter Crosland" wrote in message
et...
My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

You will already have agreed to pay when you signed the NHS form. Take a
look at the current scale of charges for NHS work and you will see that it
has been simplified into three levels. You had a filling so the 2nd level
applies.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Tacking the attitude you have adopted will probably alienate him any way.

Does that sound reasonable?

No.

Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Possibly but in reality probably not.

I agree.
Depending on the locum agreement the locum might get paid per treatment, but
in reality I suspect he is paid a flat rate for the duration.

My dentist, P, is by far the best I've ever had. He does a minimal
amount of work on my teeth, and does it well.
Three months ago I lost a filling. P put in a temporary one as an
emergency measure and set an appointment to replace it. He
unfortunately became ill, and had to cancel two appointments.
I finally visited to have the temporary filling replaced on the 29th
Sept.

The receptionist said "P has had to take emergency leave. You will be
seeing a locum. Is that alright?". I hesitated but said "yes"

The locum came out to greet me and struck me as pleasant and chatty.

He looked at my teeth. He said. "The temporary filling is still fine.
I will leave it for P to replace it because he is familiar with that
tooth. I am going to repair two other fillings. I won't give you an
anaesthetic because I'll only be drilling the fillings; not the
tooth."

A few minutes into the treatment I thought to myself "This is
inappropriate - I don't believe that those two fillings need
resurfacing. I didn't come here for any reason other than to have the
temporary filling replaced." But I decided I needed to let him
finish.

He finished and said "Is that ok?". I felt the two ragged chunky
tongue-irritating fillings with my tongue and they clearly were not
ok, but I didn't trust him to do a better job, and knew that P would
fix them perfectly next time i saw him. So I said 'yes', and left.

Although I'm on the NHS, I still have to pay. I think I will ask for
an itemised bill and refuse to pay for today's treatment.

If in doing this I risk alienating O, or losing him as a dentist, I
will back down.

Does that sound reasonable?
Does a locum dentist have a financial incentive for doing work that
is unnecessary or inappropriate?

Tony

Have they actually marked the treatment complete and given you the
bill?

No I have a new pending appointment for my actual dentist to replace
the temporary filling.
I was annoyed because I believe those two fillings the locum
'repaired' were close to perfect and shouldn't have been touched.
I don't mind paying. (good if extra filling work doesn't cost extra
though), but I was tempted to punish and expose the locum.
- but I'm going to put it down to experience instead.

I am sorry to, as it were, rub salt in the wound but unless, and until, you
have had the fillings done by the locum independently inspected then you
don't really have a case. Far better to tell your normal dentist of your
concerns, and if he confirms that they were not done properly you can be
sure he will deal with the locum. This is likely to be a much more effective
way of dealing with the matter.

Peter Crosland

Are a a qualified dentist?

Does one have to be a qualified electronic engineer to return faulty
electronic goods?