is it common practice for U.K dentists to x-ray decayed wisdom teeth before extracting them?

Question

I've just had a serious absess resulting in two weeks in hospital and 24 hours in intensive care after having a known decayed wisdom tooth removed by my new dentist. The hospital have assured me it wasn't the dentists fault but I'm still not sure if it's an NHS cover up. Should she have X-rayed the tooth first to check for absess's. I am bringing up three children on my own so this has been a very scary time for all of us. I am now left with what seems to be a dislocated jaw (which I can't open more than an inch) which needs lots of exercising to hopefully right it.

Answer 1

yes... they need to check the root isnt growing at a funny angle as if it's too near a nerve you could permanently lose feeling in your lip!


NB: Just been thinking about this... the NHS have now implemented a new 3 structure pricing guide, each of these cover the cost of xrays for work done, so it does actually sound like either laziness on the dentists part, or they're cutting back to save costs...

Maybe best to get some free legal advice (or at least speak with citizens advice beureau)

Answer 2

I'm a dentist and I do a lot of wisdom teeth.
There is an obligation on the part of a dentist to pre-operatively assess the tooth he is about to extract - this includes but is not limited to radiographic assessment(x-rays). The purpose of the assessment is to determine whether extraction is feasible and to forewarn the patient of difficulties which may arise as a result of the extraction.
Having said all that, I don't think your complications are a result of poor pre-operative assessment.Sounds to me you had a post-operative infection, the cause of which is now impossible to ascertain.There is no definite cause - could be poor oral hygiene,poor technique,immunosuppression,etc,etc,etc.
I'm not taking sides ,I don't even work in the UK anymore, but it seems to me that unless your dentist broke a piece of root and left it in without your knowledge then you have a pretty poor case for compensation.
I would like to reassure you that your difficulty in opening(trismus) is common after such a bad infection and that it will improve daily but it may take a couple of months to get back to normal - don't worry. Physiotherapy or even hot-packs will help the healing process.

Answer 3

Different dentists will have different policies. One practice might x-ray all queries, while another will only if they suspect something.

If there was no external evidence of any absess then it would be 'reasonable' for the dentist to asume that the removal of the tooth was going to be straight forward.

Hope your jaw gets better soon.

Answer 4

It's common for all dentists to do that. besides giving them a better idea if they have gotten all of the tooth out they also get to charge for the x-ray and to read the x-ray.

Like everything else your health is of no concern to them the money is...

You are just a blank check sitting in that chair it's how much money the doctor can write on it that matters to him.

Answer 5

I would have thought so, my dentist x-rayed my wisdom which was infected but didn't need removing.

That was a terrible thing to go through but you really need the advice of a dentist on this.

Good luck.

Answer 6

I would extract the wisdom teeth. They are not really useful and they are so far back in the mouth that it is difficult to keep them clean and they will likely become decayed again in the future requiring further treatment.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

usually yes, they take a full-mouth xray before extracting wisdom teeth to see the underlying bone support, and check for any infections already present. with the xray they can be sure of the structure and shape of the wisdom tooth and its roots, before getting to work on it.

take care! hopefully iyour jaw isn't dislocated...

Answer 9

See a lawyer!