NHS Complaint

[EOS-5D]

Hi All,

 

Id like to ask for some advice as i really dont know where i stand on this one.

 

When I was in Primary school, some 35yrs ago every other Monday the whole school was hearded onto 2 coaches and taken to the local NHS dental training hospital. The children's teeth were not just examined but more often than not, work carried out. I had ALL of my molars filled before leaving Primary School and my brother, who is 14mths younger than me had root canal treatment!!!!!

 

This experience has left me with a fear of going to the dentist and my teeth are in a bad way. I need to get them fixed and I feel that the NHS or my Primary Sch should pay to put them right because I shouldnt have been going to this dental facility every 2 weeks.

 

What do you think?? all comments welcomed

 

Kind Regards,

 

EOS-5D

[toofiegap]

was this in the 60's or 70's as I had a nasty dentist who was the same teeth filled and had 2 molars out by the time I was 11, he used to tie children to the chair to inject them with the numbing stuff then not wait for it to take effect. I ended up by losing my teeth and wearing dentures at an early age because of him and never really had any redress. Would dearly love to "sue" him to have him pay for implants but after 40 odd years I don't think it is feasable. its only my opinion but back then dentistry was rubbish and you will find the majority of people now in thier 50's and 60's unless lucky to have private dentists have either extreme dental phobias or wear dentures.

[EOS-5D]

Yes, toofigap, it was in the mid 70's and the NHS facility in question was Dental Training @ The New Cross Hospital

[reallymadwoman]

Unfortunately you are probably now way out of time to make a claim against anyone. For personal injury, the statute of limitations is 3 years from the date of the injury, but as you were a minor at the time the 3 years would not start to run until you reached 18, i.e. you had until you were 21 to make a claim.

 

The only possible exception to this is if you could prove that you didn't know you had been harmed in which case the 3 years would run from when you did know or could reasonably have found out.

 

If you are in any doubt as to whether you may still be able to make a claim you should speak to a solicitor experienced in medical negligence claims.

[Sali]

Is there any possibility (I know this is a long shot but it is not inconceivable) that your old dental records are archived somewhere. Do they follow you like your GP records? It probable that the NHS dentists in those days got paid per filling and therefore were 'encouraged' to do as many as possible, regardless if they were necessary. Or maybe it was just considered best practice because they knew no better.

[dent]

If you were treated at a dental hospital the dentists would have been salaried and so not being paid for the items of treatment done. They really would not do fillings and take teeth out unless it was needed. I had all my first molars removed when I was 9 under GA. Some of these teeth must have been pretty badly decayed or possibly had developmentally poor enamel( hypoplasia) and then it is good practice to consider removing the partner teeth to keep everything symmetrical.

[Panthro]

"my teeth are in a bad way"

 

Is that entirely due to the dental treatment or lack of care over the 40+ years? I think you would be laughed out if they were expected to pay for your treatment. Understandable it put you off dentists (im not a big fan myself) but I assume you needed the fillings as you had caries? Experimenting on people without informed consent was outlawed long ago. I had root canal treatment in primary school (and the tip of the instrument snapped off in my tooth aswell) so probably not that unusual.

 

Best if luck with whatever you do!

[Sali]

I think what the OP is saying Panthro is that her teeth are bad because she developed a phobia through the diabolical dental care she received in the 70s and has not had regular treatment since then because of this.

 

This is not the first time I have heard somebody say about the quality of dental care at that time. I think many people share the OP's concern that much work was carried out unnecessarily.

Also, if this was a dental training hospital I'd be wondering whether they were shipping in guinea pigs (who better than little children who ask no questions) for the students to experiment on - whether the work was needed or not.

 

Apparently they were still sending 'orphans' (many of them weren't) to Australia back then. The State was then - as it is now - capable of anything. Fortunately we are just a little more cynical these days.