You know that if it seems too good to be true, it generally is.
Why, apparently, does nobody else?
We have started to receive a steady stream of patients who have already been to have their 'turkey teeth'.
Isn't it interesting that everybody understands what that means now?
But let me give you some specific examples without identifying anyone as a patient; otherwise, I could be in difficulty.
Example One)
The patient attends to see me on referral from a regional dental practice and from an endodontic colleague.
The patient is suffering significant facial pain and other problems, which are difficult to unravel, difficult to diagnose, and difficult to find a solution for.
The patient is in their 50s, might be a male or female, might reside in the United Kingdom, or might not (and settle for protection against the regulators).
The individual in question attends with an escort/advocate.
It turns out the individual in question had two teeth on the lower left-hand side, which were causing difficulty, and their dentist was unable to sort.
They attended an establishment, like a beauty therapy institution.
This establishment is not regulated by the CQC, and its employees and operators are not regulated by the General Dental or General Medical Council.
While attending that establishment for other treatment, it was suggested that they see the establishment's 'dentist. '
They agreed and felt that the reputation of the establishment warranted an exploration.
The establishment's 'dentist' travelled from Birmingham to Nottingham and explained at the initial consultation with the participant that they were not registered in the United Kingdom.
At this point in the consultation with the individual, I asked, "Did that not raise alarm bells? "They said No; they trusted the establishment's reputation.
The individual then proceeded to travel to Turkey to have every single one of their teeth crowned (28) and returned back with considerable symptoms of pain, problems with the occlusion (bite) and all manner of difficulty.
The individual re-attended Turkey once again to have their 'teeth ground down,' at which point they had 18 teeth root filled out of the 28 teeth that had been crowned.
The individual has now presented to see me and will require considerable amounts of material work, as well as an explanation that they will, over time, lose many of these teeth.
At what point did someone sit in front of a healthcare professional who confessed to not being registered, and they felt that that was a reasonable thing to do?
Example Two)
An individual was treated in the practice by our periodontist for chronic periodontal disease over a period of months.
Stabilisation occurred, and some teeth were extracted due to gum disease. Then, as the patient approached a significant birthday, one of their family members decided to buy them some 'turkey teeth' as a present.
The patient had all remaining teeth crowned on one visit and then returned to have implants placed in the gaps that were present, then returned to our Clinic to ask for routine dental care.
Radiographs show the presence of apical areas (developing dental abscesses) on many of the teeth that have been crowned and suspicious bone patterns around the implants that were placed.
When this was discussed with the individual patient, they explained, "Well, I knew I was taking a risk".
The Department of Health/Civil Service's answer is to educate people about the quality they may get from dental tourism and the problems that can ensue.
It's not possible to bring the institution that treated example one to bear because the individual who treated the patient was not registered with the General Dental Council. Therefore, they cannot act on that person as they can only regulate registrants.
The CQC does not regulate the institution, so it cannot act.
The only possible course of action is illegal practise prosecution, but that has a weight of proof, which will probably be unlikely to obtain.
It seems that we're over a barrel, it seems that all we can rely on is the good sense of the British public, but it seems that we can never, ever rely on that.
Blog Post Number - 3911
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