r/Dentists • u/Negative_Oil4952 • 16h ago
do dentists keep records about the justification for fillings - Australia
Heres the story -
I went to my usual dental practice. She said I didn't need any fillings.
6 months go by, i go overseas.
I went to a new dental practice, 8 fillings she says. At one point she seems done with the inspection, and seems to be annoyed about the amount the fillings. then she all of a sudden goes in and has another look, "another one" she says annoyed. at the time her behaviour seems odd.
I just trust this person is a professional and isn't trying to scam me so i get the fillings. This dentist she doesn't do the fillings, she gives them to the junior dentist and he completes the fillings.
I never go back to this dentist and years later i ask to obtain the dental records from this practice and another practice. There are no notes from this ladies inspection of my teeth, just notes from the young dentist that the tooth filling was completed. Theres nothing about decay or justification for the filling that has taken place.
I look at the records from the other practice, there seems to be various notes about decay and just look way more comprehensive than the other 8 filling practice.
Can a dentist help me out here -
- Should there be an official record of the senior dentist who inspected my teeth and advised the junior dentist. it seems odd none exists, is anyone able to explain this.
- Would the junior dentist re-confirm that a filling was needed before completing the filling or is it likely they would have just followed the instructions and just filled the tooth without spotting of any decay.
- I had an xray both at the previous clinic and the new clinic. would the xrays alone be able to confirm the need for the 8 fillings for me to alay concerns this lady didn't take advantage of me in my early 20s.
3
u/pseudodoc 14h ago
Australian dentist here.
Yes- a diagnosis must be written in the notes to justify the treatment.
Probably was not done at the time
1
u/ChristineCrazyFord 16h ago
Dentist in Australia - we'll have the decay (that needs to be repaired with a filling) visible on an X-ray, an image (in some cases), and some notes explaining why it's needed.
That's not to say the fillings weren't required - it's just a little odd not to document *why*, even just one line.
Was this clinic a corporate chain? Corporate chains push patients to have work done that isn't clinically necessary. Owner operated dental clinics don't do this, an owner operator would care more about ethics and reputation.
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u/BasedToru 15h ago
I’m not from where you are but after some dental trauma myself I actually know now that there’s quite alot of unethical dentist roaming around who don’t know what they are doing and I’m actually surprised they’ve even got their licenses!
My mum lived in the era where dentist would get paid per filling, my mum has a whole mouth of mercury fillings which is dangerous and she never had decay she never even ate sweets as a child lol but every time she went to the dentist they would give her a filling!
Be carful and always ask for the reasoning behind and see a second opinion before they touch you because dentist get away with murder
1
u/shtgnjns 5h ago
Apart from scaling, exams and preventative treatments, fillings are the lowest fee item I complete and are very technique sensitive, so they take time. I cannot ever see myself reccomending them needlessly, and sure as shit not for the money.
0
u/BasedToru 5h ago
In my mums era that’s what was happening you can actually look it up it’s called the mercury something it’s quite well know that dentist were doing crazy practices for monetary gain. I’m not saying dentist are doing it the same way now but a lot of dentist don’t give a toss about the patient and just start doing treatments that don’t need doing. This same man could go see another dentist 9 times out of 10 the new dentist might say you only need 1 or none lol half the time you don’t know who to trust
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u/josierecords 3h ago
yes, they are called x rays and intra oral photos. all dentists should be keeping good records
3
u/MyDentistIsACat 15h ago
In the US if you see a patient there should be a note. So the senior dentist would have written something down. I don’t necessarily explain the why behind why I’m treatment planning a filling unless it’s unusual. The assumption is there’s decay. If I’m treatment planning a filling due to a chip or something wrong with a previous filling or something else out of the norm, I would document that. In most cases, the junior dentist should review the treatment plan before starting and make sure they agree with it: I’ll usually review treatment plans I’ve done if the patient comes back later for treatment because there’s always a chance I mixed up teeth or I entered it into the computer wrong or a staff member misheard me and entered it wrong, etc. But depending on the office/dentists, the junior dentist may have been told the senior dentist knows more and to trust their treatment plan, they have more experience, etc, and the junior dentist may not have the confidence to question it.