Dear englishforum,
Here is my story:
1) I had an introductory appointment with a new dentist. They did the assessment and made another appointment for actual treatment. When I came for treatment there was another doctor there. Is it normal for dentists to switch without notice?
It is a relatively small praxis which I found via internet and the first doctor seems to be the one who owns it. They have stellar reviews but all them are about that first one doctor.
2. During the assessment they made a only couple of X-Rays (not of every tooth) and said that I would need to do a filling. During the cleaning a hygienist said they found some new places that need fillings. Is it normal to not do X-Rays of every tooth here and to not discover all the places that need treatment during the assessment? Also it is normal that doctor does not discover everything at once?
This is my first experience with a Swiss dentist and I'm trying to understand if I'm just overreacting or if those are actually red flags. Before that my experience was mostly US-centric and such things never happened.
Thank you!
Did you ask why they swapped while you were there? It's impossible to give a reasonable answer because the first dentist could have been ill, on holiday, busy with a patient which was taking longer than planned, etc.
Always best to ask directly if you want a direct answer.
In my experience, here and elsewhere, the initial x-ray doesn't always show everything up, especially if it's a tiny fissure somewhere hidden behind a gap.
I had a full scan done a couple of years ago to find the root (pardon the pun) of a constant pain where the x-ray always showed the tooth and root up as fine. Maybe you could ask for that, too? Not cheap, though.
I did not ask. But the first doctor was there working in another room.
Would be reasonable then if he had a long and complicated or emergency patient that he assign another dentist to you do do a couple of wee fillings. Either that, or he would have had to reschedule it.
Not sure if any of it is a red flag - I'm sure this kind of thing crops up in dental practices everywhere.
Next time, make an appointment specifically with the first dentist.
And if you didn't feel comfortable with the second, make it clear that you only want to see the first. Or that you want to be given an option to re-schedule if your preferred dentist is not available at your scheduled an appointment time.
At my Praxis, each dentist keeps a separate calendar.
Further, if you are uncomfortable with the findings or treatment recommendation, get a second opinion.
Hope it all works out.
Normally they do a 360 all-the-way-around x ray which will include every tooth.
That the dentist has changed doesn't make any difference does it?
Yep, something like that is what I was expecting, but they did only 2 fragments.