It’s not routine to me!

For the dental nurse and team, the majority of treatment is straightforward. However, that is not necessarily the view of the patient.

Case study

A patient attended for scaling. She was a regular patient and had had no problems with previous treatment. She was however nervous of treatment particularly regarding the use of an ultrasonic scaler and especially around her existing anterior crowns. She was greeted, and introductions were made as she had not met that particular dentist, or his nurse, before.

The scaling was initially uneventful. As two-way conversation was not possible, the dentist chatted away to the dental nurse about her recent holiday. They continued to chat and laugh for some time. Unfortunately, toward the end of the treatment, an upper central incisor crown dislodged. This was completely unforeseen and the scaler had only just contacted the tooth. It was successfully re-cemented.