I was sent to this dentist for emergency care through 111. The dentist I saw clearly had contempt for the fact that I did not have a dentist and required urgent care. I wonder if they know that there is no NHS dental provision anywhere and hasn’t been for a number of years. I have tried to find a dentist for around 5-6 years now. Not everyone can afford private dental care. Please stop blaming patients for the state of provision. We need urgent care because we cant get a regular dentist. That is not our fault. Some compassion and humanity would be appreciated.

Referred through by 111 after being in significant pain. I was booked in to see Harrogate Dental for an emergency appointment. On arrival I was amused to discover that I wasn’t there for a dental consultation as the practitioner had different ideas. He made it crystal clear that his understanding of the use of my appointment time was to “school” me in what an emergency was, to inform me that I “wasn’t in enough pain” and to share with me what I can only imagine is his favourite 111 patient referral analogy; that “if I had attended A & E with hip pain they would not be able to give me a hip replacement” I am not quite sure how this lecture was relevant or useful in my quest to have my dental issue assessed and I’m pretty certain following triage and assessment for hip pain in A & E would result in the patient being referred through to the specialist department for the specific care they needed after the irresistible alternative offer of an amputation was declined. I think it’s clear that 111 referrals where the patient isn’t screaming in agony and drooling profusely are a big no no for Harrogate Dental. So much so I momentarily wished I had taken less painkillers, (a necessary cocktail of paracetamol, ibuprofen and enough cocodamol to sedate a small pony), as they were obviously working too well for his liking and they certainly were not getting me any closer to him giving me a quick oral inspection. “You need to register with a dentist” he insisted. Am I already not in the right place for that I pondered? Still confused as to why he had yet to offer to take a look in my mouth and swiftly sign me up as a private patient to undertake the remedial work needed. After running a business for 15 years in Harrogate I learned that the best clients I ever had were the referrals, a fantastic opportunity to convert warm leads into paying customers. I am not quite sure why he didn’t see my referral to him as an ideal opportunity to sign up a new fee paying patient? I would have been delighted to have had been discussing my treatment options, with the full expectation of an appropriately expensive private dental bill as the outcome, sadly it seemed to me that he was only interested in impressing upon me that he could only help me “by pulling it out” and I would need to “find a dentist” if I wanted anything else other than be left with a gaping hole, as they would be able to offer me rather more favourable cosmetic options than he was prepared to do. I can only guess that he has made assumptions about my financial status, that I was just trying to get a freebie via 111 or simply down to some unfavourable box I had ticked on the forms. I can’t fathom it. In the end I gave in and left. I have taken his advice and “found a dentist” I am booked in for 2pm this afternoon, I don’t know why he didn’t want my business. Maybe he’s just flat out with 111 emergencies…