For Dentists
There are three options with the referral procedure:
1) Referral for opinion/Consultation:
A consultation appointment is necessary before any treatment is carried out. This is a 20 -30 minute appointment which will involve a full clinical and radiographic assessment of the tooth or teeth in question. The patient is not committed to treatment at this stage and a follow up report can be requested.
The issues addressed most commonly during the consultation:
- assessing whether the pain is of dental or non dental origin identification of the problem tooth
- assessing the periodontal status of the tooth
- providing an endodontic assessment of the need for elective treatment, providing an endodontic prognosis if treatment is required
- assessing the restorability of the tooth
- assessing the suitability for incorporating the tooth or teeth into a treatment plan
- discussing the alternative options to root canal treatment
- discussing the need for further restorative treatment following treatment.
2) Referring for Treatment (consultation required):
You may wish to refer a patient for specific specialist treatment that you do not wish to undertake yourself.
3) Seeking an Opinion
You may wish me to give advice on a case that you are involved with. Ideally this request would be a written letter or email with a brief history outlining the problem with a few radiographs enclosed of the tooth in question. However, in the event of there being an acute problem with the patient in your surgery i.e. management of trauma I will happily advise over the phone.