A pensioner was left with metal spikes fitted into his jaw bone for over a decade as dentists argued over who was responsible for his care. David Heys, of Bradley in West Yorkshire, had an operation to place dental implants in the 1990’s but the 79-year-old developed severe problems that left him unable to eat solid food. Mr Heys has been referred from one specialist to another when trying to rectify the situation and he feels ‘very neglected’ by the systems put in place to help patients with dental problems.
Mr Heys waited months for an appointment at Leeds Dental Institute, only to be told to go back to his normal surgery, after which he was sent back to the Leeds hospital for a consultation. A letter from Gencare at Leeds Dental Institute said that the treatment Mr Heys required was beyond the capability of his dentist at the hospital. Mr Heys said that ‘if the hospital can’t do it how can they expect a local dentist to do it?’
A spokesman for the Institute said ‘Mr Heys is a long-standing patient and we have been doing our best over a number of years to help him with his dental implants and over-denture… He was seen by us recently after a referral and his fractured denture was repaired, and on that basis he was discharged from our care.’ The patient was then referred back to the primary care dentist as the hospital is ‘a specialist centre for complex procedures.’