A man said he was ‘insulted and upset’ after he was turned away by a dentist in Wales for being ‘too fat for the chair’.
22-stone David Bottomley, from Penderyn, said he was ‘gobsmacked’ with what he heard when he turned up for his appointment at the Dental Lounge in Glynneath only to be told he couldn’t be seen due to his weight.
Mr Bottomley had been a regular patient at the surgery for a decade, but claims he is no longer welcome because of the way he spoke to staff in retaliation.
The Dental Lounge in Glynneath has said they ‘acted in line with health and safety guidance’, and that patients deemed too heavy for the chair are directed to the Swansea Bay community bariatric dental service instead.
But Mr Bottomley said his case should have been dealt with better and said he wishes the dentist had told him prior to his appointment that he wouldn’t be able to be seen so he could make other arrangements.
The 65-year-old retired pub landlord, who needed his two crowns replaced, said he needed to take two buses to get to his appointment.
‘It took me two hours to get to the dentist because I have to get two buses from Penderyn to Glynneath,’ he said.
‘I sat down after getting there and began filling in an app about myself. About five minutes later while I was still filling it out she called me over and said: “Unfortunately sir you’re too big and our chairs will not be able to cope with your weight.”
‘I found it insulting. I did become angry and I did raise my voice, but I wasn’t abusive and I didn’t swear, but the dentist came out and told me I needed to leave and I’d be struck off the list.
‘I thought: “Who do they think they are? Telling me I’m too fat and then removing me from their list.” I did say I was angry, it was a shock to the system to be told something like that.
‘Is it my problem that their chairs don’t work? I’ve been waiting for the appointment for a while because I had a problem with my two crowns.
‘I wanted to share my story to say this is happening and it’s an insult. I also want to tell people to enquire with their dentist if they now have the same policy regarding weight of patients, because it’s wasted my time.
‘I wish I’d have been told much earlier. It’s not like they didn’t know me. I’ve been this weight for 15 or 20 years and I’ve been going to the same dentist for ten years.
‘Yes I am slightly overweight and I have a heart condition, but surely all clientele deserve dental treatment.’
As well as feeling upset by what has happened Mr Bottomley said he had become stressed by being removed from the practice list.
‘I know it takes a long time to get back onto a list after you’ve been removed and I am worried about that,’ he said. ‘I need urgent dental care. I wasn’t rude to anyone and I really feel unfairly treated and sad by what has happened.’
A spokesman for Glynneath Dental Lounge said: ‘While we cannot comment on Mr Bottomley’s case in detail, we can offer assurances that we acted in line with agreed health and safety guidance.
‘Chairs used to treat patients have weight limits, which means it would be unsafe to use them to provide dental care to any patient who is over this limit.
‘Patients who are unable to be treated in standard dental chairs are then referred to the Swansea Bay community bariatric dental service which has a specialist chair available.
‘We are sorry to hear that Mr Bottomley has raised these concerns, but we are more than happy to discuss it with him further if he would like to contact us directly.’
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