NO DETAL TREATMENTS! Pregnant and tooth infection!

[Mn345678]

Hi all.. Im really frightened as I just found out there are literally no dental services in England.. not even for emergencies. I am developing a tooth infection which isn't as painful as it sounds thankfully (for now!) but I have been told to do salt water gargle until it gets worse and just be given antibiotics when it gets worse!

Im really worried as this can complicate a pregnancy... I can't believe I cannot be seen!

Is anyone else experiencing this... and have any info on what to do?!

That’s categorically not true. Ring 111, they’ll do what they can to help, if you meet the threshold for an emergency appointment then they can give you details of a service seeing emergencies or an eme dentist might be happy to prescribe remotely over the phone. However, it is your own personal responsibility to be registered with a regular dentist and attend check ups, etc and not expect a dentist to fall at your feet on demand.

Who told gave you that advice?

If you haven’t done so, you could call 111 or your own dentist who will have details of how to access emergency care. It is harder now but people who absolutely have to be seen are being given appointments at dental hubs. It doesn’t sound like you do need to be seen yet though.

Ring 111 there are dental services.

Agree with QueenofPain, ring 111, what about your own dental surgery, sorry might be a silly question, but do they not have any recording telling patients what to do, have you rang their number? I have worked in both NHS and Private practices, and both have their own system in place for this kind of thing, including my previous workplace whereby people are able to speak to a dentist on the phone and there is a centre they can go to, the last I heard, and this is at the moment under the present circumstances.

Really?! I have been told by two seperate dentist... one which is my dentist for the past 20 years and the other who is a root canal specialist who did this particular tooth. They both said there is nowhere to go for treatment! It made me frustrated... Yes I will hold of calling 111 for now but I can feel this getting worse and I have been really worried all morning thinking I'll need to put up with an infection while all 15 weeks pregnant! :(

Thank you for the advice

@PurpleDaisies I have called my dental practice in Camden, London and they say there are no practices open and no treatments available. And they are not in a position to advice any hubs as they aren't aware of any. I thought that was ridiculous.

@QueenOfPain Ofcourse I dont expect a dentist to fall at my feed. I didn't say anything as such. I went for an appointment in very early march and was told to wait for it to get worse as I was too early in pregnancy and the dentist preferred not to treat when it wasn't bad. The lockdown happened and now they are closed.

@Redruby25 Hiya, yes I am able to call and speak to them which I did and the dentist recommended salt water gargle for now and to not bite on that side. As im not in much pain they said to wait until it gets worse (if it does) and they might prescribe antibiotics. But my dentist and the specialist dentist I had seen in early March have both said No Treatments are available! Both were very adamant!

A tooth infection is not going to have any impact on your pregnancy at all. All that will happen is you'll be given some antibiotics that are safe to take.
No need for the drama queen antics. Your dentist would have told you if there was a risk

I also need to visit the dentist so completely understand. Hope you find someone to treat you

I'm shocked to hear they said there were no emergency dental hubs.

There is emergency dental treatment available, there is not routine treatment

So if you are waiting for a root canal, that wont happen. But you can have antibiotics and swellings drained, teeth extracted or dressed if in pain.

The dental hubs are a bit area dependent, but London will definitely have hubs

A tooth infection wont complicate your pregnancy

@Mn345678 this is rubbish. Here is the information you need, as you're in London

• King’s College Hospital have set up an emergency helpline – you can call: 0203 299 5608 at 8am, and you will be allocated a timeslot to attend

• Guy’s Hospital have expanded their dental A&E to 3 floors. There is no phone line, they are offering a first come first served walk-in service for able, disabled and special care patients.

• St Thomas’ Hospital - all children are to be directed to St Thomas’ for walk in, not King’s or Guy’s.

• The Royal London Dental Hospital - Phone triage only.

   - Adult dental emergencies – Please phone 020 3596 6869 between 9.30 – 12pm
  
   - Paediatric Dental Emergencies- Please call 020 7377 7321 between 9.30am – 12pm
  
   -  Whipps Cross Hospital-between 9am to 11am. Please phone 020 8535 6437
  

@lockdownstress wow thank you so much! You should be LockDownDeStress! - I know people here are surprised but this is what I was told by two dentists! Im also glad to hear this. thank you

@QueenOfPain where did the op say she wasn’t registered with a dentist....she didn’t just said she was unable to access treatment. That was a vile way to speak to someone struggling, your reading comprehension needs some work!

@lockdownstress I literally just called my dentist back and they thanked me for the information!! They only knew about Guys Hospital. And when I asked why they hadn't informed me even though I asked repeatedly they said because other patients had been referred by 111 but turned down by the hospital!

blimey, total chaos! Here's to @lockdownstress!

there are allegedly dental hubs for urgent care elsewhere in the country as well as London. Doesn't seem to be any way of finding out where they are.

the dentists want this sorted as much as anyone, but have been told (reasonably enough) to stop work due to lack of suitable PPE.

I'm having a similar problem...I'm not in London and none of the dentists in my area are seeing patients. No emergency hubs, nothing. They are offering telephone advice but the advice is "you need to see a dentist asap but we can't see patients, sorry".

Jupiters whereabouts are you in the country?

No general dentists are seeing patients but there should be hubs.

Round here if you need a referral to the hub from your own dentist, and you need to have tried antibiotics first for majority of cases. I know of one or two practices in our area that seemed to have missed this memo, and arent referring their patients.

@DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon I'm in Norfolk.
Dentists here aren't making referrals to hubs. NHS 111 advice as if I can't see a dentist I should plug my broken tooth up with chewing gum!

I've had some progress... Called 111 and got put in touch with like the only hub in North London and they said its too risky for me to go in as most people in London who need dental care are going to them right now... so theres a risk of Covid 19..... They prescribed antibiotics to 'knock the infection on the head' ... and hopefully that should delay the need for a procedure in the coming weeks - until Dentists start to reopen.

Im not happy at all about taking antibiotics while pregnant. Im so annoyed that my tooth did my like this while pregnant and on lock down!!

@Jupiters I'm in Northamptonshire and there aren't any hubs round here either. OH is a dentist and the nearest he can refer an absolute emergency to is in Nottingham and they charge through the roof!!