My mental health is crumbling due to the appalling lack of dental care in the UK

[opalescent]

Just finding this unbearable now.

I take such good care of my teeth, but unfortunately I grind in the night, and suffer regular aches/pains and issues as a result.
I wear a mouth guard. It doesn't help. In fact it aggravates the issue at times.

I am actually really proud of how I have coped up until now, as being unable to access a dentist is probably my biggest fear (this was an issue for me even before lockdown).

But there doesn't seem to be an end in sight, and the only emerging news about dental services seems to be bad. Day after day. How is this being allowed to happen?

Is anyone able to DM me details of one of the few practices in England that are actually seeing patients? I know a few exist. This would soothe my nerves immensely.

Thanks all

Unfortunately not, but is it a normal mouth guard you have or a special one to prevent you biting together and grinding? I had to have a special one made by my dentist that I wore on my front teeth and it eventually trained me not to do it. Either that or the cause of my stress that was making me do it stopped. I believe Botox might also help with this but administered by dentist.

I totally understand. I had already worn down my mouth guard by March and was so looking forward to my early May appointment so I could get impressions made for a new one. I’m in agony, and my grinding makes one of my teeth wobble without a fully cushioned mouth guard.
I don’t know any dentists that are open though.

I have a normal soft guard that covers all my upper teeth- but I have had to adapt it so that it only covers my upper front teeth- I realise this is probably a really bad idea, but it has actually temporarily relieved some of my pain. The fact that I cannot see a dentist to talk through what I have done is just crazy.

Thank you for replying.

I'm sorry you are suffering too Ido- it's just miserable 😩. The party line regarding urgent care hubs is just absolutely rubbish. The assumption is that the only reason someone would need a dentist, is to have a decayed tooth removed.

There are many other reasons that we need dentists 😰

Have you tried emailing your dentist to request to talk this through? If you want an opinion then a phone appt might be better than nothing at all.

Hello, there have been emergency hubs set up in differnt locations around the country, there is a form to fill in on the 111 website, or call your current dentist who won't be practising but will be able to get you a referral to the emergency hub.

I feel your pain..literally. I was awaiting specialist treatment that had been delayed anyway..and the tooth problem has got worse, so I am very restricted in what I can eat and taking painkillers which I dislike doing..and hoping they open again soon. two months of toothache is no fun!

Thank you both. @FromTheAllotment my usual dentists have actually closed their doors entirely, and referred all queries to a centralised bupa phone number, which I am really surprised by.
@Rosesarere thank you for this 😊. Unfortunately the urgent care hubs just aren’t working very well in my area of the county- massively overwhelmed by demand, and only able to offer extractions if you do manage to get seen, which isn’t really what I need. But I appreciate your help.

Some future hope for you. I have been a teeth grinder all my life. I used to wear through my mouth guards. The last couple of years my grinding has reduced. I've not anything I've done, and I'm more stressed than ever, so it's a mystery!

Slightly off-piste as it's not a dentist, but have you considered Botox? There is evidence that Botox in the masseter (sp?) facial muscles can stop tooth grinding all together. I am looking into it myself as I grind all night long, and I wake up with so much tension in my jaw that I feel like it's stuck closed.

I was thinking about this the other day, as I am also in pain from a dental issue but am not deemed urgent enough to see an emergency dentist.

How are other countries coping with dentistry? UK dentistry always seems to be in a state of crisis anyway (not the fault of dentists themselves I hasten to add, but the system doesn't seem to work very well for a lot of people) and this has really exacerbated it.

@AntiHop that is definitely something to hope for in the future!
@TrueFriendsStabYouInTheFront I absolutely would consider Botox, and was looking into this just before lockdown happened . I have heard promising things

@isabellerossignol my understand is that most other countries are offering much more in the way of dental care at the moment, some never closed dentists at all. I do not work within dentistry but from what I’ve read, there has been no leadership, and dentists have been treated appallingly by the government, who seem to have absolutely no regard for the importance of this area of healthcare.
I can only assume that none of the decision makers has ever had tooth pain 🤨.

I think it's absolutely disgusting, the lack of dental care since coronavirus. Dentists should be provided with PPE and be seeing patients as usual. It's widely known that dental pain is among the worst pains and can actually drive a person crazy. I think it's appalling. It's like every other health issue has ceased to exist. I finally managed to get an X-ray on my dodgy shoulder the other day and when I went up there, not a soul was there apart from 4 health care professionals standing together gossiping about their weekend plans!

It is quite quite scandalous. I would have thought of all the healthcare professions the dentists would be most able to put on PPE and continue at least with things that cannot wait. When they tell us the NHS is open for business this clearly does not extend to NHS dentistry.

Sorry nothing to add......but was just about to start some dental treatment as lockdown started. Tooth is now much worse and will probably now have to be extracted. It seems madness that i can buy clothes, get medical treatment, yet i cant get a significant issue sorted with my teeth.

Hopefully someone will start sorting this out soon. When they do it would be nice to see dentists give problem cases priority over checkups and for them to work overtime to sort out the backlog. My dentist isnt even English - so has probably gone back to their home country and will face 14 days quarantine if they do decide to return

I think it’s scandalous too! Out of interest are any dentists working in other corona hit countries?

I don't think you'll have any luck. My cousin has accidentally overdosed on painkillers due to a dental issue that should have been sorted just as lockdown happened. He just keeps getting discharged from A&E after treatment for the stomach issues caused, still not booked in to sort dental issue which can only be sorted with surgery. It is absolutely disgusting!

It's crazy that no one can access dental care. I've been on the phone to 111 this morning (not tooth related) and there was an option to discuss dental issues but don't know how useful it is.

the dentists are just as unhappy about this - but got told that anyone continuing to practice would be struck off. There are allegedly urgent care hubs but no idea where...

Isabelle
I think, it can't be that long anymore in your area.
I am in Berlin and we had a phone call last week to reschedule appointments as dentists, oral surgeons and hygienists are working again. They followed advise from their professional body.

Hi OP. I am a dentist.

Firstly if you have edited your mouthgaurd so it only covers your front teeth you need to stop wearing it. It will completely mess up your bite

Grinding isnt really an urgent care centre issue, it is only something that you can really stop.

What I would recommend is a soft diet for the next 2 weeks, use of ibuprofen gel and hot compresses on the sides of your face to help with muscular pain. Avoid anything like chewing gum/chewy sweets

You also need to make sure during the day you are conciously unclenching, make sure your teeth are always apart at rest. It is hard to do but you need to break the habit of clenching/grinding.

In terms of dental work it is because almost all of dentistry uses Aerosol generating procedures, full of blood and saliva. This means the air in the surgery is full of this aerosol. To carry out dentistry you would need full PPE including gowns and FFP3 masks, two per patient (dentist + nurse), because they are AGPs these would need to be single use. To be frank the government wont provide this PPE and so it isnt safe for dentists to practice. The other issue is the aerosol hangs around in the air after the procedure is done and so the next patient is at risk.

It is a logistical nightmare really, but there are hubs set up to deal with urgent dental problems such as abscesses and toothache

@babymamamama why? Of all the healthcare professions dentistry puts the healthcare professional at the highest risk. Because you are constantly working within 1m of the patients face, aerosols etc.

An outpatient medical appointment is much safer for both parties, a GP appointment is much safer for both parties

@Changeofname79 who do you expect to book him in for his surgery? A&E? With all due respect he overdosed

Surgery is serperate to dentistry, dental surgery in hospital has been cancelled alongside the majority of routine surgery for many reasons. Theatres converted into ICUs, aneasthetists redeployed, again the PPE issue

I dont think a lot of people realise how limited proper PPE still is.

All my relatives in the Netherlands can access the dentist. My mother and sister have had their regular checkups as usual.

What's happening in the UK is simply unacceptable. It's also incredibly shortsighted.