Dentist appointments

[Feministschool]

Our family had a dentist appointment booked for August, which was understandably postponed until October.

I've just received a message saying this appointment has been cancelled and they're only dealing with emergencies.

I'm not bothered about myself or DD5 but DD8 has been waiting on a periodontal referral for almost a year and has some build-up as a result (not her/our fault).

She will become an emergency case if left long enough. It's very short sighted.

Are NHS check ups happening in other areas and are we just unlucky? Is it worth investigating changing surgery?

Put off not out off!

Hmm, sounds like it might be worth looking into.
Wonder if eating Bounty bars would help? 🤔😁

what a shame about the tooth rotting properties of sugar....

I've just lost a tooth completely unecessarily because I've had an easily treated abcess since February and nobody to treat it.
The only dentists I can see is my old dentist in Sussex, there is nobody local, I live in Somerset and it's a three hour drive for an appointment.

Calculus??!

"Tartar — also known as calculus — is an accumulation of plaque and minerals from your saliva that harden. Tartar can coat the exterior of teeth and invade below the gumline. Tartar feels like a crusty blanket on teeth. Because it's porous, food and drink can easily stain tartar."
(9 Apr 2019)
www.healthline.com › health › tarta...

My dentist is only doing emergencies until next year. I might find a private one in the meantime I think.

DH tried to make an emergency appt at his dentist during lockdown (broken tooth) and they still haven't come back to him! Luckily he's not in any pain.

My broken tooth and replaced crown have cost nearly £700 so far. I have two other areas that need treatment and crowns at the front that will need renewing soon. Several hours and by the time it’s all done I should think.

If you can afford a private dentist, go for it. I did have to phone around a few places but I found somewhere that's doing fillings. It does cost more but it's worth it.

Will I get excluded from my NHS dentist if I use a private one, does anybody know?

My NHS one is more convenient to get to - when they're working, of course! 😆

I was able to have a temporary filling as an emergency on the NHS but to get the permanent filling I had to pay privately, as it no longer counted as an emergency. My dentist isn't doing routine check-ups, but you can pay privately to see the hygienist.

Completely varies dentist to dentist here. 2 DC are at one, and DD1 at another in town. The 2 had their usual check up last month, we were herded straight in and right out the door in record time.

DD1 lost a filling, her dentist wouldn't see her. The other wouldn't take any new patients, and everywhere else said they're working through a 2 month backlog. Her tooth broke, they begrudgingly squeezed her in, and sent off a referral for an extraction, which has been triaged to a hospital and I have no idea of the wait.

@Horsemad

Will I get excluded from my NHS dentist if I use a private one, does anybody know?

My NHS one is more convenient to get to - when they're working, of course! 😆

No you won't.

I've seen two different NHS dentists in the last year. And a private one. And three different hygienists at two different practices.

Brilliant, thanks @MiniMum97. 😁

I had a three week wait for a NHS dental appointment. Had it today and need a couple of fillings. Have been booked in for treatment early November. It does seem very fragmented depending on where you live.

I’ve had mine as usual as luckily the private practice was back up and running when it was due after being closed for many weeks. The children were seen under NHS as usual as long as I was booked in as well privately.

They have huge operating restrictions, they can’t use the same room for an hour after so are open very long hours to allow for the periods where it can’t be used. Not a normal scale and polish either but glad it’s done before winter as anticipate they will be closed again.

Don't get me started with my dentist

But was due an appt end of July, still not had it rescheduled. I'm currently waiting for an X-ray
Df goes to same dentist, needs a new filling, and his last appt cancelled in April

I had an emergency extraction about a week before lockdown. Was given the choice of root canal and extraction and soooooo grateful I picked extraction or the treatment would never have gone ahead. Anyway was supposed to have a follow up appointment in June which was postponed until next week and has just been cancelled.

Have been told no non emergency appointments being undertaken and to contact them in the New Year.

This is crazy though, right? Surely there isn't enough emergency business to keep dentists afloat?

I've been to my dentist in July, I had an abcess in my back tooth and it was removed.

I was told they'd be ringing patients to book children in for check ups by the end of September, and I should chase up if I'd not heard anything. God knows about adult check up's.

I go privately and have been 4 times since lockdown started in March for treatment and check-ups. It’s business as normal with a few extra precautions.

We were cancelled in April and it's going to be 2021 before they open for routine appointments, apparently. Not ideal, but what can we do?

Not NHS- but I've had a check up and non essential work done recently at my private dentists so it's definitely possible.

We were due a family checkup in April which was cancelled and they said they would get in touch with us when we could rebook. It had been a year (actually I have to go every 6 months but everyone else in the family has an annual appointment). I called them mid September as wondered if they were rebooking appointment and the answerphone said they were just dealing with emergencies. I already had a broken tooth which is now even more broken (no pain, the tooth has been dead and root canal-ed years ago) and I don’t want to block up appointment for something that’s not causing me any pain or inconvenience other than ugliness when someone in serious pain needs that appointment.
But do we just wait for another year? I’d like to get the dc checked up sooner rather than later but we’re pretty much in limbo aren’t we?
I do fully understand that they are dealing with things in a Covid secure way but I’m also concerned about our oral hygiene and the dc probably going 2 years without a checkup 🤷🏽‍♀️