2 years wait to have a tooth pulled out!!!

[elliejjtiny]

Ds3 is 13. He had reflux as a baby and as a result his baby teeth at the back were/are badly damaged. His non molars are fine and his adult teeth are all good as the reflux stopped when he was about 2.

He has one baby tooth left at the back and there is no adult tooth underneath. It's had several fillings and now there is an infection so today the dentist has said it needs to come out. But the waiting list is 2 years! I know at this time we are fortunate it is all free and my 11 year old has been on a waiting list for complex surgery for nearly 3 years now but 2 years to pull out a tooth is just ridiculous. My 11 year old needed 7 baby teeth pulling out before braces and it was sorted within weeks.

DD had to have 2 teeth pulled for her orthodontic work. Unfortunately we don't have any NHS dentist locally, there are just non. And although due to her being nervous the dentist did try and refer her by the NHS they refused for GA.

So we had to find a private dentist who could do it with sedation instead, it cost around £400 for 2 teeth. It was about an hour away, but they where recommended by the orthodontist. They did do payment plans if that was something that you need. I have a look around and see what you can find. The densit we went to specialise in nervous passant and children.

Thank you. I finally got hold of the dentist surgery and spoke to the receptionist. She said that the dentist couldn't pull the tooth because it was submerged. Not sure what that is but sounds painful. He has to be seen by someone at a hospital an hour away and they will decide if he needs a local or general anaesthetic.

The pain is back so we are going back to the dentist again today. I've got another child who is on his 2nd course of antibiotics for an infection in his foot so it feels like it's been constant antibiotics in this house lately.

As he was already there, it'd have taken minutes to take out.

Different thing, but our dentist hadn't seen the orthodontists referral to take four of her teeth out. We questioned it at an appointment and within minutes they were all out.

Forgot to say she was 12 at the time and fine without an GA.

That's awful! I do think that much like schooling and GP's, the government has been hoping for years that people who can afford it will just slink off into the private system if they make the state system unwelcoming enough.

My private dentist would remove a tooth for about £170, and I'm in a really expensive area. You must shop around for a decent private one that's reasonably priced. There's no way someone can walk around with a recurring infected tooth in their head for two years plus! It's not healthy. The decay could spread to the surrounding teeth.

Thank you. He has been referred to the hospital for having his tooth out under sedation or GA so it would cost thousands to go private unfortunately.

Private sedation might not be too bad. Ask your dentist if there are any private paediatric dental services around that they could refer to.

I don't know whether he needs to have sedation or GA until he has seen the consultant. The dentist today offered to try and pull the tooth as the waiting list is so long but she said it might be traumatic as the tooth is going down into his gum so it will be harder to get out. We've been sent home to think about it.

So it means it's not fully erupted and they will likely have to cut the gum to gain full access to it. It shouldn't hurt, he'll have local anaesthetic but it does mean he'll be in the chair longer and there will be a lot of pressure, water, suction and it may need to come out in pieces which means he will hear the cracking noise. It will also be sore afterwards.

If he's in pain and he's willing to sit through it I'd be inclined to let him try. 2 years is a long wait for sedation that he may not need.

I have been looking for a new dentist after my NHS dentist went private, and this level of variation in fees is similar to what I found. I think that some dentists keep the consultation fees and basic treatment fees lower and load more onto the sophisticated / cosmetic treatments such as implants and bleaching. Definitely shop around.