Any dentists about? I’m not registered anywhere. It hurts. Should I go private when I’m broke (pictures)

[NaughtbutKeys]

I’ve no fillings but I’m suddenly having tooth pain and it’s pretty clear where it is. Can I wait until I get on a list? How bad is it?

Phone 111 and ask to speak to the emergency dentist.

Depending on where you live there may well be dentists locally who will accept you.

I don’t think it’s anything like an emergency - it
hurts when I eat. I didn’t expect to see anything when I took a photo but there is clearly something there. I’m wondering if it’s filling or extraction territory when you can see black

I would ring 111. They will ask you a series of questions to determine your eligibility for emergency dental care. If you are in pain, that prioritises you to an extent. I broke a tooth in half a year ago, but it oddly doesn’t hurt. 111 wouldn’t refer me. It was private care only. I’m still waiting to have it fixed because I just couldn’t justify the cost and then I needed to have surgery, which meant I couldn’t open my mouth properly anyway.

I’m certain I don’t need urgent care - I can’t feel it right now. But I can’t eat on it. I’m trying to figure out if I’m going to go from a filling to an extraction if I hang about or if I’m already at buggered dead tooth anyway

It's a tiny tiny black dot. It's likely a small filling you'll need, not an extraction or anything sinister. The longer you leave it the worse any infection becomes and having been in A&E with a face looking like a bulldog that chewed in a wasp and got stung repeatedly, you do not want that.

See a dentist. If you can't afford private, and many can't, and don't have an NHS dentist you need to speak to 111 to access the NHS dentist teams.

I broke a back tooth and my dentist isn’t interested in fixing it as it’s not seen. He looked at it and said it’s cosmetic only and only do it if I get any problems.

If it’s the black dot it might be worthwhile going private on this occasion before it gets too big

If you can pay, pay.

It’s not a big area of decay so I am sure it could be filled.

It's a filling job, and there might be more decay than you'd imagine under that dot. (You can tell by the slight shadow on that area of tooth around it.)

Get it seen to. You have really nice teeth. Go private. Think of it like having to fix a car or replace a busted washing machine. It's not a "luxury". It's an unavoidable expense.