Nhs Dental care is abysmal?

[pumpkinsweetie]

So here we are a family of 7, no vechile and cannot get an nhs dentist anywhere in our are.
We cannot afford to go private as it is extortion. So me and dh have what we think is an abscess each and we cannot get anyone in the area to accept new nhs patients and dentaline are always to busy to offer us an appointment

So tonight dh is screaming in agony and I phoned dentaline Again, only to be told they are too busy again, so I tried 111 who are basically useless as a chalk in a swimming pool, and tried to refer him back to dentaline, of course we explained no appointments were available, so half hour later a clinician phoned us back and again useless, cannot help him in any way, just the useless info of trying all the painkillers he has already tried and failed
as he has previously mentioned.
He asked whether the hospital would help him, apparently no he mustn't go there. He is now rocking back and forth and screaming and nothing is working.

When did our Nhs dentistry get so useless, that someone has to sit and suffer in extreme agony possibly with an abscess without any help??
Disgusting, aibu to be extremely peeved, and anyone any advice what to do with extreme dental pain? tia

[bonzo77]

Oh. What is the AIBU?

AIBU to think nhs dental care is abysmal?

YABU. You've not had any NHS dental care.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

I would phone dentaline again.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Bonzo. Err that's the point.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

"There will be something open on a Saturday morning. Don't expect a freebie. The dentist will probably be coming in especially as will their nurse who they will have to pay overtime. Leaving their families for someone who has not even been a regular patient and could easily have sought care during office hours."

A fair few dentists are open on Saturday's, bonzo, it's a normal working day for some as they are aware that their patient's work during the week and can't see them at other times.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Not having spaces to see unregistered patients at weekend is not "mean'.

[MaryWestmacott]

A lot of larger dental practices are open on a Saturday morning anyway, ours certainly is. It's private but not significantly more than nhs prices - and they often will offer help with payments.

Get this seen today if you can, call round every local dentist, look on line for ones open on Saturdays.

Then accept you need to get registered with a dentist, you might have to travel to get an nhs one, but worth it, twice a year getting a bus /train to a dentist is better than just going without.

[sandgrown]

Try warm saltwater mouthwashes every few hours to help kill infection. A teaspoon of salt to a pint of water and hold in the mouth for a couple of minutes and do not rinse out. My dentist lets you join a waiting list and when someone leaves the practice they will take you on but you must have regular check ups.

[SummerSazz]

In a similar situation I ended up at the main Dental Access Centre in our nearest city which deals with emergencies when you don't have a dentist. I did have a private dentist but they wouldn't see me on a Saturday

[LIZS]

You could try contacting a dental teaching hospital if your local hospital doesn't have an emergency dentist service. Call a few local dentists this morning, someone will see him if he is in acute pain(and ideally you) Rinsing with hot salty water may help , oil of cloves is good for temporary local anaesthesia, nurofen/paracetamol alternated. In the end if you suspected you each had a problem, but have no local dentist , why leave it until the evening to follow up ? Definitely worth paying for check ups and avoiding this situation if you can .

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Private emergency treatment should be about 40 or 50 quid so if you can afford that I would. It would only be temporary measure until you can register with a dentist though.

[herethereandeverywhere]

Bonzo RTFT. Op has tried to access NHS dental care but cannot. She is not in a position to pay to go to the dentist (which can easily cost more than a week's shopping). Without a crystal ball you cannot know when decay will become abscess. When I was a student I did similar as I could not afford the price of a check-up never mind anything else. By the time I was working my dental repairs cost over £1k but I had to suffer until I could pay for the care.

OP I'd tell the dentaline that you phone that his infection is now causing fever and weakness and you need an emergency appointment. Keep an eye on him as the morphine will be masking the developing symptoms of infection.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

In reply to OP YANBU that there seems to be a shortage of NHS dentists but it's not the actual dentists' fault.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

I wouldn't tell them there is fever and weakness unless there actually IS btw.

[pumpkinsweetie]

Going to give dentaline a call this morning to hopefully see if they can fit him in some where.
He would go private, but once they latch on to you, a load of other things will need doing as we haven't had a dentist for over 2 years.
Didn't expect the hospital to physically do anything medical, but antibiotics would have been a bloody good idea.

[Orangeanddemons]

Do you have a dental hospital nearby? Ours offers emergency cover. Whereabouts are you?

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

They won't "latch on to you' if you need emergency treatment. You don't then have to register there. You can be made comfortable and then seek an NHS dentist elsewhere if that's what you want.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

We see private emergencies all the time. They pay for the dentists time then are totally free to do what they want. The dentist doesn't even assess them for any treatment needed at that appointment.

[MaryWestmacott]

Op, they might give him a list of things that need doing, but can't make you do them! Get this problem dealt with, if they say there's more needed, get him to ask for a treatment plan with prices and you'll go away to see when you can afford it. Start on Monday calling all nhs dentists in a reasonable (say 2 hours) distance.

It's shit there's not a local nhs dentist taking on patients, but that's the situation you are in, as you can see having no treatment doesn't work long term.

[MaryWestmacott]

Oh and once this is dealt with, if there's any dental schools in the nearest uni it might be worth seeing if you can register with them.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

It is a shame that you are suffering so much because of some misguided view of all private dentists as evil.

That's why I hate these attitudes people spout without actually knowing truth,it stops people from seeking care.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

I see a private dentist and he's wonderful. I've been their patient for 16 years. We moved house 2 years ago and we travel 20 miles to see him. He doesn't do unnecessary work so not all dentist's 'latch on'. I've heard tales of bad dentists, private and NHS, who over-treat to make money.

I pay £12.50 a month which covers the check ups, hygienist and I get 20% off any treatment. Emergency treatment is free. Maybe you need to look into something like this?

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Yes they are just people providing a service and doing a job really.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

You won't be able to get dental insurance until you have had all necessary work carried out first and are "dentally fit". But some places let you pay up treatment.

[TheFairyCaravan]

YANBU OP.

The doctors in A&E might not have been dentists, but the MaxFax SHO is. They should have called the one on call down to take a look, if the abscess is visible on the outside of the gum it could have been lanced, the OP's DH could have been given antibiotics and he'd be on his way to feeling better.

NHS dentistry is shit and I don't care what anyone says. When I was a dental nurse practically every dentist was NHS, we had 3 in our practice and there were 3 more practices in the same street. We opened Saturday mornings and would never have turned away the OP's DH. There was a rota for out of hours, I was called in often enough but I didn't mind. If you did mind you were in the wrong job imo.

In this day and age it is unacceptable that we have people rocking and screaming in pain with toothache because they have no access to dental care!

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Yes there should be more.provision. but not the dentists themselves fault.

We are absolutely inundated with NHS patients. Not enough hours in the day to see them all. Although it is a bit better here in Scotland and there are more NHS dentists around.