In A&E with toothache

[Kakamora]

Have just arrived at a&e. Approached the desk and said I don’t know if I can be seen, I don’t expect anything in terms of work but help with pain relief.

IVe had a severe tooth ache for 3 days. Gone through 4 packets of paracetamol and ibuprofen. Not ate. Not slept. Been sick from the pain, shaking and sweating it’s been that bad. Sobbed last night it was so bad.

The man and the front desk really snottily asked me ‘have you been to a emergency reception before ?’ Made me feel like shit. I know it’s not a typical reason to come to a&e but I don’t have a dentist and I’m in agony. I’m in no less pain than people with medical reasons. I feel even worse now

FWIW I dont think the name change or the one disrepancy in the OP 's recollection of the time she was admitted indicates that she is anything other than a young person ( 22 ? ) of limited means ,with poor dental care as a child ,and in agonising pain .

Which ,if it were caused by an abscess ,might have burst and abated .

HoleyCoMoley She did see a nurse at A&E, presumably triage. She says so on her other thread.

Can someone link the other thread?

I often wonder about this when I read here people are waiting 2 weeks for appointments with the gp. I would just pay for it if that was an option.
Leaving things fester just ends up costing more.

I hope the op tells the hospital what happened ‘MUMSNET SAVED MY LIFE’ because loads of people on this thread told her she had overdosed.

kaytee I think this is the relevant bit
LittleMissJellyBaby Tue 04-Sep-18 09:37:42
no one has mentioned it. I didn’t even get booked into the waiting room on Sunday.

Add message | Report | Message poster Becca19962014 Tue 04-Sep-18 09:39:40
I don't understand, you said you were refused treatment on your thread and were waiting to be seen and then later got sent away.

Add message | Report | Message poster LittleMissJellyBaby Tue 04-Sep-18 09:42:36
Yes there’s sort of two waiting rooms. You give your name and why you come. Then sit down. Then a. Nurse shouts you and either sends you the waiting room or away.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/a3355402-Paracetamol-overdose-in-hospital#80747835

This thread was opened to request help/ advice. It was not presented as an opportunity for people in the ‘healing people business’ to get unpleasant about how amazing they are and how stupid the OP is.

If you are ‘in agony’ you don’t wait three days to do something about it

So says someone with the means, the money and the ability to get regular dental treatment and access to emergency treatment.

I am regularly amazed at how posters here can be so out of touch with the reality of life on a low income for many people.

And as a PP upthread points out, facial pain may feel like toothache but isn't necessarily toothache as anyone with TGN will tell you. I've certainly experienced agonising "toothache" which was sinus related and no dentist would have been able to help.

TGN is known to be painful enough to drive people suicidal and emergency analgesia is entirely appropriate.

Having the means, money and ability has nothing to do with it. OP clearly had the means to do something about it and had toothache for 3 days before going to A&E.

If someone has the means to get to A&E on a Sunday night, then they have the means to make alternative arrangements to go to a walk-in centre, or call 111.

If someone has the means to get to A&E on a Sunday night, then they have the means to make alternative arrangements to go to a walk-in centre, or call 111.

She isn't registered with a dentist because she is worried about the costs. That means she has no dentist to visit. Walk in centres don't have dentists either. 111 will only tell her to go to A&E if its non specific but severe facial pain or to register with a dentist (assuming anyone in her area is taking on NHS patients, it will still be a long delay before she can join one).

In my urban area she would not get emergency dental treatment within a week, let alone if she can't afford to pay for it.

I had the same situation this weekend. Saturday began to get what I thought was toothache. Took medication, blah blah. Overnight Saturday my face blew up and by Sunday morning my left eye was completely closed. We'd phoned 111 three times by this point who had given us the number of the emergency dentist in the area who, to this day hasn't answered the phone. Sunday morning if someone had given me a gun I would have shot myself, not a word of a lie. I have never felt pain like it.

In desperation I went to A&E. I was seen quickly and given naproxen and a prescription for antibiotics. Today I finally got to see a brilliant dentist who admitted that the abscess would have been a hell of a lot more serious had I not taken myself to A&E. I'm not given to panic or overreacting but A&E was definitely needed on Sunday morning. Not one person there made me feel like it was the wrong decision and they're the ones that matter.

This thread scares me
Really how bad does it have to get for some people

I remember the thud thud pain of my abscess but fortunately I have an NHS dentist

It’s truly depressing that dental care isn’t accessible to all in this country

Sorry OP but if you've had this for 3 days why didn't you go to your dentist? If it had come on suddenly in the night, then perhaps A&E is justified. Doesn't your dentist offer emergency appointments? Where I live if you call at 8:30am you can get one for the same day, surely all dentists offer this?

RockBird
Ouch! That sounds really, really, really, really awful! I hope you are feeling a lot better now.

@gingham

Frankly no, they don’t.
Where I live the dental crisis is so bad I CANNOT induce an nhs dentist to register my 2 year old. I’ve been trying since we moved to the area a year ago.

I’ve now had to accept hes going to have to go privately- but I can’t afford it for both of us at the moment so will have to cancel my own dental package at my own dentist in London (where we used to live).

*gingham, no not all dentists offer same day appointments, I had to wait a week to see an emergency out of hours dentist, my own dentist couldn't fit me in so I went private which took 4 days. It took over 3 months for me to find a nhs dentist to register with when I moved.

I used liquid codeine from the chemist last time I had toothache.
Paracetamol and ibuprofen weren't taking the pain away it was so severe.
I don't usually take tablets other than my pill so it was safe to use and my god what a relief!!

I live on an island, we have limited numbers of dentists. Ours has just closed with a couple of weeks' notice, leaving nearly 5000 people scrambling to find a slot at one of the very few other dentists.

Solphadine max/plus dissolvable and naproxen with orajel 20% high strength. Only things that helped me.

The thing is with dental problems sometimes is....you don’t know it’s going to happen. Someone’s in pain, shall we leave the lecture for later?

Also did not realise this would post to the bottom! Stupid me!

The "aren't we lucky to have the NHS" vipers really fuck me off. You are not lucky, it kills people every day. My cousin just posted a pathetic groveling NHS gratitude bollocks on Facebook on the day he buried his 36 year old wife. A year of her GP refusing to refer her despite so many flags, totally incompetent systems (let's watch and wait), and the indignity of dying 4 weeks later in a corridor surrounded by drunks. The NHS is a festering pile of shit and should be stopped before it destroys more lives. Go abroad, anywhere in the world, anywhere at all. Their Healthcare is safer. I worked in West Africa, that was better, even really shitty places. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, southern India, all clean and welcoming ill people rather than calling them twats and sending them home.