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

Have you googled trigeminal neuralgia op??

I'm so sorry. Tooth pain is the worst pain ever - it is relentless and makes you feel like you're going mad. Unless you've experienced it, you can't understand.

I am so sorry they won't help. I had a tooth absess and couldn't cope with the pain. I went to a&e and was given diclophenic and morphine to take home until the antibtioics that the dentist had given me the day before kicked in. The doctor I saw was SO kind and had suffered tooth infections before so totally understood. In the end the tooth had to come out - biggest relief ever.

You could try 111 as one of their GPs could hopefully prescribe you something else stronger. Ice on your cheek can help too (whatever you do don't put anything warm on it as it makes the infection spread)

Please see a dentist in the morning. But I hope you get further pain relief tonight x

If you've had toothache for 4 days why haven't you seen a dentist?

3 days, not 4

Sorry you are in such pain. Tooth pain is awful.

Too late for you, but in general if the pain racks up over the weekend its best to call the OOH GP service who are in the position to give you a suitable prescription. A&E can't help with tooth pain.

Is there a reason you don't have a dentist? Or did you 'just not get round to it'? If it's because you couldn't find an NHS dentist to take you on you really need to kick up a fuss.

Good luck. In your shoes I'd go for neat whisky.

Yes we're shit at dealing with teeth (dentists spend 5 years at uni, we also do 5 years but have to do the whole rest of the body! )
However I often see toothache in A&E when the pain is unbearable, we give stronger pain relief than available over the counter, and can give antibiotics if we think they're necessary. Yes you need a dentist, but A&E isn't unreasonable if you're in that much pain.

I had this a few weeks ago after breaking a tooth. Call 111 first thing in the morning (7:50 - 8:00 they recommended) because like you I tried to call on a Sunday and apparently the only dentist in London was an hour away, and the appointment was in 15 minutes.

It’s not enjoyable and I feel for you

Emergency dental cover in this country is fucking bullshit. It makes me so angry!

Round here, our ‘emergency’ dental service closes at 9pm. Literally nothing available within a 60 mile radius (and I dont live rurally), between 9pm and 8am. I’ve been left with the pain of a dental infection, multiple times. I’ve also had gallstones, a burst appendix and a vaginal delivery on gas and air only and the dental infections are just as painful, if not more so than any of those. Why do people say because the pain is dental, you should just go home and suffer?! Why is the system set up that way?

You poor thing; I hope you get some relief soon.

I really do hope you manage to get something sorted as severe toothache is horrific. My mum was in absolute agony with it

So many different opinions about tooth pain and A&E .

My mum was in hospital and next to her was a girl admitted via A&E for facial swelling due to a dental problem .She could talk and drink .

My dentist does one day a week at our local hospital to treat emergencies .

I hope OP is ok .

Oh God love you. There is no worse pain than toothache. Hand on heart if I had 3 wishes one would be never to get tooth ache again. I've literally screamed with it before today.
Hope you get it sorted ASAP.

Haven't RTFT so not sure if this has already been said but this:

Gone through 4 packets of paracetamol and ibuprofen

is really worrying. Have you taken more paracetamol than the recommened dose (8 in 24 hours)?

I told them I didn’t expect treatment and could they please just help with pain relief they said no.

I’m unemployed atm hence why avoiding dentist as I’m unable To pay for any treatment. This may be no excuse but I’m only 22. Wasn’t really taken to a dentist past age 8 after we moved away from our dentist we were at. I am also a heavy drinker of coke so my teeth being in a really bad condition is my own fault but I don’t know the best way to handle this. I thought they’d at least give me something to take the pain away so I could eat and sleep.

All of those posting that the op should not be in a&e I really hope you one day understand the seriousness of a severe toothache. An abscess can and does kill. No one enjoys waiting around jn A&E, but, when you are in so much pain you can’t eat or sleep and need to sit on a plastic chair for 6 hours rather than lie in your owh bed...it’s an emergency.

If you've had toothache for 4 days why haven't you seen a dentist?

Three days. And I can see why not - a bit of a niggle on Friday but you think it’ll be ok. Saturday it’s worse but your dentist is shut and you can’t get an emergency appointment anywhere. Sunday you’re in fucking agony and still can’t get an appointment.

Am so sorry Kaka where are you, just in case the supportive mnetters could offer assistance?

I hope they treat you kindly and help you until you can see a dentist.

I had horrendous pain a few months back and my dad arrived up to my house with a bottle of whiskey (he is a pioneer and HATES alcohol so I was totally shocked) but told me to take a mouthful and keep the whiskey in my mouth and let it soak down into the nerve. I swear to God it helped, it was the only thing that gave me any relief at all.

Try this. Don’t drink it though if you have taken loads of medicine! Good luck x

Nhs will cover your dentist costs.

Either find a 24hr chemist for cocodamol or phone 111 and they can get you an out of hours doc that will prescribe it. I had severe toothache a while back through the night and phoned nhs24 (Scottish equivocal 111) and got sent to out of hours doc and he prescribed me the painkillers.
A&E won't see you as dental is not actually a medical emergency....

If you’re unemployed your treatment will be free if it’s NHS.

You need paramol, clove oil, difflam and whiskey. Sympathies OP

The thing with dental care is that you need to keep it up and go twice yearly for check ups so that things like this don't happen. Hopefully you'll get an emergency appointment tomorrow - how come you don't have a dentist? Where do the kids go for their dental care?

Aside from being pretty unhelpful to the OP right now, this isn’t accurate. I see a private dentist every 4 months for check ups, and I attend in between as soon as I have any niggles or worries. I am prone to dental infections and have multiple congenital issues with my teeth (it’s reallt not that uncommon). So despite doing as you suggest above, I’ve been left over weekends on more than one occasion with a serious dental infection, without access to appropriate care, as there is no emergency dental cover here after 9pm. My dentist is great and has now prescribed me a decent amount of codeine to keep at home should it happen again, to get me through until I can access a dentist.

What's your long term plan OP? Even if they give you something tonight- the issue isn't going away without seeing a dentist. You haven't because you can't pay- you need to look into options to deal with it, as you won't be able to get pain relief for an issue a dentist needs to sort. As others have said- clove oil is great. Also a dispersable aspirin , put on the tooth and allowed to dissolve seems to work. Have you been to a pharmacy to ask for advice in the last few days?

I had it while pregnant - rocked up at ante-natal to do my glucose tolerance test after a night of no sleep so looked like shit, they looked at me, asked why the hell I looked like crap and were like "OK that's dreadful - let's see what we can get you for pain relief till you can get in at the dentist" and helped me out from sheer compassion!

Our NHS minor injuries/walk in place (it keeps rebranding slightly so I forget what it currently is) has an emergency dentist part to it - but you have to be there pretty much when it opens to try to get a number to be seen by the triage and back for treatment if needed and it's very much a patch you up or pull it till you can get to an established dentist jobbie (but bloody hell the guy who yanked my wisdom tooth was a god in a dubious face mask). Other cities have dental hospitals with A+E... again the get there stupidly early thing applies before all the appointment slots are gone for the day.