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

OP dentist here. Look at WrongKindOfFace's post at 22.08 pm. You need to see a dentist not your GP. If you can get to the Dental Hospital first thing tomorrow you would need to be there early before they open at 8.15am.
Call 111 tonight they may be able to book you in to an emergency dental clinic tomorrow (this depends on local services) or they may be able to refer you to an out hours GP service for pain relief but you'll then need a 24 hour pharmacy.
If you are unemployed you may be able to get free NHS dental treatment depending on what type of benefits you are on. Alternatively you may well be able to apply for an HC2 certificate. They take up to 6 weeks to come through but any charges you claim in the meantime can be claimed back within 2 months.

Dont use a hot water bottle. It made me get the inflection down to my jaw. Horrendous :(

@Kakamora if you really have taken 4 packets of paracetamol in 3 days then you need to go back to A&E and tell them that. Paracetamol overdose can be very, very dangerous.

Try clove oil mixed with olive oil. It's a natural anesthetic. Google it. Took my my pain away when no over the counter pain killer would even touch it.

Some of you need to gain some empathy. The op is unable to eat or sleep due to pain. Two very basic human rights. The op needs and deserves help. It doesn’t matter that s/he doesn’t have a dentist or if they don’t know who to turn to. What matters is that a living, feeling being is in pain. This is why I love being a nurse. I get to help people who need it. All of you saying s/he is in the wrong place blah blah blah....neither I or any of my colleagues (drs, surgeons, nurses) would turn away a patient in pain.

I’ve been to A&E twice in my adult life and one of them was for tooth ache. I was a snotty crying mess writhing in agony.

They gave me tramadol, antibs and diazepam.

All those people saying “just go to the dentist” our dentist lines are jammed at 8am with people trying to get the few emergency slots on a day by day basis. You miss it at 8am and you don’t get to see a dentist until you try again the next day. So if you get a toothache at 10am on a Friday you could quite easily be in agony for 3 days

A & E for severe toothache! Its for emergencies. There are people in A & E fighting for their lives and you turn after 3 days with toothache. They are not dentists. They cannot give you pain relief as you have overdosed yourself already. Go home and get an emergency appointment at the dentist tomorrow.

OP, have you seriously taken 4 full packs (16 tabs each) of paracetamol in 3 days? That's more than double the recommended dose. You need to be in A&E for that even if they can't deal with your tooth

This.

And people, please read this

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-43867640

I've seen this in the past, and it's horrific.

Kakamora - I was referred to emergency Dentist in Liverpool at Everton Health Centre 0151 300 8200 a couple of years ago. Think there is an emergency service each night but different health centre may provide on rota system. 111 referred me they were fantastic. Was in similar situation to you and had a bad infection after an extraction. Hope you find something it's just awful having bad tooth pain.

A & E for severe toothache! Its for emergencies. There are people in A & E fighting for their lives and you turn after 3 days with toothache. They are not dentists. They cannot give you pain relief as you have overdosed yourself already. Go home and get an emergency appointment at the dentist tomorrow.

Every single bit of this is complete and utter bullshit. Every bit. Some of the people on here should be fucking well ashamed of what they are posting, not because it makes you sound nasty, but because some of your misadvise to contribute to someones death.

Whats the safe dose of paracetamol, 8 x 500mg in 24 hours? That would be 4g a day. 16 tablets would be 8g a day. Am I right here, I don't know how many tablets you get in a normal packet.

Love all the indignation over OP being at shock horror A&E and wasting precious NHS resources. Tooth pain is HORRENDOUS. But wasting NHS money on people’s whims such as you know , having babies is fine. 😂😂

Hope you can sort it ASAP OP. I once had a tooth out at 9pm on a Boxing Day once at an emergency dentist. Please ring one of your local dentists and details of emergency contacts should be on the voicemail.

Poor you. I don't think you're being unreasonable at all, but think it's unlikely you'll get treatment... It's an emergency dentist you need. Is there a private practice near you who offer 24 hour appointments? I get horrendous wisdom teeth pain (miles worse than labour) and pay monthly for private dental care just incase I need out of hours treatment. I find the pain unbearable. You have my sympathy.

16 tablets in a normal packet.

If you have severe facial swelling you should go to a&e but with just toothache alone they just can't do anything, toothache doesn't meant abscess and if it is an abscess, and its life threatening you'd be able to see it.

Don't go to your GP you need to find a dentist, ring 111 now and they will be able to get you into he right direction. It might mean going to the dental hospital first thing in the morning, finding a dentist should be your first priority.

kaka for years I suffered infections and abscesses in my molars at home with otc meds due to a bad dentist as a teen. I abused my teeth with shit loads of cola too so its a wonder I still had any left.

I finally went at 27, (under maternity cover/unemployed) when treatment began. I can tell you that the last 4/5 years have been my best years. I can smile freely. Not one ounce of pain during or since, its been heaven.

Please do get a dentist now, the relief both physically and emotionally in the short and long term will be amazing

So many shitty comments on here, op is in pain why do you need to make things worse?! Op I don't live anywhere near you but it was evening when I called 111 after 4 MONTHS in pain (severe dental phobia, judge all you want) and I got an evening appointment at the emergency dentist 10 miles away. Just call them now, there may not be an appointment available straightaway but at least you will have one booked and then you can go to the gp in the morning for pain relief and antibiotics if necessary. Fwiw when I went I had an infection meaning the anaesthetic wouldn't take properly so they sent me away with antibiotics and I went back 2 days later for treatment so if you can get a gp appointment before you can see a dentist it's worth doing

Feel for you OP, dental pain is the worst.

I worked in a dental surgery for quite a few years. Best bet is to either go to a chemist and ask for Nurofen Plus (much stronger than normal ibuprofen) or make sure you are taking paracetamol and ibuprofen alternatively every two hours. So take paracetamol, two hours later ibuprofen, two hours later paracetamol etc.

Call 111. They will be able to find you the closest emergency dentist and get you booked in for an appointment. You really do need to see a dentist. Most GP’s won’t touch anything dental related.

If you can find a hospital close by that has a dental training school they will also see you as a walk in.

OP if you are in Liverpool you can go straight to the Dental Hospital in the morning. Their A&E opens at 8.15.

I don’t know how many times this has to be specified...being unable to complete two very basic human rights (eg; eating or sleeping) due to pain IS an emergency. As anA&E nurse, neither myself or my collegues would not discharge a patient in pain.

Anyone who considers otherwise does not know the nhs. We don’t get into the job for money or gratification. We’re very rarely recognised or thanked. We do it because we want to help people.

I really empathise. I have a damaged filling at the moment but I simply can’t afford to see a private dentist. Nowhere around here accepts NHS patients at all except for children and there are no emergency appointments apparently. Most likely I am going to have to travel a fair distance to find one, which isn’t ideal as I don’t drive. Seeing a dentist isn’t always as easy as people think it is. I can understand if I was in pain and desperate I might beg someone in A&E to help.

There is a real issue with dentists at the moment in my area, but I don’t know what the solution is really.

I hope you get something sorted OP. Some private dentists will set up payment plans for treatment if that is any help to you and is the reason why you are hesitating.

When I had severe dental pain the dentist sent me to hospital for pain management. Hospital refused to do anything and sent me back to dentist.
I went back and forth for 3 days and even announced at 3am to 111 that they'd put down an animal in this much pain

Eventually after 5 days I ended up in dentist holding up everyone for 3 hours with paramedics attending as i was so unwell and my BM was 1.1. I needed morphine and diazepam just to be able to open my mouth so they could do something by that point.

If someone has given me something in the first place so I could eat and sleep id have never ended up so ill.

Ask them what they do for severe pain etc that isn't toothache.

I think a lot of the "Why don't you just go to your dentist?" posters have no idea of the shortage of NHS dentists in some parts of the country. There's an 18 month - 2 year waiting list down here.

I think there would be more sympathy if the OP had bothered to follow the appropriate procedure and call 111 for an emergency dental appointment (which is free if you are low income). If after following the procedure, there was no action, then it would be appropriate to go to the GP or A&E depending on the level of pain.