To be pissed off re: no dental treatment?

[FabulousUsername]

I am awake with an excruciating toothache. Had a filling done 2 weeks + 2 days ago and something is wrong, the nerve must be disturbed somehow and it started hurting a bit on Monday and has got progressively worse. Spoke to dentist Tuesday who said not to worry and just to be careful about it, spoke to him yesterday in tears of agony and he's prescribed antibiotics which I was very grateful to get late afternoon. Obviously (I think) I need a root canal. I didn't discuss this at length with the dentist but he did tell me that no one was allowed to do dental drilling for the duration so several months perhaps and my only option woukd be to have the tooth extracted at the emergency clinic. Hopefully the antibiotics will stabilise the situation but aibu to be pissed off that I am resigned to being in pain for the while of this lockdown?

I'm not thinking straight right now but am feeling very sorry for myself!

[Banya400]

I think if you go to a big hospital A and E they will be able to pull that tooth for you. Probably simpler than thinking root canal etc at this point.

If you can get hold of some chloroform you can probably do it yourself or get a family member to do it.... like the old days. Real life Horrible Histories... that assumes you have a reasonably high pain threshold of course. Although tooth ache can be so painful that the extraction might be preferable!

[Oblomov20]

Poor you.
I actually think this is a very serious issue that has been underestimated in all the Corona logic!

[Itallgoingpetetong]

YANBU to be pissed off, It is shit, but he has said about the option to pull the tooth in an emergency. Not ideal but better than suffering in pain.
I hope the antibiotics work.

[longearedbat]

This is dreadful. You have my deepest sympathy. This has really not been thought through at all. There are so many repurcussions that will come from this. I have almost resigned myself to dying if I get it because I was just about to undego investigations for a heart condition - which have been cancelled indefinitley.
I hope antibiotics quell the pain for you. Have you got some strong painkillers?

[20viona]

What @notusedbysomeonealready said.

To whoever said A and E will 'pull it' for you... no they won't.

[user1477391263]

There will be people getting seriously ill with accesses and sepsis before this is over.

[FabulousUsername]

Thanks all! I took a paracetamol with codeine plus another antibiotic and managed to get some sleep. I can feel the pain lurking in the background. I hope the antibiotics will sort it but the presence of infection/swelling would imply that the root treatment is needed. it really is scary how much I (we?) take for granted, I've always thought that if you have a health concern you sort it out but in these times there is nothing available. I guess I can be glad it's just excruciating pain and not a cancer concern, must be terrifying for so many. I am going to call the GP to discuss painkillers.

Plus my work has dried up, I'm self employed and probably nothing after next week. I couldn't get much done yesterday due to the pain. Having paid £275 for the filling and now with the prospect of losing the tooth, I am liking the suggestion of chloroform and doing the self extraction 😂😂

[FabulousUsername]

PS I think the last thing I should be doing is attending a hospital.. the irony is, I'm sure my dentist would do the root canal in his fit-fir-purpose dentist office, It's the government guidelines which state that he cannot work now! So my option is A&E

[itsasmallworldafterall]

Just call your dentist for stronger painkillers, they should be able to prescribe diclofenac if you are taking it.

[Willyoujustbequiet]

I think I would keep ringing around. Yes Im aware of the guidelines re drilling but Im also aware that dental emergencies are still supposed to be treated. Hubs are supposedly being set up with PPE.
Some situations can lead to sepsis. Its essential to get prompt treatment available.

[Motorina]

The difficulty is using a dental drill generates an aerosol of virus and saliva, so exposes the dental team to a very high dose of covid19. Because of where the dentist has to sit, their head is engulfed in that virus cloud. It's becoming clear that a higher initial dose and infection correlates with more severe disease, and there are a number of dentists (along with ENT drs and anaesthetists, who are also at very high risk) in ITU already.

You could be treated with appropriate PPE, although it is likely that that treatment would be an extraction not root canal, to reduce the amount of aerosol generated. But the PPE hasn't been distributed to dentists yet.

You are not being unreasonable in being pissed off at being left in pain. That's awful. You are being unreasonable in expecting the dental team to risk their lives to treat it.

Don't blame the dentist here - blame the government for failing to get the right PPE to the right people at the right time to allow emergency care to continue.

[Santaclauswhosthat]

This is rubbish though. Half the people we're all clapping every Thursday aren't performing any medical treatments right now and indeed aren't actually seeing patients at all. We don't actually have a health service ATM.

[slipperywhensparticus]

Salt water rinses help too

[sadwithkiddies]

My root canal was cancelled at the dental hospital a week before lockdown. I was gutted.
2 years of dental treatment/pain....it was my last tooth that needs treating.
The hospital said they simply cannot use the drills/suction machines.

[TheVanguardSix]

I really feel for you, OP.
DH is a GP and at this point, he's very concerned about patient backlog. This will be an enormous problem, another big wave of unresolved crises. It's shit.
DS has a rotting, black molar which was due to be extracted. Cancelled. And he's in pain.
If you've got anything unrelated to COVID, you're up shit's creek.
We all know why it's this way. We all understand.
But still, it's a bit shit.

[Spinbaby]

Op I had this exact problem. Had half a root canal done at Xmas and decided to get the rest done in May so I could be sedated (have had a few recent traumatic dental experiences) as I’m pregnant, and the temporary packing worked a dream, I had no pain at all.
Of course a couple of nights before there was a ban on drills, something happened to the tooth and it went from being totally painless and benign to a screaming volcano of pain. Got an emergency app at the dentist only to be told there was nothing they could do. They gave me antibiotics which took the full 5 days to work, there is still some sensitivity on that side but I can at least get to sleep and eat soft things on that side. So hang in there, the antibiotics might still work.
I was obviously limited in my pain relief because of pregnancy but definitely get the orajel on there and take anti inflammatory type medication like nurofen or diclofenic while the antibiotics kick in.

[DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon]

A&E won't extract your tooth. A&E has no emergency dental service and there is no provision for extractions in a&e.

Similar to dentists, hospitals aren't doing extractions either now (although you would never have been able to turn up with toothache and get an extraction).

We have very limited PPE, and we are trying to save it for patients who absolutely need it. If we start using it for toothache then there's none left for when patients come in with massive facial swellings, or worse for when a patient needs intubating.

Unfortunately dentistry creates an aerosol of blood and saliva. That puts the dentist at a massive risk, there has been an ENT consultant die and dentistry is very similar distance to ent and overall more sustained aerosol exposure.

Tooth ache is horrible. And it's really shit that people are having to suffer, but no dentists want to leave you with toothache.

[Peppafrig]

@DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon our local a&e has a emergency dentist that in normal times you can visit out of hours if you have a dental emergency.

[cologne4711]

This is ridiculous. I was talking to a friend in Germany about this and she said people aren't going to the dentist because they are scared of being infected, not dentists cancelling treatment because they are scared of being infected.

Clearly people can wait for routine check-ups or hygiene visits but if you have toothache they should be treating people.

If you have an infection it is urgent - it can lead to sepsis and then you will be in hospital taking up resources (at best).

[prettygreenteacup]

OP I had a dental emergency last week. I got an abscess that turned into a huge infection. Initially was given antibiotics without being seen and then 2 days later called the dentist again in agony, was triaged on the phone and seen right away. My dentist was wearing a full on mask etc. They're only seeing emergencies. I ended up having the tooth extracted because the dentist didn't even want to try a root canal at the risk of having more problems down the line.
Keep trying to be seen. Dental pain is the worst.

[TeenyQueen]

My DH is a dentist so I feel quite strongly about this. Dentistry is an extremely high risk area in the current situation because the dentist is literally in the patient's mouth, exposed to the patient's saliva, possible coughs and sneezes. OP is the pain persists your only option may be an extraction, unfortunately. Dentists haven't chosen this, they have been told not to do any procedures involving a drill due to risk of exposure.

[Motorina]

@cologne4711 Clearly people can wait for routine check-ups or hygiene visits but if you have toothache they should be treating people.

There are dentists who agreed with you, and carried on treating patients in pain.

Some of them are now in ITU because of it.

Don't blame the dentists. Blame the system that has so far not got them the PPE necessary to treat patients without putting their own lives at risk.

[Katinski]

And dentists were told on the 25th what they can/can't do, they're operating within their proscribed guidelines. Sorry.

[Ticklemelmo]

It's awful, I've got a 'huge cavity' at the back of my mouth and an infection causing me agony some nights(although have a constant ache), I was told late Feb it would need pulling but dentist couldn't be sure how to do it without an x-ray, I was 38 weeks pregnant then so had to wait until baby had come because they couldn't do the x-ray whilst pregnant. I came out of hospital with baby a few days before lockdown so didn't get chance to sort it out.

Basically been told tough, and there's no other options available. I even asked about ringing 111 for advice and was told I can't so don't even know if there's an emergency dental option in my area for if the pain comes back. I'm also entitled to free dental treatment so I hope this is all fixed before that runs out.

[DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon]

@Peppafrig if the A&E has an emergency dentist attached then fair enough. You normally cant just turn up at A&e though, and they still won't be doing extractions right now.

I had to turn a child away the other day with toothache who had been advised to go to a&e. Felt absolutely awful but nothing I can do, and this poor child had been at risk in the waiting room with pain.

Even if I was willing and had appropriate PPE, I can't remove a tooth without a dental nurse and A&E is not an appropriate environment for extractions. I did actually see if I could bend the rules for this little girl.

They are supposed to be setting up dental hubs for emergency treatment, but I don't know when and how this is getting on. I know plans in my area were supposedly for today but we will see. There's not even enough PPE in our hospital for those that need it so I don't know.