To ask what's the situation with dentists where you are?

[TheVampiresWife]

I've just been told that the next available appointment is in October - it'll be two and a half years since my last scale and polish. I've had two teeth out since March 2020 during emergency appointments, both of which could have been saved if the dentist had been able to do fillings. I've another one which started grumbling over the weekend and I'm worried that it won't hold on until October. Even if it does, the receptionist told me they 'probably won't be able' to do anything which results in areosol spray (proper scale and polish/drilling) then anyway, so it'll be another extraction. She said I could get it all done this week if I went private with them.

Not having a go at dentists at all - they're just trying to make a living. It's the NHS dental provision in the UK that's shit. Even before the pandemic getting an appointment was a nightmare and it's something so fundamental to good health. DD needs a dentist desperately but nowhere local is accepting new NHS patients, presumably because of the covid backlog.

Anyway, rant aside, is it the same everywhere?

My dentist has been operating normally for months. You have to have your temp taken at the door and wear a mask in the waiting room until you are called, toilet open as well.

I am north of Manchester.

My NHS dentist went private just before the pandemic, the other local one has never reopened. I managed to get my kids a place at one a few miles away (friend works there) so they’ve just had their first appointment in 18 months, but I am currently dentist-less and have no idea what to do next time I have a problem. Ridiculous!

I had the displeasure moving right before the pandemic hit, too far away now from my old dentist and due to COVID all the local nhs dentists aren't taking new patients until 2022!

So I have had to go private, as has DH (who managed to get registered before we moved, but they have been terrible at having appointments available within a 6 month window)

Interesting to read people’s experiences- I’ve just booked ours this morning actually and got given an appointment at the end of September. The message on the phone was very clear though- no new patients doesn’t matter if NHS or private.

I have been on the list for a dentist for 3 years so far. Had two extractions in that time through the emergency dentist.

Bastard teeth are a damn nuisance, and an expensive one at that, even on the NHS

A million times this!

I had dry socket over Christmas 2019 thanks to a badly botched extraction at my local dental hospital. It was the student's first extraction and she took an hour to get the tooth out and tore my gum to shreds in the process. My mouth has been ridiculous since, not sure if it's connected. At least I managed to register at an NHS practice before it became impossible to do so - not that it's much use at the moment!

@RaininSummer

I have been on the list for a dentist for 3 years so far. Had two extractions in that time through the emergency dentist.

It's an out and out scandal that dental provision in the UK is so shit. Why isn't there more of a deal made out of it?

Dentists in my US state reopened May 2020 for routine care. They’d been open for emergency care throughout.

IIRC my state was one of the last to allow dentists to reopen.

I have an appointment for tomorrow. I have been waiting 3 months for this appointment and the next available is end of September. I really need this appointment as I have a great big hole in my tooth where a filing has fallen out. TMI but my period has decided to come early and they are horrendously heavy but I can’t wait until September as I’m in pain so I am going to sit there for the whole time stressing that I’ll leave a pool of blood when I get up!

NHS. Mine was doing emergency from June last year. I had 4 appointments for root canal and new crown. Since April, they've been doing routine checkups.

I work in two Private dental practices. Both Totally back to normal (with increased ppe ) since last June !

I went private just before Christmas as it was the only way of getting a reasonably quick appointment - with adult private patients they also register children as NHS patients. I can get appointments when needed and while they are still very much following covid guidelines re bags left in tubs, toilets closed etc it is done sensibly. I had an appointment on Friday and was running late from a meeting and needed to use the toilet. Quick conversation at reception and it was opened for me. No one is varying orders there, its very relaxed albeit while wearing masks. I honestly think its worth every penny to go private - as much as I wish NHS provision was adequate it just isn't so if its remotely affordable going private is a good option.

Been waiting since March 2020 for our registration appointments - that's after 5 months of trying to find an NHS dentist with openings after moving to a new area. All being well the appointments should happen next month.

In the intervening time I've lost a crown and DC1 has knocked their two front teeth loose but nobody would see us anywhere because 'you aren't registered and these aren't emergencies'. I need a new crown and scale and polish. DC1 needs a check up and work to realign the teeth (5yo). DC2 and DH both need check ups and potentialy a scale and polish for DH. I'm really worried they'll cancel us again (that'll be the fourth time) and DC1s teeth will stop growing normally as a result of all the delays to treatment.

Things were bad before the pandemic, they're horrendous now.

I'm private with denplan, I pay £25 a month for my cover and for that I get 2 check-ups and up to 4 hygienist appts per year, plus of course any non-cosmetic treatment or emergency work covered (and if you do have to have any treatment e.g. fillings you get all the works including topical anaesthetic before they do the injection).

My dentist has been operating as usual for some time now.

If you can afford £25 / month it's very much worth the money IMO.

I had a routine check up in May with my NHS dentist. Everything was checked over and I had x-rays. Tartar was removed with the scrapy thing rather than a full scale and polish, and DS was told to make an appointment for immediately after his 12th birthday to get put on the waiting list for an orthodontist, so he has an appointment for then, too.

Ridiculous ain't it. Huge abscess on side of my face. Haven't been able to eat or drink for days. Finally managed to get prescription for antibiotics and told they couldn't fit me in to solve actual problem until end of November the earliest. The dental service is shocking at the minute unless you can afford treatment.

My elderly (and not in greatest of health) FIL has been in agony with toothache for over two months now, and keeps being told they don't have any appointments for him, and they'll ring him as soon as they do (which then never happens). He refuses to just pay and go private so I've lost some sympathy now (he can well afford it), but its also ridiculous he should have to when he has a dentist, they just won't see him!

Nhs dentist. Business as usual at mine. Just had my text reminder to book my check up and I was in about a month ago to fix a filling

I had a scale and polish 2 weeks ago and my husband had 2 fillings put in on Friday. Neither were emergency treatments and were part of a treatment plan after a routine check up a couple of weeks before.

I moved house last year and came to a totally different area. I tried to get my name down on NHS dentist list, no go. Tried again to get on a NHS list was told to ring again next January at the earliest just to be considered. So have been visiting a private dentist (no choice) and have been paying ever since. I am an OAP, so much for duty of care.

Ours is NHS and they're doing all work as normal, I've already been 3 times this year. The only differences are masks, they used to take your temperature but seemed to have stopped now. And you have to wait outside and ring them when you arrive so there aren't many in the waiting room (I haven't seen another patient in there at all). The only annoying thing is that you're not allowed to use their loo and the nerves always make me feel like I want to go beforehand.

I managed to get our NHS dentist a couple of years ago by ringing absolutely any dentist I could feasibly travel to and asking if they were taking on. I must have made 40 phone calls at least but it paid off in the end. If you're looking, don't bother joining the central NHS list, we've been on it for years and nothing ever came up. Almost all dentists keep their own lists and preferentially recruit from them. Some will say that's not true but it certainly was the case when I was ringing up. If any said they might have availability in the future I asked them to take my details to contact me then and they actually did (after I'd found the one we're with now). I really like ours now, it's really modern and they're so nice and understanding of nerves and don't treat us like second class citizens for being NHS like my old dentist did.

@ozzcla

Ridiculous ain't it. Huge abscess on side of my face. Haven't been able to eat or drink for days. Finally managed to get prescription for antibiotics and told they couldn't fit me in to solve actual problem until end of November the earliest. The dental service is shocking at the minute unless you can afford treatment.

This is what I mean. An abscess is serious, not only from a pain point of view but from an infection one, too.

I really feel for you. Do you have a dental hospital anywhere nearby? They should see you as an emergency if you do.

I’ve got a private dentist and this year so far I’ve had a check up, scale and polish, composite bonding on two teeth, two wisdom teeth extracted and two emergency appts on weekends for problems with the extractions and abx scripts.

As far as I can tell they’re operating as normal 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve just had all three dc do a check up

I was impressed that I could get back to back appointments pretty quickly