To want to bang my head off a wall re NHS Dentist situation

[52andblue]

I was registered with an NHS Dentist but I moved house. Meant to be for 4 months, but ended up being 4 years. Whilst away I paid for my kids to have private check ups but let mine slide due to finances. Then I moved back. I still qualify for NHS dentistry but no longer on list.

I cracked a chunk of tooth off on a piece of grit in food c. 3m ago.
Big hole developed but I can't get dentist appt. anywhere. It gets worse. I discover an emergency NHS helpline. They see me in 3 days (very grateful!!!). Turns out tooth totally rotten, infection starting to develop below gum line. They attempt to pull it but crown cracks off.
I am left with 3 large divergent roots & told will need dental surgeon to remove - they will refer to dental dept in local small hosp. They give me penicillin, tell me to take pain meds and 'shouldn't be long'.
I call Hosp today to enquire roughly what waiting list might be (appt was fast last time & I've 2 x SN kids I'd need to arrange cover for).
Hosp says: '12-18 months'.
Oh, Shit!
The pain is worse than before tooth partly pulled out.
I've got 3 roots partly sticking down into my mouth still.
I want to bang my head off a wall. I can't even bend down to unload dishwasher without it pounding, even on 30/500 co codamol.

I know I should have gone more regularly so IABU.
I know that people are waiting for major operations & cancer tx.
But surely I won't be left for 12-18m with live roots twanging away?

(If you think IABU please be gentle, I've never posted here before)

@RealBecca

Can you get signed off and go back to GP saying you need long term medication?

This is a dental issue?? The dentist can prescribe any pain relief she might need and GP's aren't qualified to treat dental problems.

@ChickpeaCrunch

Yeah the NHS dental system round here is so messed up. Like no one is taking on NHS patients. So I'm stuck without one. Trying to save to go private but no idea how much that will cost.

I'm on a plan similar to denplan. So around £15 a month. Two yearly check ups and scale and polish. So regular checkup hopefully means you dont need the more expensive treatments.

You also get a small discount on any treatment you might need. But fingers crossed the regular check ups mean I dont need any.

@52andblue

Thank you all for being kind. (I was a bit nervous of IABU) Thanks too to *@Oinkypig* for the specific dental comments

the Dentist who worked on me was lovely and did advise that she 'might not manage it all' but to refer me to the Hosp would mean going away and getting registered with an NHS dentist (no one is accepting registrations for 50miles around here, I am rural Scotland, and had to travel 35miles as it was, which I'm not moaning about, just grateful they saw me, but I could see that finding someone to let me register even might take a couple of weeks).
Whereas, she said, if she 'had a go and it snapped she could refer me directly to the Hosp for them to finish it'. So, that seemed best. What I didn't know was it would be a routine referral with that waiting list or I might have made a different decision as the pain is worse now than it was before, ironically.
Private is a problem financially. I'm a Carer for my two kids with Autism & my H left us so I live on Carer's allowance which is topped up by Income support. Not meaning to play a tiny violin for sympathy at ALL just explaining why the thought of a £500 bill scares me!
I will call the emergency number / hosp back tomorrow and if no joy at all I might need to try to find a private dentist and put it on a credit card. Off to bed now to try to get some sleep. Thanks all.

Hope you get this sorted Sorry you are in so much pain.

OP I'd go to a&e

@Hankunamatata
I asked the dentist who took out part of my tooth if I could do that if it got REALLY bad (it IS really bad) and she said, No, A&E don't do dental work, they'll send you away again.
I should be in bed. I'm going now..

OP I am in Scotland and was in unbelievable pain with a broken tooth which my own dentist wanted to make me wait months to remove and like you even cocodamol was barely touching it . Our area has an NHS emergency dentist at local hospital but only at weekends (it’s a dentists within the hospital ) and I basically hounded 101 emergency dentist line all Friday and Saturday night until I got an appointment to get it removed on the Sunday . I don’t know if this is an option in your area as you say you are rural but I really hope there’s something like this for you as it’s just a horrific all consuming pain .

The waiting list to get a wisdom tooth extracted through the nhs in Northern Ireland is three years and covid is helping create even further delays. It's a nightmare and people are really suffering. It takes 5 weeks from referral to get a private extraction.

It is going to get worse, the dentists are being forced out of the NHS, bearing in mind that they still have covid to work around and additional ppe to pay for the government has reinstated their targets with no allowance for working around covid, the demand is untenable, it will force dentists to go private and that is the aim I reckon.

YANBU. It's a sh!tshow. I started treatment for my tooth in April just one that needed a root canal and crown. Not completed yet. The final fitting for crown is in October. Absolutely appalling. Been cancelled so many times and kept getting told to go private for 650 quid for it to happen quicker. I am thoroughly disappointed.

@Oogachuckachopsy

Just go private. Why wouldn’t you?! You can’t live like that.

Why wouldn't you?!

Hmm, I can think of several reasons why patients can't go private...

DH & I are eligible for NHS dentistry but there are none locally for at least 40 miles, our previous NHS dentist retired & the one before that went private. We had to go private, DH's cover is £35 a month, thankfully mine is only £11. It doesn't even cover the cost of treatment, only checkups & hygienist. I held off & just didn't go for 18 months before getting cover as my teeth have always been ok but I'm scared of breaking one.

When the NHS is fully gone & public pensions are no longer paid, I wonder if National Insurance will go down?

£46 a month just for hygienist and check-ups! 😳. This is a crisis! I have a NHS dentist but around where I live there are primary aged kids who've never been to a dentist. NHS dentists are few and far between and I know my family is lucky. I wait for the day when they Chuck us off their list as it's a private practice that has 10% of it's clients as NHS.

We went private as our NHS dentist isn't doing anything due to covid. Spoke to the private dentist about this. Apparently the NHS dentists are getting paid anyway. It's no wonder they're stalling...

Complain to your MP. If they don’t hear from their constituents The do nothing.

Honestly the problem isn't with NHS dentistry here. The waiting list at the hospital is nothing to do with primary care NHS dentistry, it's related to general NHS hospital budgets.

You were able to access NHS emergency care, the dentist just hasn't finished their treatment.

An emergency dentist is capable of referring to an oral surgeon for extractions if they don't feel capable of doing it, you don't need to register with an NHS dentist for this. To start an extraction, snap the tooth and then pass the buck onto the hospital is not acceptable care.
You need to contact the emergency dentist again and ask them to see you and dress the remaining roots, or find a dentist within their practice capable of performing a surgical extraction. If they refuse you need to push because it's their treatment that has left you in pain and that is unfinished, and it is therefore their problem. The nerve will die and likely the pain subside but you are right 12-18 months is a long time to be left with exposed pulp. The problem is the hospital does not provide emergency dental care, and management of pain should be done in primary care.

You poor, poor, poor thing.
I had a thread recently
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4324682-Anyone-had-a-tooth-break-during-extraction
and I had a fellow-sufferer on here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4324872-what-s-normal-after-a-tooth-extraction
You cannot live like that. I had toothache for a week pre failed extraction then five days before having roots removed. I was, like you, in agony - self medicating all week.
I am now in recovery and starting to feel better.

In my case, the NHS dentist referral gave me a tag no. so I could see the process - saw that it was 'with triage'. My own dentist was leaving the surgery (did not tell me), had flagged it as urgent as I was in pain and also that as term-time educator, I was tied regarding dates (this clearly helped as rather than months, they got back to me in 48 hours) and as I was in pain with no dentist to help exposed roots, they put me on a cancellation list.

Also - if you are on certain benefits, you do not pay - I was wondering whether you could ring a private dentist and explain the situation so they do it asap and you tick the benefits box.

You will go stir crazy with the pain or end up addicted to painkillers - ring back the emergency dentist and explain how you are feeling and whether they can speed up the referral or transfer the care to the private sector. Absolutely feel for you. Hand hold when needed x

"We went private as our NHS dentist isn't doing anything due to covid. Spoke to the private dentist about this. Apparently the NHS dentists are getting paid anyway. It's no wonder they're stalling..."

Wrong, the nhs is dictating covid restrictions in practise still and has now reinstated the UDA targets - if the dentist does not meet the target the government will claw back money, this will push them to go private and this is what the government wants.

I can't even get a private dentist here in Somerset. I'm driving down to my old private dentist in Sussex, a 4 hour drive each way each time.

@CarrotTops
@SequinsandStiIettos

I have called the Hosp twice this week, once I got the 12/18m wait advice but also the name of the Nurse there that deals with the oral surgery patients. So I left a (genuinely) tearful message on her voicemail this morning. She called me back at 5.30 bless her.
She said: 'good news is that the wait is not that long but... it will be 6-8 weeks for an appointment IF you can come at short notice (not ideal as I have two kids with Autism so need to arrange cover as a single Mum but I'll take whatever I can get so I said: 'yes, please'.)
BUT... that is just the assessment appointment. The actual treatment appointment could be another 3-4 months, so poss 6m in total.
She said that it is unacceptable that the dentist has left me in this much pain and to call the NHS emergency dental line back and say I want the nerves dealt with meantime. Not sure how they will do that without taking the roots out? So, I intend to do that in the morning.
I am also dealing with the paperwork for my kids DLA renewals (upon which my Carers allowance - which is why I quality for Income support top up and therefore the dental care) depends. I'm feeling rather run down with it all as to top it all I've got anaemia and am waiting on IV treatment for that as my iron is now critically low. NONE of these things are serious but together it all feels a bit much. Thank you for all being so kind about what is just a sore tooth really.

Dentistry is shocking in the UK. I have been on the nhs list for 3 or 4 years (lost count) and have had 2 emergency extractions in that time. I have had to go private now before I lose more teeth. So far it's almost 500 pounds just for 2 fillings and a hygienist visit.

Hi OP,

That's slightly better news, but still a long wait. The dentist can essentially do the early stages of a root canal to remove the inflamed nerve tissue. It's very simple to do and should control the pain

I don't think you should call back the emergency dental service, I think you should call back the practice who didn't finish their treatment. If they won't see you can speak to the practice manager. You shouldn't have to pay again as its the same course of treatment. Either someone at the practice needs to dress the tooth, or preferably finish the extraction.

Things do happen, some extractions just are difficult. But when things dont go according to plan you need to sort them out, and it's not okay to refer onto a hospital with a 6 month waiting list without any sort of follow up.

Hi @CarrotTops - thank you that is helpful advice about the treatment they might be able to do meantime x
It HAS to be the emergency dentist though as I cannot get listed with an NHS dentist in the whole county - I can't even get my children on an NHS list. We all qualify as live on Income Support long term (I am disabled myself and a Carer for my two disabled children). I didnt' have to pay but I took all my paperwork along to prove this but they never even asked about it, oddly enough.
I will call on MOnday morning and ask for the work you have suggested which is what I hope they can do.

I wonder if the nerves are removed / killed off whether the roots then actually need out? I am not keen on a 3rd lot of dental work as I am quite phobic about it (hence not going for so long, partly unavailability and partly my fault). A clue to my age is in my name.
My stepfather, now 88, has had an entire set of false teeth since very young. He tells me that there was nearly no Dentistry to be had during the war. There's not much more now in some parts (my children should surely be able to access NHS check ups before `18-24 months )

The thing is everyone ‘qualifies’ or is entitled to NHS dentistry. The only difference is some people are exempt from the NHS charges and others will have to pay.

@RobinHumphries
I wasn't aware of that, I thought it was only an income related thing.
Thank you for correcting me.

Face it, the Tories have privatised dentistry, and we, the voters have let them.
People are fools to think this won't happen more widely to the NHS under the Tories.