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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To try to pull my tooth out as i can't get a dentist?

105 replies

WovenStarfish · 23/03/2023 08:00

So, possibly due to a fall last year, one of my back molars is very loose. It has been gradually worsening for months, but is now so loose that it is catching on my other teeth and causing quite a bit of pain. Can't use that side of my mouth, sometimes just opening it is painful. I've not been able to find an nhs dentist - I'm on a waiting list but it is currently over a year! Going private is not an option as there is no way I can afford it. 111 don't class it as an emergency. I've been pulling & twisting it for weeks, but it still won't just get out. Yesterday, I'd had enough, so I sterilised a pair of pliers & attempted to get it out myself. Didn't work - it's a stubborn old thing. My family think I'm totally insane to even attempt removal with pliers, but I think it's reasonable given the circumstances.
Sorry, first time posting so be gentle 😊

OP posts:
Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 08:41

Christ almighty do not extract your own tooth.

Go to A&E as an dental emergency if you have to.

If you cannot get an NHS dentist can you at least find a private one that offers a long term payment plan? Mr Monkey has that with with private dentist - £10 a month covers check ups, hygienist and some additional work.

I know finding extra money can be very very hard but as people have said a private extraction should be about £150, a fair amount of money but in line with other emergencies - what would you do to fund those? This is not something that can be left, you could end up very very ill.

bamboonights · 23/03/2023 08:41

whatwouldAnnaDelveydo · 23/03/2023 08:19

This is one thread that should be picked by the journos. Journos, can you focus here when looking for stories, please? This is the country the UK is becoming.

Agree. This is an absolutely dreadful state of affairs.

BashfulClam · 23/03/2023 08:43

Luredbyapomegranate · 23/03/2023 08:31

Yes - you are right - really what I meant is they’ll give the OP pain killers and help her understand how to access local emergency dental services.

My feeling is if the OP hasn’t managed to find them herself or made her GP aware that she needs this info, then planting herself in front of A & E staff will be the way to get her into the system. IME in situations like this A&E can help someone who doesn’t know how to push the system push the system.

Show quote history

A&E are busy enough without this!

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 08:44

Also a tooth extraction on the NHS costs £65 so you would have to find some money even if you had an NHS dentist (unless you are exempt from charges?).

MissMaple82 · 23/03/2023 08:50

Surely this is what credit cards are for ?! Can't be more than 300

Walkies1 · 23/03/2023 08:52

MissMaple82 · 23/03/2023 08:50

Surely this is what credit cards are for ?! Can't be more than 300

Not everyone has credit cards!!!!!

DoormatBob · 23/03/2023 08:56

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 08:44

Also a tooth extraction on the NHS costs £65 so you would have to find some money even if you had an NHS dentist (unless you are exempt from charges?).

If done by the emergency dentist all treatment is Band A, £19 I think.

Google NHS emergency dentist with your local health trust name and see if it gives you a direct phone number. It does for mine in NW England and the service is excellent.

SnarkyBag · 23/03/2023 08:58

Gosh some real ignorance on this thread about people just being able to access funds/credit cards. Must be a wonderful bubble you live in!

medianewbie · 23/03/2023 08:58

SnarkyBag · 23/03/2023 08:16

doing it yourself is a terrible idea. The risk of not getting all the root out, knowing if a proper clot has formed and then risk of possible infection/dry socket.

you need a dentist for both the extraction and for aftercare. I had a tooth extracted recently it was no fun with the recovery and required a couple of extra dentist visits and antibiotics.

I don’t know what the answer is about finding an NHS dentist though

You need an NHS Emergency Dentist.
I had a problem tooth during Covid. Large back molar. I eventually got an NHS Emergency Appt (I had to travel 40 miles). They snapped it, the roots became infected, I got an abcess & had to go to hospital. And that was in a sterile environment !@@

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 08:59

Another thing to consider if it is a back tooth, you have a nerve running deep in your jaw at the back. A DIY extraction could damage that nerve leaving you in paid or numb pretty much permanently.

When I had an extraction of a pre molar and replacement with an implant my dentist insisted on an x ray so he knew where the nerve was.

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 09:00

In pain not paid obviously 🙄

Train007 · 23/03/2023 09:06

I now have private dentist and I was actually pleasantly surprised at the bill . Tooth extraction ,X-ray and LA = £85 !

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 23/03/2023 09:08

Tietheapron · 23/03/2023 08:17

You need to somehow find a way to pay for a dentist. Private extractions aren't extortionate and you can pay on a credit card.

Sorry, what did you mean, then?

I was saying she could pay on a credit card (so need to have the money upfront) and that it won't be as expensive as she thinks.

Doing it DIY will cost more in the long run as she'll probably still need an extraction plus antibiotics etc.

Hiddenmyname · 23/03/2023 09:08

This is all new to me, I didn't realise it was so hard to get an NHS dentist. I have a private dentist - I just checked and an exraction is £120. Could you go really basic on food shopping for a couple of weeks and get it done? It'd be pretty dire but worth it.

MumOf2workOptions · 23/03/2023 09:09

Op this is a crazy idea
Just phone up a dentist and get booked in and pay on a credit card or something or borrow the money? Most dentists do payment plans aswell

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 09:11

I think when people are saying find the money they mean borrow it or take it from somewhere else.

To me this is an emergency, so is a priority after rent/mortgage and food. If it means someone else doesn't get paid this month, then so be it.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 23/03/2023 09:11

Luredbyapomegranate · 23/03/2023 08:25

You need to somehow find a way to pay for a dentist. Private extractions aren't extortionate and you can pay on a credit card.

@coffeecupsandwaxmelts

Are you serious? You wouldn’t even have to be in poverty not be able to do this. To lots of people a couple of hundred quid IS extortionate and not everyone has a credit card, and lots of people wouldn’t know any one who had access to this sort of money either.

The OP isn’t handling this well - in that they appear not to know that dental hospitals and NHS emergency dental services exist - but not everyone has any access to spare cash. Like you I do, but I am aware that lots of people don’t. Read the news or something.

I'm fully aware not everyone has access to emergency cash but pulling the tooth at home with a pair of pliers is not the solution and will likely cost her much more in the long run 🤷🏻‍♀️

ChannelyourinnerElsa · 23/03/2023 09:12

You need your local NHS emergency dentist.

Or a CC for a private extraction- it’s £100 here for an extraction.

good luck, it’s grim.

shakeitoffsis · 23/03/2023 09:14

A molar is the most difficult tooth to remove don't be daft.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 23/03/2023 09:15

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 09:11

I think when people are saying find the money they mean borrow it or take it from somewhere else.

To me this is an emergency, so is a priority after rent/mortgage and food. If it means someone else doesn't get paid this month, then so be it.

Yes, precisely this. It's an emergency.

Even if OP could find an NHS dentist she'd still have to pay - it's not free.

Tietheapron · 23/03/2023 09:36

Something being an emergency doesn’t mean money miraculously appears.

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 09:37

No. But it might have to be reallocated from somewhere else.

Tietheapron · 23/03/2023 09:42

There isn’t always somewhere else!

MoongazyHare · 23/03/2023 09:46

Are you in a city with a dental hospital? They usually have an emergency clinic which involves sitting and waiting in turn, but you will be seen. Often supervised students do the work and it’s free.

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2023 09:49

There is always somewhere else, it might mean someone else does not get paid or something else does not get bought that month. It can't be the only emergency that the OP has ever experienced in their life that requires funds to be foind at short notice.

It's a horrible and very sub par situation, but what the OP in suggesting instead could leave her permanently in pain, injured or dangerously ill. If it was me I would pay that ahead of other bills or sell something. Also as others have said there would still be a cost if she had an NHS dentist.