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

[WovenStarfish]

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 😊

I called 111 when I was on holiday in another part of the country, within 2 hours my tooth was out but I had an excruciating dental abscess with massive facial swelling. As I understand it they won't treat you as an emergency unless it's visible swelling.

you risk breaking the top off and leaving the root in which will worsen the situation.If you're in pain and there is risk of infection then it should be dealt with on 111. If you play down your symptoms it wont be an emergency

If you've tried 111 , try again explain tooth needs to come out and you cannot find anyone to do it.

If you have a dental hospital nearby look up their emergency arrangements but be warned it may mean to have to attend a few times to sit and wait as they can only see a limited number of people.

Take a couple of hours , sit down with the list of dentists , even those out of area that you can travel to , and phone and explain the situation. Depending on the part of the country some NHS dentists have a contract that allows them to see emergency patients for a one off emergency course of treatment. Leave your contact details and say you are willing to take a last minute cancellation. You can see a dentist anywhere, it does not have to be local.

Unless you have trauma, swelling that is affecting your breathing or eye , or uncontrollable bleeding an and e is not going to be able to do anything. Very often there is little max fac coverage and even when there is the equipment needed to extract a tooth like the special syringes , forceps etc will not be in the department or available.

Dentists are run off their feet and there just isn't the capacity to see everyone but if you can offer to take up any cancellation and understand that it will only be for this emergency appointment then , hopefully , you will find someone to see you but it may be a long distance away.

Your next priority is to get on a waiting list for routine care as , from the sound of it, you may have gum disease and you don't want to be back in this position repeatedly.

Have you phoned the emergency nhs dentist? Or your actual dentist and explained the severity?

Absolutely not, put the pliers down. If you think you're in a state now, wait until you've snapped your molar off at the roots and they're stuck in there. No.

Call or drop in to your local dentist and ask them for advice. There should be an NHS emercency dental service you can access. You might have to turn up and wait, but they will see you and get it out. You may still have to pay.

(For everyone saying whack it on a credit card, there is an alternative universe where people don't have credit cards, and have no means of getting one, and when they say they don't have any money, they mean they don't have any money, anywhere, not they need to try Aldi instead of Ocado.)

Please don’t do this. There are dental hospitals all over the country. Bristol is just one that pops to mind. Give them a call and see if you can turn up as an emergency. Otherwise, call a dental school and see if they ever have people in for the students to practice on. I’ve absolutely no idea if that’s a thing but you never know. Otherwise, maybe think about a credit card to pay for it privately. I feel very sorry for you 😢 😢

Exactly or you’ll end up with an infection.

Not everyone can access a credit card and everyone idea of "not expensive " varies.
We are in a cost of living crisis🙁

OP search for your local Dental Access Centre and call them directly.

(For everyone saying whack it on a credit card, there is an alternative universe where people don't have credit cards, and have no means of getting one, and when they say they don't have any money, they mean they don't have any money, anywhere, not they need to try Aldi instead of Ocado.)

People do understand that but the solution is not to rip your tooth out with pliers and risk a major infection and sepsis.

No it isn’t, but it’s equally not a solution to say ‘put it on a credit card’ if this isn’t possible.

I think it's a reasonable assumption that someone attempting to pull their own tooth out with a pair of pliers might have used a credit card to pay for treatment if that was an option.

I do wonder if some people on this thread have actually tried getting dental treatment lately. It's impossible. You just can't find any NHS dentists taking patients now, even for emergencies. My partner has been trying since before Christmas because he can't afford private treatment. Every single dentist we have called are not taking NHS patients. They tell you to call the NHS who give you a list of dentists to call, none of which will take you unless you are referred to them, but you can't get referred. It really is that bad right now. He needs 4 root canal treatments with a private quote of £6,500. Not everyone has £6,500. Not everyone has a credit card. And there are no NHS dentists taking patients. This really is a topic journalists need to stick in the Daily Fail because this really is the country we are living in right now. Seriously some people need to step outside of their financially stable middle class bubbles and look at what's going on around them.

I was unable to get an NHS dentist for DS and we’ve had to go private. It stings, as I’m pregnant so have to pay for me and him and should not have to, but the alternative is no dentist.

It is truly awful the amount of people without nhs dentists. Ours recently went private and just posted out a letter, no referral to another NHS dentist. No one in our area is taking new patients. No advice for you OP. I would be wary of the roots. It is a shocking situation in a supposedly first world country. My husband and I have not seen a GP in years luckily, have no children, pay tax and get treated like this. It seems to be a national problem. I hope you get it sorted OP. Dreadful.

Unfortunately my partner can't find a private dentist who will do £6,500 worth of treatment at a reduced cost or instalments. Dentists don't want to work for the NHS because they can earn more privately. But where does that leave people who can't afford private treatment and can't get NHS?

I know - I agree with you. It’s a nightmare. If I needed expensive treatment like that I don’t know what I’d do, I don’t have £6500, or even £650 (or even £65 right now )

This is ridiculous. A quick google seems to suggest there’s charities than can help with dental costs; seems to have been set up to meet demand similar to foodbanks. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41404-022-1128-x

Can you speak to your GP or benefits adviser to see if there’s anything applicable in your area?

When you say you can’t afford it how much are you actually prioritising?
I’m not being funny but I hear it alot from people who then spend the money on something else and what they actually mean is they are bad at prioritising and budgeting

Are you sure you can't go private? It costs £185 at mine to have an extraction. Do you have cover at work at all?

You do know that not everyone has or can get a credit card? And that ‘more expensive in the long run’ becomes irrelevant when you haven’t got the money?

@SplunkPostGres i am not sure that is the ‘gotcha’ you think it is.

”'At Dentaid, we are able to provide dental care in communities who really struggle to access care and while we first started activities seeing people who experience homelessness and social exclusion, as they have always faced serious difficulties in accessing healthcare, over the past two years our work has expanded to care for other vulnerable and excluded groups. We provide clinics for fisherman, head and neck cancer patients, looked after children, refugees as well as public access clinics. Because we work outside of an NHS organisation, we can focus on our unique model of dental care, taking care out directly into communities and we can adapt quickly to the expressed needs of each of our patient groups. Previously, patients who we now care for may have accessed other services such as general dental practice or the community dental services; however, getting an appointment with a GDP is incredibly difficult at the moment and the CDS have long backlogs they are having to manage. Since the pandemic, the slack within the system and flexibility has dried up. 'Many of our patients struggle to attend at a fixed appointment time because of their varying immediate needs such as mental health, addictions or having to attend other appointments. With changes in infection control measures and social distancing, some services that they had previously accessed such as walk-in/drop-in services, no longer operate in the same way and this can be a big barrier to care. We aim to continue to be as flexible and adaptable as possible in order to break down these barriers to enable access.'

None of that describes ordinary people who are just skint!

Many privates will also do a payment plan if you ask

You can set up a payment plan with a private dentist, have the work done and then reduce the payments to £10 a month

Ring ever dentist you can find who offer emergency appointments and ask if they offer payment plans.

Failing that have them removed your tooth and let your card decline. They pay them in cash the amount you can immediately and pay a tenner a month thereafter.

Needs must but bloody hell don't do it your way. You could cause serious infetion and it could be far more costly.