Have abscess, not registered with dentist. Do they have to help?

[Diedre44]

I haven't been registered with a dentist for a number of years. Started with a swelling on gums on Friday and has gradually gotten worse over the weekend, been having salt water rinses and co-codomol/ibuprofen for the pain but it's also given me throat and ear pain at same time. Every time I swallow it's like a knitting needle through my ear into my throat, have slight swelling across my nose/eye. I'm lay here in tears. I've had kidney stones and a 3 day labour so usually have good pain tolerance but this is up there with it.
I have not seen a dentist in almost 10 years after a bad experience and have been trying to get registered for the last year or so. I've been on NHS choices and there are currently only 6 practices accepting adults closest of which is a 40 minute drive.
Am I classed as an emergency if I call my closest surgery in the morning? Will somebody have to see me despite not being registered with them? I'm not entirely sure how it works anymore. I'm not entitled to free NHS treatment, but surely I am entitled to be seen by someone?

No they don't have to see you it - they will tell you to call a private practice

Make an appointment with emergency dentist

Call 111 and they can refer you to an urgent dentist

Any chance your local hospital has an emergency dentist? I needed one (will admit it was years ago, and an extraction) and it was just a case of calling them and going. Cost £10.90 iirc, but I'm in Scotland.

Make an appointment with an emergency dentist. They will see you any time I’ve found and will likely give you a little clean and then antibiotics for the abscess as that’s what you need and they won’t touch it while infected. All the emergency dentists near me are 24-7 and I’ve never paid more then £60 for a check up with one.

You poor thing, sounds horrendous.

I hope you manage to get it sorted quickly ... but please don't leave it so long next time!

Try calling 111 they have an emergency dentist option. I broke a tooth last week and they were fab. Appointment next morning and they applied temporary stuff to sort it out. I need a crown so will have to follow up with regular dentist. I did have to travel nearly an hour ( appreciate not an option for everyone) but was seen on time and treatment was less than £20.

Look for your emergency dental access centre, call them. You may well have to turn up and wait and yes its likely they will assess, clean and prescribe antibiotics and then when the infection has calmed down if you havent sorted a dentist of your own, you wait for them to see you to root canal or remove.

My DH paid £500 when he didn’t have a dentist and got an abscess. That literally covered getting the tooth removed. He just couldn’t get into any dentist

111 has an emergency dental line. Phone them. I hope you feel better soon.

Your best bet is your next "walk in treatment centre". Look up your nearest one on the NHS website. You could ring 111, but the process could take ages. If you don't have a walk in treatment centre near you, go to A&E. Even if you're not entitled to NHS treatment normally, EVERYONE is entitled to free emergency care. They will only ask you to pay for your prescription for meds (antibiotics &painkillers). I've been an Emergency Nurse for over 25yrs. Do not put this off. Tooth abscesses can be dangerous, specifically the type of bacteria in them (I won't go into details). Go to A&E tom. morning.

A Dentist can not perform any dentistry until the abscess has gone, the swelling makes it impossible to asses the damage. He would give you antibiotics and tell you to come back after they've worked to look at the teeth. When you go to A&E tell them at the Triage stage how bad the abscess is and the pain level, esp. if you've had dizziness & nausea. Then repeat all the info to the Dr who treats you. Seems long winded but it's quicker than a dentist, believe me and free! A private dentist will charge you for any meds.

Another vote for 111/emergency dentist st a hospital. I had agonising toothache for weeks before finally snapping one night. Got seen by the emergency dentist, and given antibiotics. A week later I was actually taken for surgery under a GA to remove impacted wisdom teeth. All covered by the hospital dentist/ear nose throat department.

@JMSA what planet are you living on? There are parts of the UK where people cannot get a NHS dentist! I have been waiting almost 4 years for one! Lost my dentist after she disappeared just after Covid, as did my 17 year old daughter. We are on the massive waiting lists in our City. No we can't afford private. This is due to the Tories.

@HowIWroteElasticWoman as somebody who left it 20 years, I completely agree with and endorse what JMSA says.

I've always been a low earner but it wasn't that I couldn't afford a dentist at all in the last 20 years - I was scared of going, and never prioritised the money as a result. Sooner or later the majority of people are going to need to find the money somehow to see a dentist privately (because there's fuck all chance of an NHS one) because of an emergency, like this one, or because they absolutely need work. It's terrible and I feel VERY strongly that everybody should have actual real access to an NHS dentist, and maybe you have a better chance than i do if you live in a city, but the reality is that getting onto an NHS dentist's list hasn't been possible for a lot of people for literally a decade or more, and that's a long time to make a plan B.

OP, in my view 40 minutes commute isn't so bad if you can get in with them, or ring the private dentists to ask for a price as well as availability. The half-way house (that I have ended up with) is MyDentist, who offer subsidised cost treatment - it is private, but not the eye-wateringly horrific prices of properly private dentistry.

Either way, you're just going to have to do some ringing round to see who is available with emergency appointments.

In some areas emergency dentist only covers weekends. Otherwise they expect you to call a local dentist and sort it yourself.
Dd had that at uni. Friday was told nothing could do, here's a list of dentists. The only dentist that didn't just say no offered her an "emergency" dentist appointment a month away.
Saturday she phoned 111 and got an emergency appointment that day.

tbf an abcess is an emergency if you don’t treat an abcess they can kill you. Septicaemia is no joke. I’d call 111 say you have been trying to get an appt but now your feeling sick and worry you won’t be able to make the next call. They have to do something otherwise you could sue them. Public services has a duty of care in emergencies which an abcess will become if untreated.

No they don't have to see you as you aren't a registered patient of theirs. Good luck.

Phone 111 now.
I had an absess which gave me what looked like a moustache (poison leaking) luckily I had a dentist who said if I'd left it I'd have been in serious trouble.
They drained it by cutting my gums then gave me a prescription for antibiotics, the pharmacist actually rang the dentist to check the prescription as the antibiotics were so strong.
Ring 111 now, hopefully your local hospital will have an emergency dentist.
Update us

Either a private dentist who is open today, takes on new patients AND has a free slot, or 111 to find you an NHS emergency dentist. Good luck, dental pain can be horrible.

You poor thing, there's little worse than tooth pain.
If you can afford it a private dentist will probably see you today. Here it's about £80 for an emergency appointment, plus any treatment, which will probably just be antibiotics at this point.
If you need an NHS appointment then it's 111.

call 111, we do have an NHS dentist but after a wisdom extraction DS got a pocket infection last Christmas and was seen on a Saturday morning for urgent antibiotics.

edited to add, seen by an emergency dentist 15 mikes away not his dentist

No decent practice will do this.

They will advise 111 who will book you in with nearest emergency dentist.

111 for emergency treatment, and Orajel is good stuff.

This happened to me and I was registered with an nhs dentist and they still wouldn't see me. I was sobbing down the phone trying to get an emergency appointment.

Like everyone says phone 111. I had to go an hour away to get an emergency appointment. Then I registered with a private dentist and continued with them.