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?

You don't have to be registered locally to receive advice from 111 & obv. you don't have registered anywhere to attend A&E for abcess treatment.

If you can't get an dental appointment, go to the pharmacy or online doctor and get some metronidazole it's commonly used to treat dental infections but is sold through the online doctors to treat BV. It will help to control and treat the infection while you're finding an appointment.

Avoid heat on your face but ice/cold is okay and can help to reduce any swelling.

IME A&E won't help unless you're extremely unwell and need IV antibiotics.

Also for those of you judging, there's one (1) NHS dentist per ten thousand (10000) people in my area and I don't even live in a very densely populated area!

It only takes about 5 minutes because it's just a prescription, they will see you in emergencies generally ime

find out which of your local hospitals have an A & E and a maxillo facial department then head there. Have seen a few dental abscess’s that became medical emergencies due to potential restrictions to airway.

IME if you haven't been to a dentist first then hospitals will send you away. I had a bad infection and the dentist told me that if peak antibiotics didn't solve it then to go to the hospital and ask for IV antibiotics. I did this and they initially refused because it was dental

A&E would not have refused you oral antibiotics for an infection. An abcess can lead to scepticaemia and needs to be treated urgently. IV ABs are only given for severe infections, for higher dosages than oral meds, when you need results within 4-8 hrs, or for meds that are IV only. Possibly your infection did not warrant IV intervention or was not an emergency.

@Podgirl50 I mean they are under no obligation to see you they can direct you elsewhere if they do not have the availability. Doesn't mean I agree with this.

Dentists don't do Obs like temp, BP etc and don't take bloods for white cell count & other inflammatory markers. They can't properly assess how bad an infection is & will give antibiotics for anything from a low grade infection to a severe abcess. Also, A&E will only charge you the NHS prescription cost whilst a private dentist can charge you private prescription costs.

A&E will ALWAYS treat you for an infection, if it needs it, especially if the patient has other health conditions/ is a child. Whether your condition needs treatment is also based upon the info you give during triage and assessment of the injury/infection. If you have a temperature above 37.8- 38.0, they are not going to send you home & tell you to take paracetamol or refuse to treat you because yr problem is dental. They have a duty of care to treat you based upon assessment.

I did get IV antibiotics but initially the reaction was very much telling me to go to the dentist. When I said I'd already been and was there on the dentists advice I was triaged and given IV antibiotics.

Please note, 111 can sort out an emergency appt BUT availability is limited.

I was in the same situation a few years ago. Couldn't even get an emergency dentist at the hospital. In the end I went to the GP and begged him for antibiotics as that's what you need before the dentist would touch it. As long as I proposed to see a dentist after. Had to register as private but I got it sorted and the GP gave me the antibiotics

A&E absolutely refused to treat me for an infected, impacted wisdom tooth. They told me they weren't trained or allowed to treat dental infections and I had to find an emergency dentist. I wasn't expecting them to remove it but I knew it needed antibiotics and they couldn't prescribe them!

Good luck.. my 15 year old Grandson had one last year.. he has been with his dentist scince his first baby teeth.. goes for regular check ups but took 2 month for appointment.. they gave him antibiotics.. then took away the abscess two weeks later.. then a month later did a root canal.

@IroningThrone this happened to my SIL, she went to A&E because she felt very poorly and her wisdom tooth came through which ended up causing an infection, she couldn’t get an appointment with the dentist as it was Covid, she went to A&E who said she needed to try an emergency dentist to see if there availability for them to treat her.

she ended up the day after being taken to hospital after collapsing in work due to the infection and she ended up in the ITU for sepsis.. they managed to get the wisdom tooth out and put her on antibiotics and a drip.

so yes they absolutely can send you away with an infection, my SIL was sent away and it was really serious!

If your local A&E refuse to treat you when you have a serious infection, even dental, then you need to kick up a fuss and ask to speak to either Nurse in charge or Consultant on duty. This is a complete neglect of their legal duty of care towards you. I've worked in A&E's all over London, Essex & Kent for over 25 years as Senior Emergency Nurse and Nurse in Charge. If your hospital is sending you away, they're a shit hosp and you need to send an email to Chief Exec.