Dental work

[InterviewGhost]

Scenario, posting for traffic and joint incredulity.

You have a dental issue, which urgently needs rectifying.

No dentists accepting NHS patients within a 40 mile radius.

Dentist will not accept a payment plan.

You don’t qualify for finance. You cannot get a CC or loan. Friends and family are unable to lend you the money.

The only way you could afford to pay for it would be to not pay your rent this (or next) month.

What do you do?

Call 111 and see if you can get emergency treatment that way (on the NHS)

dental schools?
https://www.dentalschoolscouncil.ac.uk/dental-treatment-by-undergraduate-students/
try another private dentist and see if they offer payment plans?
extend your radius in search of an NHS dentist?

I did have emergency treatment via 111 when the issue occurred but the dentist they referred me to was private (and cost £280 for a call out and emergency filling)

This is really useful - thank you.

I’m in the SE and extended my search to London and the SW, no joy. i cannot believe this is the state of things.

How much is the treatment? What is the treatment?

Poland is a short flight away, the dentist are very good as well as much cheaper but it's better for extensive work. If it's just two fillings it won't be cheaper as accomodation costs and flights.

You can't not pay the rent, if you get evicted it will be much worse.

Complex root canal but I’ve asked for an extraction instead. Former is up to £1200, latter is about £350.

Sadly no incredulity here - it’s a shit show.

Don’t default on your rent: firstly it might leave your LL in the shit. Contrary to popular belief not all LL are evil bastards and you could just be passing your financial problem onto them unfairly. also, you’ll have a bigger financial problem if you’re served notice because of failure to meet the terms of the contract.

good advice about dental schools. Dose yourself up with strong painkillers, gargle with warm salt water, cordosyl is also effective (though pricey.)

good luck. Toothache is the absolute worst.

Just seen your post. I’ve also opted for extraction in the past rather than expensive root canals. It’s fucking awful that this is the state of things but at least with extraction it’s cheaper and solves the problem

There isn’t any pain at all because the root is totally dead, another reason I don’t want a root canal. Weirdly my dentist is dead against extraction and I guess it’s because extractions comprise oral structure? She suggested implants (hollow laugh)

Saving the tooth is always the best option orally if that makes sense. But yeah find another dentist that will do what you want.

Though if it doesn’t hurt can you live with it for a while to save?

I’ve lived with a broken tooth for about 12 years then I got an abscess and had it removed because the pain was unbearable. But for 12 years it was painless and I didn’t do anything about it. If you’re not in pain then could you save up each month (I know that doesn’t feel right that you have to).
I wouldn’t default on rent

I am lucky that i do have an NHS dentist having a tooth removed next week ouch.
I have no advice really op you could ring 111.
May i ask what part of the county you live in as i think my dentist is still taking new nhs patients on.

It’s got a temporary filling on and is constantly getting infected so I really need it sorted. It’s rare a month goes by without me needing at least one course of amoxicillin because of this.

East Surrey. 111 referred me to an emergency dentist who only performed private procedures. Which I had and which cost me hundreds, and maxed out my emergency CC.

I think this is what I’ll have to do but I’ve got a temporary filling on it and it constantly gets infected so I really need it sorted.

Yup, it's rubbish. I've just been faced with a £2600 bill and have had to chuck it on a credit card. Thankfully 0% but not ideal!

Gotcha… that’s a different story.

I’m assuming the not paying rent this month or next would be for the root canal and not the extraction. In that case I’d book the extraction with your current dentist and pay rent. That’s great they see the RC as a better option but they need to do the work you’re willing to pay for. You can offer they do the RC pro bono if they feel that strongly about it 😁

i am opting for extraction for various reasons but this is one of them. It’s mortifying having to explain my finances to my dentist, who blinks at me and says “put it on a credit card”. OH OKAY HUN. I can’t!

@InterviewGhostmy extraction cost £240 so not cheap but cheaper than root canal. Apparently it’s more expensive for a broken tooth than a whole one

The trouble is the tooth will usually be extracted rather than be given root canal trea which would save it- no one wants to lose a tooth!

I do, I can’t afford to keep it.

I wonder if mine would be considered broken. It’s got a full temp filling on it. Complex extraction is close to £800 which I also definitely cannot afford 🙃🙃🙃🙃

Is it possible to be referred to a NHS hospital to have the extraction? A couple of years ago I had a broken tooth that the dentist could not remove, I was referred to the hospital and it was extracted for free.

She previously referred me but the hospital said they didn’t consider it complex and refused the referral. She did also say there were financial issues (my end) at play. This has been going on for almost four years.

I'm in the same boat, I have 2 retained roots, one is a wisdom tooth, that need extracting. It's going to cost me the best part of 2k. I've been managing with copious amounts of mouth wash and ordering amoxcillin online for 5 years now.
I think the solution might be a wizz air flight out to Turkey!