Can anyone tell me why dentists are being so protected?

[Carrotcakeforbreakfast]

So my tooth cracked yesterday crown to root.
Called dentist and they said call back tomorrow.

Last night half of said tooth broke off but roots are still in the gum.
Im in absolute agony.
Called up and they said buy a temporary filling kit and gargle with saltwater as we are not doing any face to face.

I'm an ahp frontline too
I have to carry on

Face to face with suspected
Face to face with ventilated confirmed.

Why can't dentists do emergency only witn the ppe we are being told to wear?

On a practical note any advice on what I can do for the pain? I have clove oil and it hasn't done much

Co-codomal hasn't done anything
I'm meant to be back at work tomorrow too. They really need me but I cannot think straight for the pain.

My dentist is still doing emergency appointments - for pain and suchlike. Find another dentist, you can't work in that state.

Because our faces are approximately 1 foot away from another person's face...with aerosol shooting directly out of that persons mouth.

If you saw my visor and facemark and how speckled with debris it gets after doing a filling, you'd gag. During a winter, I catch most things going because people come in with the worst colds and we treat them.
They've found ENT surgeons are very exposed as doctors because of this virus, I can imagine it's even worse exposure for dentists.

It's a terrible shame, because toothache is the worst. I'm so sorry for you OP.

Our dentist has only cancelled routine appointments but still doing work like yours. Definitely find another dentist.

But yes, if you can find another dentist that would be optimal.
It may be that your dentist has an underlying condition.

they are doing this sort of thing at our dentist currently, so second a PP to google and ring round.

We keep being told ppe protects us.

Okay I'll call around thank you.
I'm tempted to take it out myself if I can't get in anywhere.

Yes our dentist is doing emergency severe pain relieving procedures only, in full PPE. Maybe some dentists haven’t been able to get hold of PPE so have had to shut.

A temporary filling kit isn’t going to patch a vertically fractured tooth If half of it has fallen out surely! Was this a phone appt with the dentist herself or a receptionist? Did they fully understand the severity? Did they give an indication of how bad it would need to be to warrant treatment at this time?

I don’t think they have a lot of PPE which is probably the main problem.

Can you take ibuprofen, some anti-inflammatory might help? Call them back and see if they can remote prescribe stronger painkiller?

Our dentist is doing emergency only and advocating home treatment before bringing people in.

It they can't get a hold of enough PPE to make it safe to be inches from someone's mouth and nose then I can understand why they may close.

We keep being told ppe protects us.

Depends on the PPE (full gown, ffp3 mask, goggles, visor, etc) but there is always a risk, especially when dealing with a patient's airways.

We can’t get hold of PPE the NHS temporarily forgot they would need dentists. When evidence of viral load and severity of infection started to come out they probably panicked ( lots of dentists suing the government for ignoring risk to dentists and staff) and ordered us to put down drills.
They shut us down on Monday without providing emergency clinics. The LATs have sent out forms for us to fill in and will probably spend the next few weeks in meetings deciding the most cost effective way to provide emergency dental care and in about 3 weeks you will be able to access this service.
Meanwhile dentists are looking at bankruptcy because unless they “volunteer” they will not be paid.
If you ring up your own dentist they may be able to sort you out but will make you sign several disclaimers, a detailed risk assessment just to comply with GDC,CQC and the NHS all singing from different hymn books.
We are not being protected we are being drafted into the NHS to work in the new emergency temporary hospitals.

Try making turmeric paste and rubbing it on. It really does help

General dentists don't have ffp3 masks and gown usually so this is why they can't help due to aerosols etc. I work in oral surgery and we aren't even allowed to do extractions anymore due to lack of PPE. The GDC have advised dentists can assess symptoms and possibly issue prescriptions maybe investigate this if you feel you have a swelling or infection.

I'm tempted to take it out myself if I can't get in anywhere.

Do you know anyone who at least vaguely knows what they’re doing that could help you? Could make it so much worse if you break off the crown and are left with a partial root remnant

Please please try NUROFEN PLUS which has ibuprofen and codeine. It’s a red pack and abit costly but worth it IMO. It was a life saver for me when I was in tooth ache agony. I told my sister about it when she had a toothache a while back and she said there’s no point as co-cocodomal has codeine in it too and that hadn’t worked but I literally forced her to try a dose and the pain disappeared almost completely. Try it and let me know how it worked for you!

They should be doing emergency work and giving telephone advice, but not anything routine that can wait.

I think there's either supply issues with PPE or to reduce demand to prioritise corona patients in hospitals too. I've read about dentists donating their PPE stocks to hospitals.

We are not aloud to treat unless we have the correct PPE for this virus, we don’t and we are not a priority. This was communicated to all practices by Public Health England early this week.

Local emergency dental hubs are being created by the local clinical commissioning groups which will treat dental emergencies.

We are not aloud to treat unless we have the correct PPE for this virus, we don’t and we are not a priority. This was communicated to all practices by Public Health England early this week

And that's fine.

Maybe you could give the OP some advice on the situation at hand that might be useful?

Shitting hell willdoit that is horrendous.

Are your industry bodies lobbying for you?

@gamerchick.
The OP didn't ask specifically for advice what to do. They asked why dentists are being protected. So book buddy responded appropriately and many others have already given advice.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the tooth is non-vital an will need more than a simple temporary filling (because teeth generally aren't so painful as to require painkillers if it's just a simple filling required). Therefore, a temporary filling kit is unlikely to help. It sounds like the nerve needs removal (if there is sufficient tooth remaining) or the tooth needs removing.
Blended painkillers (as recommended above) are the best way to dull the pain, and phoning around to see if they can get in as an emergency somewhere.
Sorry you're in that position OP.

Call all dentists in your are you cant work like it and what about infection? My dentist cancelled all appointments except emergencies.

I've just realized she did ask for advice on pain. Apologies. However, she also asked why dentists were protected, and Bookbuddy answered that part well.

The industry bodies are trying. But as when I posted elsewhere about the fact my husbands income has gone down to zero whilst our practice has overheads that don’t just go away, and we won’t get help under the governing scheme, another poster very kindly said ‘are we supposed to feel sorry for dentists now?’ The answer is no but you will wish you had done when you have toothache and there are no dentists.

NO dentist should be doing work now other than phone advice and prescriptions. Emergencies have to go to specialist central hubs that have the right PPE. That apparently dentists didn’t need 3 days ago at all. This is to protect patients - they aren’t fussed about dentists

Painkillers are probably your only recourse. Cocodamol or paracetamol and codeine. I would advise ibuprofen currently because of possible risk with COVID virus.
Peroxyl mouthwash may help.
It’s creating aerosols that is the issue re PPE.
It will be very interesting to se how many dentists end up in ICU over the next week since most were creating aerosols until last Friday.