Protect your teeth if you possibly can! No dentistry available in UK

[MorrisZapp]

I've got a minor, grumbling toothache due to a chipped tooth. My appointment to have it fixed was cancelled pre lockdown. It's grumbling a bit louder now so I rang the out of hours number provided by my dentist on their answering machine.

I had a lengthy chat with a kind, knowledgeable and very frank dentist. He told me that all the PPE previously available to dentistry has now been prioritised over to Covid wards. Without PPE, dentists cannot consult patients. At all. No treatment is currently available in the UK.

He talked me through my own particular issue, and gave clear instructions on how to fit a temporary filling using the stuff from the chemists. I actually bought this in a large Sainsbury's.

He told me that it is absolutely imperative that I must not bite on the tooth when eating, as its already weak. If the tooth breaks further and the nerve is exposed causing me agony, there is still no treatment available. I would be given painkillers, he mentioned diflocenac (sp).

He said that there are dental surgeries in hospitals still functioning, but these are strictly for trauma cases, ie a kid who's had an accident etc.

So welcome to my lockdown. Soft food and chewing on one side. I'm absolutely fine, but I have a long history of dental emergencies and I know too well the agony of dental pain at it's worst. Painkillers are basically useless, only the intervention of a dentist brings relief.

So please, take exceptional care while munching and crunching. My own (admittedly v dodgy) pre molar cracked in bits while eating Hula Hoops ffs.

If you find yourself in dental pain, there's no help til the other side. The temporary filling stuff is pretty good if you can get it.

There are urgent care dental centres being established for emergency dental treatment across the UK. Some are already up and running for eg in NI, there should be quite a few more by the end of next week.

I lost a 20 year old filling (very small one behind a front tooth that feels gargantuan) a few days ago and bought a temporary filling kit from amazon, due today. Very annoying as my teeth are v healthy, I haven’t had anything done for years.

I can recommend sensodyne repair toothpaste OP if you don’t already use it.

My husband is a cleaner at a dental practice and it's remaining open for urgent treatment - including Good Friday and Easter Monday. Check as there may be one open in your area.

This isn't true. There's emergency dentistry. Why are some people so into scaremongering? This is your experience not the whole country. Ffs

I haven’t actually checked whether my dentist is open, I am in the vulnerable category and would rather not take the risk.

I didn’t expect them to be open though but I’m not in pain so figured a DIY solution would be fine for now.

Whether emergency dentists are available or not, it's always a good idea to look after your teeth.

This isn't scaremongering. Almost all practices have closed, to get seen at an urgent care centre will be very difficult, the treatment slots will be few and to get through triage will be difficult.

Our dentist is open for emergencies. If you're in West Midlands, happy to recommend.

I'm in Edinburgh. I'm sorry if my op wasn't accurate. The dentist I spoke to said that there was no dentistry available in the UK, he explained all the reasons for this and it made sense but I realise there may be areas which have the necessary PPE etc.

Thanks for the sensodyne rec, I'll try to get that today.

I got a massive tooth abscess - size of an orange - due to cracking 2 teeth eating an apple. This was 2 weeks ago. 1 tooth infected and other half of it fell out. Surprised as good teeth. I have subsequently been diagnosed with calcium deficiency.

Saw a dentist in their waiting room. They had a mask and gloves on. I held the torch. Just a glance. Got given antibiotics and they reviewed me a week later. Swelling down but more antibiotics.

Was told emergency dentist is only tooth extractions. Dentist advised me to try to go avoid this as antibiotics working and my porky teeth can be fixed. My dentist ate setting up hubs with PPE to sort out urgent teeth issues. She had forwarded me into the list for when it opens soon.

Ah, a wee bit far then, sorry.
I hope your tooth doesn't give you too much pain, it's the worst.
DH once broke one of his teeth on a piece of mango! It's probably a good thing his dentist is still doing emergency work!

I think it’s Sod’s law, I haven’t had anything but twice yearly checkups for almost twenty years - I never even have them cleaned because they are so clean ... then one of my tiny fillings decides to break.

My GP isn’t even giving B12 injections at the minute, I have confirmed pernicious anemia and another blood disorder, see a haematologist, have eight weekly injections - hence I didn’t even try my dentist as I didn’t expect them to be working and I am not in pain.

Yes, they can provide anti biotics for abscess etc. If the infection can be tasted in the mouth, warm salt water swishing can help. Clove oil can be used on cavities etc too.

The salt water thing didn't work when I had an abscess many years ago, as the pus was building up with nowhere to escape. The pain came from the pressure of the growing infection under the gum.

Yeah the pain was bad. Still a lump as nowhere to escape. Just hope they start up soon as I don’t want to lose my teeth.

My son has a rare connective tissue disorder that causes spontaneous abscess so he's had a few teeth removed and spacers fitted (a bit like a brace to keep the spaces free for adult teeth to move into in the future).

One is rubbing badly and the gum is inflamed with pus, he's gargling with salt water for now, his paediatric dentist is still open but only for emergencies. Waiting to see how it goes over the weekend as dentist is in Harley Street and don't fancy a trip up there...

Just to make it clear if you ring your dentist with an emergency they will give you advice but you will not receive emergency treatment.
We are only allowed to provide the AAA advice, analgesics, antibiotics.
You may be able to collect a prescription or it may be emailed to your preferred pharmacy.
Some areas have Urgent care centres open but most haven’t and you may need to travel a considerable distance.
Recommended treatment is probably extraction since carrying out any treatment using a dental drill is ultra high risk for transfer of Covid-19.
We have to assume all patients are infected due to the variable nature of this disease.
Any dental surgery still carrying out routine treatment may face disciplinary action and have to be authorised/designated Urgent Care Centre to do face to face emergency treatment.
Just to clarify your own dentist may be taking calls but they’ll treat you like a leper if you try to walk in to the practice.

Please be kind to the receptionist it’s not her fault!

Practices are closed .
Phone advice only , as previous person has said .
Minimal treatment is available at a centre but you have to be referred.
( if you satisfy the stringent criteria )
You will not be able to walk in to a practice.

You have to be referred by your dentist to the Urgent Care Centres for treatment.
It may be some time before general dentistry resumes.
If everyone stays at home and infection rate decreases then it will be sooner. If they don’t then dentists will be deployed to work in the field hospitals so not available to do general dentistry.

It’s a shame that the media are not making this information wider known. But fairly typical of the NHSE gagging mentality.

This really worries me. I had horrific toothache when pregnant. They couldn't pin down what tooth it was for a few appointments (so extraction wasn't an option), there was no abscess and painkillers allowed when pregnant didn't touch the sides. Was the worst pain I've been in, so much worse than labour, and I really struggled for about a week visiting the dentist around 4 times. They eventually took the risk on which tooth it was an started root canal which alleviated the pain but I cannot imagine not being able to receive treatment. It is the same in my area and I have seen plenty on social media from people struggling.

To reiterate what has already said. 4 Different regions of the U.K. all in agreement, although slight delay in getting the official guidelines from certain parts of the country. But all general dental practitioners have CEASED hands on dentistry for the foreseeable future.
This is due to increased risk of transmission of the virus via aerosol spray.
Dentists still doing telephone consultations and following guidelines- Advice, analgesics and antibiotics. If there is a more serious emergency there is a referral pathway to a centralised hub.

The centralised hubs are the only places that have the correct PPE.

No point in recommending any particular practice. The WHOLE country is in lockdown, and we are all in the same boat.
Please do not contact NHS24 during normal working hours for dental problems. They have enough to deal with. Contact your own dentist first.

And in the meantime, give your teeth the care they deserve

www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c344ww7y4x4t/dentistry&link_location=live-reporting-story

According to this article dental hubs are now available in all scottish NHS areas so if you are in pain or risk of further damage you should be able to get a referall.

This is terrible! I hope you manage to sort something, or find a way of hanging in there till normal service is resumed!

I do think the cutting back of non-covid19 care is crazy. It's as if the government or whoever the big chief of dentistry or whatever other treatment, has conveniently forgotten that other conditions exist. People will have flare ups of long-term conditions, they will miss surgeries that they've been waiting for for a year, they will miss routine testing that could have diagnosed a serious illness. And of course people will suffer agony with toothache and lose teeth that could have been repaired.

My friend who broke her big toe in several places was told to apply ice and take paracetamol. She was screaming in pain for an hour. Two days later she was allowed to go to A&E an hour away.

I am not even in the U.K. - I'm treated in a country with an excellent health service, paid for by expensive insurance, and I still can't get treatment. My physiotherapist is the person who keeps me going on a day to day basis and I haven't seen him since early February. I thought I had an appointment this week and it was cancelled at the last minute because they are running a very limited service. My pain clinic was closed for 3 weeks, they are now taking as many patients as they can because at any minute they could be closed again.

I wish someone with some clout would get out there and publish a good article about this, to bring to the public attention the colossal failure of healthcare systems to deal with non-corona problems.

Sorry for ranting on your thread, OP

I'm worried about my teeth because my sugar intake has gone up. I know I need to sort this but I need all the Easter stuff gone as I can't resist.

Anyway I'm brushing 2-3 times a day (I have the time for a third now just genuinely forget sometimes) and floss! Have a decent electric toothbrush. Still worried!