Dentists

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Has anyone been able to have a routine check up yet? I've had a problem with a crown and I'm worried that I'm going to lose the tooth underneath if it doesn't get seen soon. It's sensitive to hot and cold, tender when I bite down and I've got a metallic taste (which I've had on and off for weeks, no change to how food tastes or my sense of smell!).

I phoned my dentist and they made a note and will contact me when they are open again.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do in the meantime to try to limit the damage?

Wejustdontknow had a filling?! Serious

My dentist IS private but not doing fillings. I know I need to phone around....

Yes, I had a check-up last week. It's a private chain though - Malmin.

Should have had an appt yesterday, booked six months ago.
I've been told to ring back no earlier than Nov as they're only giving advice over the phone at the minute.

My private dentist is only doing emergencies until the alert drops to level two. I last saw him and the hygienist in November (same for my DCs) and they've just pushed my appointment back to October.

If I do get seen in October DH and I will have paid £600 in premiums between appointments. It's disgraceful that they aren't offering any discount when most of the staff have been furloughed. I'd leave the plan only they won't treat my children on the NHS if we aren't in their scheme.

I’m in Scotland, haven’t heard anything yet and we were due to have our check ups the week lockdown started. I hope it is soon as I have a loose filling and it would just have to be a front tooth one wouldn’t it?

Also don’t know when eye appointments at either the hospital or opticians are restarting, 5 year old DD is under hospital for her eyes, should have been checked in April ready for starting school but haven’t heard anything yet

I don't understand why dentists in the Uk aren't back to normal

My dentist in Germany EMailed me in May as soon as they reopened, to say I should make an appointment for my regular checkup and clean,

So I had that in June - they wore masks, but then they do normally anyway
We only omitted the usual handshake

Don't UK dentists have bills to pay and clients to keep happy ?

My dentist is totally back to normal. Other than having to rinse with a horrid bleach salty wash for 1 min at the start. Routine and urgent appointments.

I had to wear a mask until I was in the chair and the dentist had her mask on then I was allowed to take mine off.

I just had my routine check up, along with my children.

It all felt well organised and fairly normal. The extra precautions were social distancing (obviously), temperature checks by the front door, hand sanitiser on entering, masks on, contactless payment in advance and a one way system through the clinic. Instead of waiting in the waiting room as usual we waited outside in a little courtyard garden so only the dentist, assistant and 1 patient were in the room at any one time.

I've given in and registered with a private dentist who, needless to say, is perfectly happy to see me. I still have the sensitive tooth and I still have the metallic taste (which I informed them of) and I'm seriously worried about losing the tooth. I can't wait until my NHS dentist can be bothered to see me so it looks as though I might have a nice credit card bill!

This REALLY annoys me. My tooth cracked in half during lockdown but I haven't even attempted to see my dentist as I knew they wouldnt be seeing people. Yesterday the pain started and I knew it was only going to get worse. My dentist took my details and referred me to the other branch who are dealing with emergencies,said it would be between a few days and week to when they would get back to me. Luckily,my son's private dentist fitted me in this morning,examined me and advised an extraction which I agreed to. The whole thing took about 20 mins and cost just over £80 which I was more than happy to pay considering I'd have just been in pain and waiting who knows how long for an NHS dentist.

The dentist I saw said they were pretty much back to normal so I've booked my son in for a check up and am going to register myself to get my teeth sorted by them whilst we're out of lockdown. But WHY can private dentists,who do exactly the same work as NHS dentists,open and work and NHS dentists cant?

I had a check up this week. My dentist is private and I haven't been since last August as my check-up appointment in March was cancelled. T.hat means I've paid over £400 to my dental plan over the last year and not even had a check-up. I rang to see if I could get an appointment and they said I could so they booked me in for Monday morning.
When I arrived the door was locked so I had to ring the doorbell. Someone answered the door dressed in total PPE - mask, hair covering, gloves, apron etc. She said she would tell the dentist I had arrived but I had to wait outside (on the pavement, main road, fortunately it had just stopped raining). When she came back 5 minutes later she also had a visor on. I was allowed into the porch only where I had to remove my coat and bag and place them in a plastic box and place the lid on! Then I was allowed to walk into the reception area where there was no-one else except the receptionist who was behind a floor to ceiling glass partition wall with no access to the reception area (she had a door behind her which went into the rest of the building).

I went into the treatment room and the dentist did a basic check up, completing the graph thing they do, said she couldn't do a clean or any x-rays, told me I should floss more regularly (I said I flossed 2/3 times a week, she said I should do it at least every other day!!) and then I had to go into the porch, collect my stuff out of my box and wait for the member of staff to open the door for me to leave as I wasn't allowed to touch the handle.

Well, that was worth my £400. I won't be rushing back. Freaked me right out!

I want to emigrate to Germany.

Seriously though, piss up and brewery come to mind with our medical services.

@Layladylay234

This REALLY annoys me. My tooth cracked in half during lockdown but I haven't even attempted to see my dentist as I knew they wouldnt be seeing people. Yesterday the pain started and I knew it was only going to get worse. My dentist took my details and referred me to the other branch who are dealing with emergencies,said it would be between a few days and week to when they would get back to me. Luckily,my son's private dentist fitted me in this morning,examined me and advised an extraction which I agreed to. The whole thing took about 20 mins and cost just over £80 which I was more than happy to pay considering I'd have just been in pain and waiting who knows how long for an NHS dentist.

The dentist I saw said they were pretty much back to normal so I've booked my son in for a check up and am going to register myself to get my teeth sorted by them whilst we're out of lockdown. But WHY can private dentists,who do exactly the same work as NHS dentists,open and work and NHS dentists cant?

Quite simply? Because they dont want to. This will end up seeing the end to NHS dentistry and maybe then theyll be up in arms about it. Currently they can be paid the same to see 20 percent of patients - which will only be emergencies no doubt. There is absolutely no reason why they cant see patients other than the fact they dont want to or (financially) need to. Appalling.

Im not a dentist but my understanding is that dentistry is a very risky profession when patients might be infected but have no tell tale symptoms, due to the mist generating they do with their drills and sprays! Therefore they either have to have special air filtering systems or allow time for any possibly infected mist created to clear. I imagine this is why NHS dentists ( who presumably pre covid had to see lots of patients to make ends meet and don’t have the expensive air filtering) are only seeing a fifth of their usual and prioritising emergencies. I imagine private dentists pass the extra costs of lost covid clearing times etc onto patients I had my appointment in late March cancelled and also have a sensitive tooth under a crown.
Maybe I should try chasing my appointment. I had heard it would cost £400+ for a private check up - I don’t think my dentist has the air clearing filters.

@maggiso my previous dentist does private as well as NHS treatment but I wasn't offered the choice so I presume they aren't seeing anyone. I'm paying £80 for a new patient check up at the new dentist which is OK but God knows what I'm going to do if I need a lot of work done!

I just want to get rid of this taste and the tooth seems to be a good place to start as the sensitivity coincided with the taste.

We see an NHS dentist and all our check ups have been cancelled. I'm not too concerned about me and DH as I have no fillings and DH hasn't had any for years. However, I do worry that with children not getting their NHS checkups there could be a lot of children who suffer poor teeth as a result. They are always saying how important it is to rub that fluoride gel on at each checkup and DS's was cancelled and rescheduled for Nov which is one year since his last but I suspect that will be cancelled too. Also, I have noticed he has some tartar between his two front teeth. I might buy a tool on amazon and scrap it myself!

scrape!

Myself and my two children (aged 4 and 6) have both been for routine check ups in the last week with our NHS dentist. All the medical history was done over the phone the day before. Door locked on arrival and waited outside until dental nurse let us in. Only allowed two patients at a time so I had to take one child to one appointment and then myself and other child to a separate one. We all wore masks. Temperature taken on entry for both of us, asked to take own pen to sign paperwork, then taken through to dentist who was in usual PPE with a visor. Only removed our masks when laid back in chair. Normal routine check up. Payment (for my treatment) and booking of next appointments both done over phone afterwards. Felt completely safe and secure.

I've called mine twice early on during lockdown (cracked part of my tooth which is hanging loose) and am still waiting for an appointment....

Kids both has fluoride gel and eldest had a bit of a scrape of hers. And I had routine X-rays done which were due, so worth going.

@JS87

We see an NHS dentist and all our check ups have been cancelled. I'm not too concerned about me and DH as I have no fillings and DH hasn't had any for years. However, I do worry that with children not getting their NHS checkups there could be a lot of children who suffer poor teeth as a result. They are always saying how important it is to rub that fluoride gel on at each checkup and DS's was cancelled and rescheduled for Nov which is one year since his last but I suspect that will be cancelled too. Also, I have noticed he has some tartar between his two front teeth. I might buy a tool on amazon and scrap it myself!

How old is he? Do you have an electric toothbrush? Would be worth investing in one. Also depending on age could probably start flossing. If he's getting tartar build up personally I'd be booking him into a private dentist and getting a good clean as a one off.

My dentist (private) is doing everything. I've just had a filling and a crown.

@99victoria That does seem a bit much, you'd think you had the bubonic plague.

I went to my private dentist a couple of weeks back. They were shut from the end of March to some point in June I think but they opened back up when it was allowed. I phoned up for an appointment as I was getting toothache from a filling needed from before lockdown (I was putting it off due to Covid) and it was getting really sore.

Had an appointment within a few days (could have got a same day appointment if i'd phoned earlier as an emergency) I had to fill in a couple of forms beforehand online and then phoned them up while outside the front door with face mask. They let me in, took my temperature, gave me hand sanitiser and I sat (alone) in the waiting area. Was quickly seen and the dentist in full and extensive PPE did the treatment and then I was out in 10 minutes. It wasn't a dystopian experience and not majorly different to normal but with extensive safety procedures in place. I thought it'd be worse.

My dentist (private) rang me a couple of days ago to remind me to book a check up! I asked if they're back to normal and yes, they are. I'm booked for a couple of weeks' time. They've got a lot of safety procedures in place so I suppose it's one of the safest places to go. They will phone several days in advance of the appt to ask me some health questions, then on the day the same questions will be asked and they'll take my temperature, I'll be given a mask, shoe coverings and head covering and asked to use a sanitiser or wash my hands.

I pay £18 a month on Practice Plan private scheme with my dentist. For that I get two extensive check ups & scaling a year, plus two full hygienist visits a year, plus xrays every second year, plus 10% off any necessary treatment. I think it's fantastic value tbh. She also sees my children on the NHS in the same practice.

She's back open for full practice now including check ups. Small extra PPE cost of £10 at the hygienist but the dentist has decided to swallow that one herself. I had check up and hygienist appts booked pre covid for July which were delayed by just a week, and she had space to see my children (still NHS) within two days when I rang for them this week.