Dentist hospital referal

[chelsbells]

After three weeks of agony with my wisdom teeth.. I finally got to the dentist and turns out I need two wisdom teeth out, but need to be done at the hospital due to being so close to the nerve.

Dentist couldn't give me an estimate of how long it might take for me to get an appointment so wondered how long others have waited for a referral?

And for anyone who's had it done... What's recovery like? I'm also going to have two other bottom teeth out that have decayed at the same time so will be 4 out in total - I am an absolute wimp too so will be opting for all sensations possible! Just want an idea of what I'm in for really

Depends on where about in the country you are and what your local hospitals waiting list is like. There is an 18 week referral to treatment target (for non cancer referrals) within the nhs, so between the date of your dentist sending the letter and the hospital receiving it they have 18 weeks to treat you and discharge you. Within this time you'll have to be seen in a general clinic by a doctor who will order the necessary xrays, blood tests, or other investigations and also put your name down on the waiting list for surgery, you'll have your pre assessment and then your op (if it's under a general anaesthetic). Some hospitals will easily treat you within this timeframe, others will not.

If you want to speed up the process then you could try
Phoning the secretaries/appointment bookers and checking your referral has been received some go missing for months
Offering to take any short notice cancellation appointments, or attending any extra clinics they have on (some are at the weekends) which may be at a different hospital site within the same trust.

Recovery should be fine, when you sign the consent form the risks of the procedure and potential complications should be explained in detail (such as damage to the nerve, etc)

if they remove them under GA don't believe anyone who tells you you'll be back to normal within 24 hours. I had all 4 wisdoms out, felt like absolute death for 3 days, THEN the swelling/inability to open my mouth kicked in despite stonking NSAIDS and occasional opiates.

Never forgiven that MaxFax SHO who cheerfully told me 'you'll be back at work the day after' - I stupidly went back to work, where no one gives you any sympathy because it's 'just dental work' despite an inability to speak to my patients, dizziness and constant nausea - anticipate needing 4-5 days to recover.