Would your dentist say the same or am i being conned here

[Whereisthesunny]

Up until a week i had a partially erupted bottom wisdom tooth (i’m 43) causing no issues. Last week it started coming through more and digging into my gum causing severe pain and swelling. Dentist gave me some antibiotics and told me that if i have so many infections a year, he can eventually refer me to have it removed but not until then.
The swelling started to go down but pain is still very much there and so i can see the tooth a bit better and it’s clear that the pain is caused by the tooth growing slightly side ways and digging into my jaw.
My issue is event if we can reduce the infection/inflammation, the issue of the tooth emerging in the wrong place, is still present. Surely the pain will still be there and it will case more issues?
The dentist of course explained that even when he refers me it will be around a 20 month wait unless i have £300 to go privately.
Do i push my dentist more to sort this out or am i going to have to live with this pain and just pop painkillers for constantly for the next year or so??
Any suggestions?

No amount of ‘pushing’ is going to change the fact that waiting lists are massive at the minute, the NHS dental system is under immense pressure. If I were you I’d be going privately.

Unfortunately due to nice guidelines your dentist has no discretion for referring you on the NHS . Unless you have had infections so bad that they require antibiotics several times in the same year the referral will be rejected.

The guidelines for antibiotics are very strict as well because many wisdom teeth infections can be controlled with increased cleaning regime ie single tufted tooth brushes.

The pain is not from tooth growing sideways it is from food/plaque trapping.

Even then the waiting list on the NHS will vary from months to years.

private referrals do not have to conform with nice guidelines, which were put in place because the potential damage to nerves when taking out lower wisdom teeth has to be balanced against many wisdom teeth , even if impacted (unable to come through) don’t cause problems if cleaning can keep things under control.

One infection isn't going to be enough to get you a referral unfortunately - when I was under the NHS I was having 2-3 infections a year and still didn't get a referral!

This. I had an infected tooth that wasn't responding to antibiotics and I had to wait over two months to get it removed in the hospital. Unfortunately, I didn't have the option to get it removed privately. When I was first referred I was told it could be over a year.

If you can just pay privately to get it out do it. Otherwise, you'll be waiting a very long time.

Sorry to say this but unfortunately your dentist is correct. I had this with 3 of mine and had issues with 1 for 18 months before I reached the criteria for referral to the hospital and the other for 3 years because they only caused "problems" sometimes ie plenty of pain and discomfort by not infected often enough, thankfully the dentist was able to pull the 3rd himself and I only had to have issues with it once before he said next time he'd pull it and he did. The problem is with the referral criteria for the hospital not your dentist.

I don't think I could stand the pain and would have to go private.

My wisdom teeth hurt like hell when they were pushing through, partially erupted, bottom ones. This was in my 30s. It doesn't necessarily mean the teeth need to be removed. They often stop growing, then the dentist can assess what to do. But he won't take them out unless there's a medical reason to do so.
One of my top wisdom teeth just wobbled and fell out like a baby tooth. It was like a large pine nut! I was 43. Very bizarre.
If you are not confident with this dentist then ask to see the owner/lead dentist or switch practices.

@Lollygaggle without seeing how can you tell me that a tooth that’s decided to grow sideways right into my jaw after not doing anything for 20 years, isn’t the cause of the issue?? I genuinely want to know as i just don’t seem to understand the order of things

I’m not sure if i can attach a photo but basically this tooth is lying sideways almost a row away from where the rest of my teeth lined up in the gum right in the cheek. It’s a healthy tooth as you could only see 1/4 of it for the last 20 years and have managed the cleaning fine

I have a decaying wisdom tooth and have been waiting nearly 3 years for removal on the nhs. Just got my letter from the hospital the other day for an appointment. And yes I’ve been popping painkillers for three years.

The dentist is right unfortunately, I can say this with experience from what my DH has been through recently. Partially erupted wisdom tooth which is growing sideways and has come out decayed. He was referred to the hospital for removal by our dentist due to the decay issue and they won’t remove it unless it’s causing him real problems. Our dentist is concerned about the surrounding teeth but still doesn’t meet the nhs criteria unfortunately so we may have to go privately.

That sounds right to me, and honestly if you can get it sorted for £300 I would snap that up. I paid way more and I don't think mine were sideways or especially complicated.

Millions of people have wisdom teeth just like you describe, if not much worse. Mine are growing in and pushing right up against my existing teeth - I've had multiple infections as well as long-term, niggling pain and stiffness in my jaw, but I still don't quality for an NHS removal as my infections are too far apart.

One infection in 40-odd years is never going to get you a removal on the NHS.

I was on an 18 month wait list for dental surgery with teeth that were broken in pieces that I couldn't chew with at all.

I went on the list in April and had the surgery last week. It was only brought forward as I had an abscess in the "danger triangle" between the top lip and nose. Infections in that area can kill.

It sounds about right to me.

My son has a similar problem but the wisdom tooth is pressing against his next tooth which his dentist has filled. No infections. He was referred to the dental hospital in March and had his appointment last Wednesday. The consultant put him on the list and said she could do it before Christmas. Obviously depends where you live. I’d opt to have it done privately if you can afford it

I eventually went private as the wait was over a year and I kept getting infections in my wisdom tooth and one antibiotic stopped working I had it that much. I couldn't be in pain for over a year so went private. Mine cost £3k! Best money ever spent but o realise not everyone is in my situation and can go private. It's crap the waiting lists are ridiculous -
One dentist said to me when I asked her what to do " get strong
Painkillers " I said what for a year? Ridiculous

Forgot to say mine was £3k as I had to have a GA and stay in hospital as my tooth was near the nerve.

It’s not clear if the issues is caused by the tooth digging into tissue, why make people wait to suffer infection after infection??
The tooth itself isn’t decayed or rotting by the way which i understand if that’s the issue, there should be a reasonable effort made to cure it before removing it but in my case it seems like we are trying remedy something that’s never going to be viable?!

It’s not clear if the issues is caused by the tooth digging into tissue, why make people wait to suffer infection after infection??

Because it's cheaper to keep giving people antibiotics than it is to pay for them to have surgery.

I fully get what you're saying my wisdom tooth that caused problems for 3 years was wedged into the side of my jaw by the time they took it out which involved removing a chunk of jaw bone and cutting the tooth into 4 pieces. They admitted that if they'd taken it out sooner then they wouldn't have had to take the chunk of jaw bone out 🤬 and the recovery wouldn't have been as bad as it was.
It's a joke but if you don't have a spare couple of grand lying around then it's what we have to put up with