private dentist's referal for NHS hospital treatment?

cybervic

My brother's wisdom tooth has just cracked open yesterday. We went to a NHS emergency dentist this morning and was told that nothing can be done because the tooth was facing forward instead of upwards, a temp filling would make the pain much worse. The only way to sort it out is to have it removed asap.

Unfortunately, my brother is not registered with any dentist. He is in a lot of pain right now, so we will have to find a dentist first thing on Monday morning. Having searched internet for the cost of impacted wisdom tooth removal, it seems the removal can be done free in NHS hospital.

so my question are:
1. Can a private dentist refer a patient for NHS hospital treatment? (We're thinking of seeing a private dentist because we though it might be impossible to get a NHS appointment on the same day?)

2. Is there such thing as "emergency hospital treatment" in NHS' dental service, in which he can be treated as priority since he's in a lot pain at the moment.


thanks.

custardy

i dont see why you cant get a referral from a private dentist
i am private and i dont see me getting sent to an NHS dentist if i ever required hospital dentistry

coldstreamalways

Yes you can get a hospital referral from private dentist, you will have to pay for this though I'm afraid.
Try (maybe via NHS direct) to find an NHS dentist to refer you, bear in mind you may have to pay for this as well (unless you are exempt). It may well not cost much more and be a lot quicker (you may even find a dentist you like and stay with them!).

I don't work in practice so can't tell you the ins and outs, I do emergency sessions (Sundays mainly) where we just try to get people out of pain and off to see their dentist ASAP.

brook2jack

A private dentist can refer but even as a case in pain your brother would still be on a waiting list. You can occaisionally make this shorter by being available at short notice but he will be waiting from a couple of months to 18 months depending on area and how complicated extraction is and whether it needs to be done under general anaesthetic.

I currently have child patients who have been waiting months to have painful teeth removed.

funkymonkey

will second brooks post above - he will be added to a waiting list - and could be on it for a very long time - we had people on our lists for 14 months! the other option is to try and find an NHS dentist who is brave enough to take it out under local in the chair!

cybervic

Thanks for all the inputs. I really appreciated it.

Internet searches suggest such tooth removal will cost about £250~£350 privately, adding on the fee for emergency appoinment, initial examination and x-ray, the total costs are expected to be £350~£450. It's really expansive which is why we hope he can be treated on NHS service as the maximum costs will be £198.

I have yet to come across any information of NHS dentist removing wisdom tooth. Does this mean private dentists are more willing to take it out than NHS dentists?

One more question though, has anyone tried or heard of the emergency dental service provided by dental hospital in London (Barts dental hospital, and Kings College hospital)? Will they take out the tooth on the spot because the service is provided in hospital?

brook2jack

Unless tooth was very straight forward to take out they will not take it out on the spot and to be honest if it was easy to take out they would have done that at emergency clinic. You may be put on the dental hospital waiting list which will be months or longer again.


You are very very very unlikely to have a nhs dentist to take it out if it is not a straight forward extraction as surgical extractions are now a specialist service And need to be referred.

nikki702

You can go as an emergency to the royal london dental institute on weekdays in the morning I think

If he is in a lot of pain they might do it for him on the day

some info here and it has a no to call for advice

http://www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk/dentalhospital/emergency.asp

Nicki

cybervic wrote: »

One more question though, has anyone tried or heard of the emergency dental service provided by dental hospital in London (Barts dental hospital, and Kings College hospital)? Will they take out the tooth on the spot because the service is provided in hospital?

My DD who has special needs was referred to the Barts Dental Institute when she fell at the age of 3 and pushed one of her front teeth back into her gum, and fractured her jaw. Not only did they not take the tooth out there and then, but they put her on their "emergency fast track" waiting list for an x ray and extraction, and her appointment came up more than 6 months later, by which time the problem had already been dealt with at great expense at Great Ormond Street hospital, as otherwise the poor child would have starved to death and been driven mad by the pain :mad:

I wouldn't therefore bank on getting your tooth out quickly simply because you turn up there in pain :rolleyes:

cybervic

Looks like our best bet to sort out the pain is to go private then. Many thanks for input provided by wonderful MSER. The info provided by everyone are really useful for us.

berec1

Might be too late (sorry!) but for future reference - I also had no dentist after moving and developed a wisdom tooth infection. Lived in London so trotted over to the Kings College walk-in clinic - waited about half an hour to be seen and they did xrays and checked everything out. They concluded I needed a tooth removing to stop repeated infections and they sent me to their reception the same day to make an appointment for a couple of weeks later (!). Couple of weeks later, tooth was taken out at standard NHS rates in their dental hospital.

So it might be worth trying to get him to Kings College first thing in the morning tomorrow to join the queue for their clinic, be there at least 30 minutes before the clinic opens as from memory a few people turned up.