NHS Dentist

thegirlintheattic

Hope this is the right place.

Our nearest NHS dentist that is accepting patients is over an hour and a half away (driving). There is an NHS dentist in the next village but the receptionist said that he is not registering new patients.

My OH really needs to see a dentist as he is in a lot of pain, and has a pre-existing condition meaning that he cannot feel much of his jaw/gums so it is likely to be a widespread issue such as an infection that has just hit a place he can feel.

Is there any way the health authority can force a dentist to see someone on the NHS? or anything? Will a GP be able to see someone with tooth pain?

We simply cannot afford to go private, especially as many in the area have compulsory 'membership plans' that cost ££ per month. My OH cannot get to the one an hour and a half away because that would require taking unpaid time off work.

Toothsmith

The local PCT might well have an agreement with somebody local for 'emergency sessions' - so at least he could get seen and out of trouble. That would buy a little time to get an appointment to get things properly sorted out, either at the same place, or somewhere different.

Ring your local Primary Care Trust, and speak to the dental people there.

GP Drs do get a bit fed up of seeing dental problems, and many simply refuse. After all, they really aren't trained to deal with dental problems, and any fix that just a prescription for antibiotics or the like would give is extremey short term at best.

Olokia

Have you got any walk in dentists in your area?

sueeve

Do you have a large hospital nearby with an emergency dental surgery/ If not, paying for private may be cheaper than taking time off.
Surgeries near us seem to have just one or two dentists, usually newely qualified, who take on NHS work. Have you tried every surgery around?

jugglebug

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Hope this is the right place.

Our nearest NHS dentist that is accepting patients is over an hour and a half away (driving). There is an NHS dentist in the next village but the receptionist said that he is not registering new patients.

My OH really needs to see a dentist as he is in a lot of pain, and has a pre-existing condition meaning that he cannot feel much of his jaw/gums so it is likely to be a widespread issue such as an infection that has just hit a place he can feel.

Is there any way the health authority can force a dentist to see someone on the NHS? or anything? Will a GP be able to see someone with tooth pain?

We simply cannot afford to go private, especially as many in the area have compulsory 'membership plans' that cost ££ per month. My OH cannot get to the one an hour and a half away because that would require taking unpaid time off work.

Difficult situation.
1st port of call is to contact the PCT.
It isn't about forcing anyone to do anything, but they are responsible for contracting with dentists to provide NHS care. They are also responsible for emergency provision in the area they cover. Few dentists are actually employed by the PCT as "NHS" dentists. We are private dentists who happen to contract some of our workload to the NHS under very strict rules and regs
Small points.
People talk about not registering new patients. Registration in the NHS does not exist, and hasn't for since 2006. Receptionists use the term as it is more easily understood than "I am sorry we currently do not have any spare NHS capacity" Truth is the way the government would like the system to work is that we would all see A N Other dentist, and then go off into the wilderness, then when time came round again book in with Random dentist number 2. Thereby having a ongoing roundabout with no continuity of care. Patients on the whole hate that, and so do us dentists too.
GP's generally don't have much of a clue about dentistry. Thats ok it isn't their job. Some will refuse to treat you point blank, some will prescribe a random antibiotic, which may reduce the symptoms but certainly wont remove the cause.

thegirlintheattic

I have looked up every surgery and have called the ones closest. We live in a mainly-rural area so there are not many around. There is no dentist service at our nearest two hospitals.

Thanks for the advice. I will call up the PCT and see what they say. At the moment even an one-off emergency appointment would do.

arbroath_lass

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

My OH cannot get to the one an hour and a half away because that would require taking unpaid time off work.

I would think that most people have to take time off to see a dentist - I do. Can he not speak to his employer and make the hours up? Failing that call the surgery and get the latest appointment possible.

If he really is in that much pain then he shouldn't be worrying about the time off. I know if it was my DH I'd be making the appt for him and let him know we'd cope. He really needs to be seen by a dentist.

thegirlintheattic

arbroath_lass wrote: »

I would think that most people have to take time off to see a dentist - I do. Can he not speak to his employer and make the hours up? Failing that call the surgery and get the latest appointment possible.

If he really is in that much pain then he shouldn't be worrying about the time off. I know if it was my DH I'd be making the appt for him and let him know we'd cope. He really needs to be seen by a dentist.

To get to the dentist that will accept him it would be at least four hours off if not longer. He has been told because of the amount of time he cannot make the time up but can take unpaid leave. He's obviously going to take an hour or so off for a nearby appointment and that is fine for him to make up, because of the working hours his employer expects this as it is impossible for the employees to see GPs/Dentists etc. outside of work hours.

The problem is that we simply DO NOT have the money, either to make up for unpaid leave or to pay for private treatment. It's going to be a struggle to get the £40 odd for NHS treatment let alone the £150 minimum the local private dentist quoted. If taking unpaid leave and the NHS charge it would work out more expensive than private treatment.

arbroath_lass

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

The problem is that we simply DO NOT have the money, either to make up for unpaid leave or to pay for private treatment. It's going to be a struggle to get the £40 odd for NHS treatment let alone the £150 minimum the local private dentist quoted. If taking unpaid leave and the NHS charge it would work out more expensive than private treatment.

Could he take paid leave? Are there no appointments after work? Even half an hour after work means he just has to leave an hour early. Can you give the NHS place a call to check?

thegirlintheattic

arbroath_lass wrote: »

Could he take paid leave? Are there no appointments after work? Even half an hour after work means he just has to leave an hour early. Can you give the NHS place a call to check?

I know you are trying to help but no he has no paid leave left and works till 7pm everyday and the NHS place has it's last appointment at 5.20 pm. This is why I'm really hoping the PCT can help, if not it looks like we'll be getting a pay day loan and going private.

Toothsmith

Private charges aren't set & fixed.

It might be worth going into one or two more private practices and picking up the fee guides to check out other ones.

Plus, once he's sorted, it would be much cheaper to get seen by a private place, and put onto the monthly scheme, which is much more manageable, and will encourage him to actually go and keep on top of things.