Anybody been to a "emergency dentist" ?

helloey

hello,

long story short; dental phobia, very bad teeth, not been to dentist in years so i don't have one anymore.

need to ring for an emergency dentist at some point but am absolutely terrified!

has anyone been to an emergency dentist and can you explain the process for me please?; is it just a regular dentist?, can you choose which one?.

also, have a couple of health issues, can you be referred by a doctor to a dentist that will take these into account? or do you not get a choice who will do the required dental work ?

thankyou very much anyone who can put my mind somewhat at ease!!!

LimeLight

You turn up and see the on-call dentist. He or she will be a regular dentist, and will be used to nervous patients.

You can also be referred to a sedation clinic where they give you stuff into the vein and you spend the next hour flying with the faeries and not remember a thing about it!

This can take several weeks to be referred to, so if you can register with a dentist, he will refer you.

In the meantime, take an ipod, get some diazapam from your doctor and brave it.
Where about are you?

Tehya

Hi there,

You're exactly where I was just last year. Please ring your local NHS Trust (the emergency dental services for your area should be on the NHS Choices website).

The first thing the NHS did was assess (over the phone) whether I needed treatment right away but as I had an abscess I was given an appointment for that afternoon at a dentist in my local area; luckily for me that same week this particular practice was taking on extra NHS patients and so they've been my dentist since then.

The initial treatment/appointment was to just take a look at was going on and prescribe Anti-bs for the infection I had. As I've already mentioned the dentist offered to take me as a patient and signed me up there and then. Because he could see how terrified I was he was very gentle and not at all patronising. I needed to have four broken teeth out and rather than put me through it whilst awake he sent me to the dental hospital to go under a GA.

All in all I've had a good experience and I now go for regular check-ups and have any treatment I need. I only wish I'd done it a lot sooner.

Good luck, you'll be fine just explain to them exactly how you feel and take it slowly.

PS: I have several health issues including a neurological condition, heart problems and arthritis the dentist took a very thorough medical history as well as a list of all other medications. I have both of these lists ready to print out for any of my appointments.

If you're on benefits with entitlement to free dental treatment make sure you take proof of the award. Mine didn't ask for proof but I know some do.

helloey

thanks for both replies,

thanks tehya, i also have broken teeth (2) one of which is abcessed, some more of it broke off eating something recently and it's now getting precarious to say the least.

i have a medical exemption certificate, but am a bit confused about this, looking on the internet, the dentists that accept "non fee paying adults" seem few and far between (miles away):

would you get placed at the same place regardless of if you were fee paying or not, or would it be preferable for someone in my position to be prepared to have to pay up to the £209, so as not to be excluded from some perhaps more local practices for emergency dental treatment ?

hope that makes sense,

thankyou.

LimeLight

Your local NHS Trust will know which dentists are taking on NHS patients,

Tehya

As LimeLight mentioned your first call should be to your local NHS Trust (check here for your area - http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx).

Not all the information on NHS Choices is up to date as my dentist wasn't taking on new patients according to the website.

I admit I was very lucky but if he hadn't offered to take me as a patient the NHS told me once the emergency treatment was finished I was to ring them again and they would have found me a dentist as close to home as possible.

sunnyone

helloey wrote: »

thanks for both replies,

thanks tehya, i also have broken teeth (2) one of which is abcessed, some more of it broke off eating something recently and it's now getting precarious to say the least.

i have a medical exemption certificate, but am a bit confused about this, looking on the internet, the dentists that accept "non fee paying adults" seem few and far between (miles away):

would you get placed at the same place regardless of if you were fee paying or not, or would it be preferable for someone in my position to be prepared to have to pay up to the £209, so as not to be excluded from some perhaps more local practices for emergency dental treatment ?

hope that makes sense,

thankyou.

What kind of medical exemption cert?

I have one due to having a stoma which means I get free scripts but I dont get free dental treatment.

brook2jack

Medical exemption doesn't give you free dental treatment. Here is a link on what does entitle you or how to apply for help on low income grounds http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1786.aspx?CategoryID=74&SubCategoryID=742

Why are you waiting until you have to see an emergency dentist when you will have no choice over who you see. You know you need to see someone so why not start asking friends and family for recommendations for a kind sympathetic dentist who will help you get over your phobia? Waiting until you are forced to see someone when you are in pain and when you have no choice will be a lottery at best.

[Deleted User]

some dentist whilst not taking on new nhs patients will take you for a single course of treatment which may involve more than one visit
although we recently found a permanent nhs dentist by sitting down with the yellow pages and phoning each one till we found one

helloey

thanks for all the replies,

sorry, i meant i had a "valid HC2 certificate" to show anyone i would see even though i am claiming ESA at the moment, the nhs website suggests patients can get free dental care with either.

i have emailed a few dentists all of which have said they are not accepting new patients, but admittedly not all of them.

have to have my first colonoscopy next week, and then my ESA medical the week after too, and now my tooth, great!

Horseunderwater

helloey wrote: »

thanks for all the replies,

sorry, i meant i had a "valid HC2 certificate" to show anyone i would see even though i am claiming ESA at the moment, the nhs website suggests patients can get free dental care with either.

i have emailed a few dentists all of which have said they are not accepting new patients, but admittedly not all of them.

have to have my first colonoscopy next week, and then my ESA medical the week after too, and now my tooth, great!

Look on the NHS direct site and click on dentists local to you. It will list those who do take on NHS patients and not only that but you should be able to find the nearest emergency dental practice - in our case it was in Cambridge and it just does those cases not any others. We got in next day and he had a tooth removed and a filling done for what was £17 at the time. We found them very good - x rays were done as well. Toothache gone within minutes. We now have a proper NHS dentist that we go to. And as I am converting my ESA into income related at present it will soon be free as well.