Out of hours dental service - what is reasonable

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Calling 111 last weekend got me an appointment five minutes' walk from home. I called at about 10am, five minutes later I was called back by the duty dental and booked in for 11.20am.

As it turns out, being on immunosuppressant medication means that an ongoing tiny niggle in the gum in an area that's impossible to get floss or an interdental brush into, carelessly dismissed as just a sore bit due to the meds, can easily turn into a humongous abscess after your dose has been increased by 50% for three weeks, complete with lymph glands swollen, nausea and dizziness, along with the tooth itself losing what's holding it in your jaw.

It's cost me a whole £20.60 and the tooth to find that one out. But, on the bright side, it took the grand sum of twenty minutes from entering the treatment room to the offended molar being out and not only did I get told that my teeth were actually in very good shape overall, with not even the slightest sign of decay, I was also 'very brave and doing brilliantly' for somebody who was obviously less than happy about the entire procedure. Didn't get a sticker, though



No complaints whatsoever about the emergency dental cover in this part of London.