What if your dentist is ill?

Conrad3000

Hi. I rang my local dentist today and the receptionist said he's got a broken foot, and furthermore he's going to have an operation of some sort.

Will there be a temporary dentist to cover for him or will I have to wait until he comes back into the surgery?

The receptionist said for me to ring back tomorrow for further info.

I'm just wondering what kind of situation myself or others will be in.

Thanks.

Toothsmith

You need to get that information from the practice. There could be several ways it might work.
Sounds like the dentist has had some sort of accident, so whilst it is bound to be something he has to sort out pretty urgently - it won't be easy - especially with the COVID restrictions in place!

A few years ago I came off my bike and quite badly smashed my shoulder. After the initial visit to A&E I was waiting a few weeks for an operation on it, and could barely move - never mind do dentistry.

In those few days though, I was looking at all quite a few options.
There were a few dentists I'd known who were quite recently retired - I was ringing round them to see if any of them fancied coming in for some sessions to cover things. They had all either gone off on holidays, or would be doing in the next few weeks though! Some had ended their GDC registrations, so couldn't work.
I looked at hiring a formal 'locum' - but with that you don't really know who you are going to get, and it is quite crucial it's someone who will get on with your patients! They can also be very expensive.
In the end, the other dentists in my town (Who I'd always got on well with) came to my aid. Most of my patients are on Denplan - so they saw any emergencies for me, as well as some of the more urgent treatments, and invoiced me for what they'd done. So patients got things done, and still didn't have to pay (If they were on Denplan) or paid what they would have paid me if they were fee paying patients.
So - don't be too panicked if info is a bit hard to get at the moment. They will be trying to sort stuff out, and they will let you know once they have. In the meantime, the dentist will be trying to get better as fast as he can so he can return to work. The problem of self employment is that there is very little support when things like this happen!
Thankfully, after one failed shoulder replacement, and 18 months of trying to get it right - my shoulder is fine now! I think in total over that 18 months, I had about 10 -12 weeks off in bits & pieces. The longest stretch was the 6-7 weeks after the initial accident.
The consultant who fixed me is now a patient of mine though!

Conrad3000

Thanks TS.

The thing, I've got a couple of serious issues. I need a few broken, decayed (bottom) molars taking out. One has caused an abscess to form. It still seems to be in the early stages, but I don't want to leave it too long before it gets sorted out.

If worst comes to the worst, I could take some Amoxcillin to treat the abscess, and I guess I'd have to wait a few weeks for the broken molars to be taken out. It's impossible to save them; there's hardly anything left of them.

Btw, would I be able to get the prescription for the antibiotics from my local GP rather than waiting around for the dentist to do it?

Toothsmith

Given the circumstances, the Dr might, often they don't like prescribing for dental problems. I would just give it a few days and get back in touch with your practice to see if they've got a plan together yet.

Conrad3000

Will do.

Thanks.

Torry_Quine

If you need an appointment urgently then won't another dentist in the practice see you? 

Conrad3000

As far as I know, there's only 1 dentist in that practice. But as mentioned, I need to give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.

My main concern at the moment is the abscess. If there's no joy at the dentist, then I'll have to ask my GP for antibiotics for the treatment.

Torry_Quine

Conrad3000 said:

As far as I know, there's only 1 dentist in that practice. But as mentioned, I need to give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.

My main concern at the moment is the abscess. If there's no joy at the dentist, then I'll have to ask my GP for antibiotics for the treatment.

That is a problem. If the dentist can't get cover then the practice will have to give you the number to call for an emergency dentist. They can't leave you without access to dental care surely.

Conrad3000

Torry_Quine said:

Conrad3000 said:

As far as I know, there's only 1 dentist in that practice. But as mentioned, I need to give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.

My main concern at the moment is the abscess. If there's no joy at the dentist, then I'll have to ask my GP for antibiotics for the treatment.

That is a problem. If the dentist can't get cover then the practice will have to give you the number to call for an emergency dentist. They can't leave you without access to dental care surely.

If that happens, where would the emergency dentist be? At the same practice or will I have to travel a fair bit to see him/her?

Torry_Quine

Conrad3000 said:

Torry_Quine said:

Conrad3000 said:

As far as I know, there's only 1 dentist in that practice. But as mentioned, I need to give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.

My main concern at the moment is the abscess. If there's no joy at the dentist, then I'll have to ask my GP for antibiotics for the treatment.

That is a problem. If the dentist can't get cover then the practice will have to give you the number to call for an emergency dentist. They can't leave you without access to dental care surely.

If that happens, where would the emergency dentist be? At the same practice or will I have to travel a fair bit to see him/her?

I can't possibly know. 
When my relative needed to see s dentist they called their practice and got the emergency number. They were then given an appointment at a different place. It was a bus ride of about ½ hour from memory. Obviously every where is different.