Mounth in agony - dentist can't see me for a week - what can I do?

A_little_stressed!!

My whole mouth is swollen, I can't eat, I'm taking painkillers I don't know exactly what is wrong but my dentist can't see me for over a week! I can't even talk! What are my options? can I ring elsewhere? I'm NHS so if I go anywhere else will I have to pay? (I have no MONEY!)

Please help!

sdooley

Go to your GP for painkillers - if it is an emergency they will refer you to hospital for treatment.

chilli_dog

have you tried nhs direct?

Marker_2

Surely they must have emergency appointments.

If i were you I would go down to the dentist, when they have a 5 minute ga they can fit you in, harder to turn you away when your there.

If that doesnt work then I would either ring NHS direct or go to the hospital or GP depending on how bad you think it is.

Good Luck, hope you feel better soon x

Toothsmith

sdooley wrote: »

Go to your GP for painkillers - if it is an emergency they will refer you to hospital for treatment.

Bear in mind a lot of doctors refuse to see dental problems, and 'emergency' means basically that your life is in danger - not that it hurts a lot.

NHS direct is probably your best bet.

alison999

Marker wrote: »

Surely they must have emergency appointments.

If i were you I would go down to the dentist, when they have a 5 minute ga they can fit you in, harder to turn you away when your there.

If that doesnt work then I would either ring NHS direct or go to the hospital or GP depending on how bad you think it is.

Good Luck, hope you feel better soon x

i get this all the time, why wont people listen? IF THE DENTIST HAS NO APPOINTMENTS THEY HAVE NO APPOINTMENTS WHETHER YOU JUST TURN UP OR NOT. The sheer ignorance of some people baffles me. Do you think they are just sat around waiting for people to turn up? So many times people come out with "it'll only take 5 minutes" THEY DONT HAVE 5 MINUTES. Also, unless you have a open course of treatment the dentist is not obligated to see you. You can thank the government for that. No one is registered anywhere. However, there SHOULD be a emergency dentist in your area. Your denist or the PCT should be able to give you there number.

aminchom

Whilst your GP may see you, all they will do is give you some pain killers and tell you to see a dentist (go figure). Gp's and doctors in general are NOT trained in dentistry. The PCT, I believe, have to make emergency dental services available, although not necessarily with your usual dentist. A&E are in the same boat, they may offer pain relief, but hospitals dont usually offer out of hours dental services. NHS direct seems like good advice, or contact you PCT (Primary care trust).

nottslass_2

Hi,do you have an NHS walk in center in your area ? ours has one .OH was in agony with an abscess few months ago - they were able to prescribe antibiotics which kicked in after a couple of days and cleared the infection up until has was able to get into his own dentist. maybe your GP would be prepared to do the same.

My sympathy is with you - anybody who has ever experienced really bad tooth ache will understand how much agony you're in !!!!!

Marker_2

alison999 wrote: »

i get this all the time, why wont people listen? IF THE DENTIST HAS NO APPOINTMENTS THEY HAVE NO APPOINTMENTS WHETHER YOU JUST TURN UP OR NOT. The sheer ignorance of some people baffles me. Do you think they are just sat around waiting for people to turn up? So many times people come out with "it'll only take 5 minutes" THEY DONT HAVE 5 MINUTES. Also, unless you have a open course of treatment the dentist is not obligated to see you. You can thank the government for that. No one is registered anywhere. However, there SHOULD be a emergency dentist in your area. Your denist or the PCT should be able to give you there number.

alison - people dont turn up for appointments all the time, so yes they do have the odd 5 minutes from time to time, also if people turn up late then there is a window to see someone else.

If they have a window to see you THEY WILL. Or maybe its just my very nice dentist who is concerned??

LondonDiva

options:

go to another dentist
ask your dentist what their procedure is for emmergecies - they should have one even if it's turn up and wait
wait the week

beckyandjack

phone nhs direct and they will triage you and if you meet the criteria give you the phone number for the nhs out of hours service, if you phone your dentist out of hours they may have a number to call on the answer phone