My dentist wrote to me today saying that the practise will be closed until late July and rescheduling an appointment then. How they know it's late July is a question I'll leave for another day, however I wrote back asking what the procedure would be for any dental emergencies before then?
They replied that basically they're locked down under government order, so cannot give any face to face consultations, however they'll give a telephone consultation (backed up by patient photos if possible!), and can prescribe analgesics and antibiotics. For genuine emergencies they can refer to an "Emergency Treatment Centre", the nearest of which is thirty miles away, but only if there's facial swelling, uncontrollable bleeding, or pain that can't be mediated even after multiple courses of antibiotics! As they themselves acknowledged, it's all "far from ideal"!
I guess for the next few months I'll brush and floss with special care, and absolutely avoid opening beer bottles with my teeth or indeed any of those toffees that are so sticky that they can pull out your fillings!
Might be worth everyone taking a moment to think about how they can reduce their own chances of needing any dental work during lockdown.
Good luck!
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Chappychap
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I have a very slack tooth double at back lower jaw. I have been prescribed penicillin today for second time in a month and third time since December. The tooth needs to come out as it is food getting stuck down the side causing the infection. I clean using brushes interdental and have single tuft brush to get in and around the tooth then electric toothbrush with Peroxyl mouth wash.
I wont get anymore penicillin so soft diet and lots of mouth rinsing for me. Xx
This is a worry for me. I have rubbish teeth and lots of old crowns. 18 months ago I had an abscess which requires an extraction and the infection led to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. My immune system is suppressed with MS treatment so I am constantly brushing but don’t know what will happen is same thing occurs this year.
You could let your MP know what is going on from a patient’s point of view.
The profession is really trying to get in to work to see our own patients who after all have mostly been self isolating for three weeks and who are in similar trouble to you. Not in a life threatening situation but in a lot of discomfit and worry.
I have just finished 3rd lot of amoxycillin since end of Jan for failed root canal which keeps offering me small abscess, acute discomfort but not classic toothache, jaw discomfort and minor swelling of face. Scheduled for extraction but cancelled. My dentist says its heartbreaking for them as it's worse than 3rd world dentistry. Local (ish) emergency hub is not set up yet due to lack of PPE and she does not feel I would qualify anyway. I don't like taking repeated antibiotics but nor do I want an increasing low medium grade infection in my tooth/ jaw. Dentist said as retired nurse use common sense and get back to them when needed. Tried to ask if this should be when I first notice sign of recurrence or wait till very painful/swollen but not given clear advice apart from saline mouthwashes to "draw abscess" . Perhaps Speakeazi has a thought?
Has any body tried any holistic treatments? Oregano oil is great for healing teeth, especially with bleeding gums! You just need a drop or two of oil into glass of water and rise your mouth. Give it a week or so and you we be amazed by the results. Or clove is great for healing too. And if you want to try to strengthen your teeth take vitamins D3, k2 and magiusm.
Hi Chappychap
This is the situation, it seems, partly because of the desperate lack of testing and protection equipment - a ludicrous scandal if ever there was one!
But what do we expect from a Government led by someone who doesn't even heed his own advice and ends up in intensive care himself ?
One of my crowns fell off, the side of one tooth fell off. After phoning my usual dentist and just getting a answerphone I dialled 111. A total waste of time, there is no emergency dental cover unless you have infection and swelling. Pain does not count, just told to take painkillers. It seems that this is how it will be for the foreseeable future.
Thanks for that, yes I have tried the temporary filling stuff, it just falls off after a couple of hours. I don't have a cavity to hold the stuff in, so it falls off. I think I need an extraction but I will have to manage for now.
Using the cement is difficult. Not sure if this will help.
Could you leave a message or email the practice for some guidance?
My husband, a dentist, has just spent an hour on the phone on FaceTime with a pt who eventually managed to get a temp fix in.
He says you need to really try and dry the tooth and around it as much as possible and once you’ve put the crown back in, leave the area alone and not touch it for 5 mins and then not chew on it for an hour.
Thanks for that Speakeazi, the main problem is that my crown has a post about 10mm long, the hole that it goes into is not visible to me or my wife. The tooth is a Pre molar and what remains is now below the gum or at best level with it, it is flat with no cavity. I have dried it and pushed the temporary stuff on and held it in place for 30 mins, it seems OK then later just falls off! I am resigned to having it extracted when all this is over, I feel fixing it is unlikely to work. At least there is no root or nerve so apart from some sharp bits there is no pain!
A nightmare created by a lack of testing and a lack of PPE: if you'd been tested, your dentist had been tested and also had all the PPE necessary to be safe, then your treatment could surely go ahead safely, couldn't it?
Well, personally I don't think it's a case of lifting restrictions, it is a case of a massive increase in testing and PPE: if the dentist and patient were both established as non-Covid-19 carriers and there was rigorous PPE in the dental surgery, then where is the problem with proceeding?
There are no reliable antibody tests available and we all know the issues re PPE. We are looking at social distancing in waiting areas, protecting reception staff and changing our work environment to treat you safely.
As with HIV, hep b, we have to assume that all patients may have the virus until such time as we know they and we don’t.
But yes you are correct with new infection procedures in place, accurate testing and PPE we could open.
However, there will be patients with covid who will need treatment so we need to find a way to treat them, minimising the dangers to the dental team apart from just scheduling them in at the best time of day.
At least these issues are getting some publicity now and the BDA did a piece of research and some of the UDCs do now have PPE but they are still only seeing the most serious of patients.
Dear Speakeazi When you say 'reliable/ available' re: antibody tests, do you mean that they don't yet exist or that this bunch of incompetents haven't yet obtained them in sufficient numbers?
Good question. I am not sure. I believe the “stick tests” are not readily available and have not yet been validated. I don’t think the NHS have one either. It is puzzling how other countries seem to have better/ reliable tests...
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