NHS IV Sedation wait time?

[anon58439]

Does anyone here have recent experience of getting IV Sedation on the NHS and how long it took from referral to appointment? specifically in Scotland.

I have an abscess and two broken teeth and due to severe mental health issues and phobia im unable to manage any treatment at all, waiting to find out if my dentist will agree to refer me for sedation.

Worried it might be so long that things get much worse as currently struggling with the pain. I cant afford private care at all either unfortunately and my dentist has so far been pretty unsympathetic but changing nhs dentist doesn't seem viable right now as everywhere is at capacity. Its a real struggle right now and as a man in my late 30s, its very embarrassing & isolating too.

 

[facingthefears]

Hi!

I’ve been on the waiting list from the NHS for IV sedation since last July(ish) my extraction appointment is next week. It can take a while I think unfortunately but my dentist was spot on with her estimation of how long it would take. I believe from referral to first triage is around 9 months currently? But it depends on your area too, I’m in England for reference. Are you able to do anything private at all? Dental insurance etc? That’s what I did for the majority of my treatment. I hope you can sort and quickly have they offered any antibiotics to help with infection/pain?

 

[anon58439]

9 months is long but shorter than I was expecting actually. I've looked at insurance but seems they wont cover as its pre-existing and I have no income at the moment nor can get credit so private doesn't seem possible. I got antibiotics, hoping they might soothe it a bit but no change yet. Thank you for the reply.

Just sucks the current NHS situation with no one in my area taking new patients, as I would love to change dentist, I had one before who was really understanding but they shut down after covid so I'm stuck with this one who seems to view me as a hassle to deal with and thinks i should be able to just deal with it and get over the fear if im in pain, she doesnt understand how the phobia is worse than the physical pain. Makes it much harder process to get help and i worry theres a chance she wont refer me for the sedation at all.

 

[letsconnect]

@anon58439 can your GP refer you? I’m not sure what the rules are in Scotland (and whether they vary from region to region), but Gordon in the Ask a Dentist section might know if you’d like to post over there

 

[anon58439]

Thanks @letsconnect , the dentist is going to call me start of next week, if I dont have any luck I'll do that.