S
snapper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 163
Should I take the referral from the emergency dentist or go back to my regular dentist?
Hi,
Need some suggestions about what to do about a tooth that's becoming a problem, but the dentist I normally see seems to be avoiding treating it!
I rang my regular NHS dentist practice about a week before Christmas as I was having mild toothache and a bad taste from an upper back tooth. This tooth has a crown which has served me well for the last 22 years but there's something dodgy going on underneath it and I didn't want it to flare up over the Christmas break.
I went to my regular dentist 4 weeks earlier with the same tooth after being woken with toothache. It was not X-rayed and I was told it is muscle spasm! and to "keep wearing the splint". I feel that my regular dentist missed the problem.
Could I get an emergency appointment, NOPE. Unless I was happy to turn up at the surgery at very short notice and wait to be seen. Unfortunately for me that was not an option. Work commitments just didn't allow. I did suggest coming in later that morning and waiting to be seen by any dentist but that was declined, as was my suggestion to be seen by any dentist over the next few days. I was not given an alternative route to access emergency care and had to prompt them about opening times over Christmas.
I rang up some random dental practice to take a look at this tooth and luckily they gave me an emergency appointment that afternoon. The tooth was X-rayed and it seems there is a large area of decay under the gum line under the old crown and a small abscess at the end of one of the roots. I was prescribed antibiotics informed that referral to the dental hospital for specialist treatment was the best option to save this tooth.
Should I go back to my regular dentist to question him further and confront him with the problem or cut my losses and go with the dental hospital referral through the emergency appointment from a dentist I have only recently met? I have been told it is a case the specialist may be willing to take on, as only limited cases are taken on over the year. I am concerned that the dental hospital may favour extraction rather than saving my tooth and would a private specialist give my tooth a fighting chance?
I am a bit of a control freak and the idea of sedation and the like is causing me some anxiety. I'm also feeling a little shell shocked and wondering why my regular dentist didn't pick this up.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
Snapper
Hi,
Need some suggestions about what to do about a tooth that's becoming a problem, but the dentist I normally see seems to be avoiding treating it!
I rang my regular NHS dentist practice about a week before Christmas as I was having mild toothache and a bad taste from an upper back tooth. This tooth has a crown which has served me well for the last 22 years but there's something dodgy going on underneath it and I didn't want it to flare up over the Christmas break.
I went to my regular dentist 4 weeks earlier with the same tooth after being woken with toothache. It was not X-rayed and I was told it is muscle spasm! and to "keep wearing the splint". I feel that my regular dentist missed the problem.
Could I get an emergency appointment, NOPE. Unless I was happy to turn up at the surgery at very short notice and wait to be seen. Unfortunately for me that was not an option. Work commitments just didn't allow. I did suggest coming in later that morning and waiting to be seen by any dentist but that was declined, as was my suggestion to be seen by any dentist over the next few days. I was not given an alternative route to access emergency care and had to prompt them about opening times over Christmas.
I rang up some random dental practice to take a look at this tooth and luckily they gave me an emergency appointment that afternoon. The tooth was X-rayed and it seems there is a large area of decay under the gum line under the old crown and a small abscess at the end of one of the roots. I was prescribed antibiotics informed that referral to the dental hospital for specialist treatment was the best option to save this tooth.
Should I go back to my regular dentist to question him further and confront him with the problem or cut my losses and go with the dental hospital referral through the emergency appointment from a dentist I have only recently met? I have been told it is a case the specialist may be willing to take on, as only limited cases are taken on over the year. I am concerned that the dental hospital may favour extraction rather than saving my tooth and would a private specialist give my tooth a fighting chance?
I am a bit of a control freak and the idea of sedation and the like is causing me some anxiety. I'm also feeling a little shell shocked and wondering why my regular dentist didn't pick this up.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
Snapper