Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Popular Articles
Who is Lammo?
Posted by Lammo in 
Er Indoors arrived home from work two weeks ago in excrutiating pain around one of her wisdom teeth – Her NHS dentist had closed for the evening, and as she was in so much pain, she rang the “Emergency Dentist” service, only to be told that there was not a single dentist to be found in the whole of Devon at 6pm on a Tuesday, and that she would have to wait and see her dentist the following day (if she could get an appointment). A further call to NHS Direct sent us round in circles before finally telling us to ring the Emergency Dentist. If only we could find one!
One sleepless night later, after trying a succession of “Internet remedies” including biting down on hot teabags, rinsing with salt water, and holding an ice pack over the jaw, she managed to get an appointment at her NHS dentist for 2:30 (at least they had a sense of humour) in the afternoon, at which she was advised that there was an abcess around the area, and was prescribed a course of antibiotics, which did nothing at all, so much so that by the weekend she was forced to try and find an “Emergency Dentist” again – This time she did manage to find one, who took one look and told her that the wisdom tooth would need to be removed. However as she would need to be sedated for the removal, her NHS Dentist would be unable to perform the procedure, and so Er Indoors would need to have it removed at Derriford Hospital under a general anaesthetic, which meant joining a 12-week waiting list. “count yourself lucky”, said the Emergency dentist. “Last year the waiting list was over a year!”
Unable to cope with the pain for 3 months, Er Indoors asked if it was possible to have the tooth removed privately – “Perhaps” was the answer – and she was referred to a private practice where she would need to pay £55 for an inital consultation to find out whether it could come out. Thankfully, the answer was yes (at a further cost of £231), but it couldn’t be done for a further 9 days due to “staff training”. By now we’d both hardly slept for a week, and the pain was getting steadily worse, so Er Indoors made an appointment to see her GP for some stronger painkillers and antibiotics. By last Saturday (Day 12 of constant excruciating pain), Er Indoors was not sleeping at all, was being sick every few hours due to lack of sleep and the strong antibitoics, and her jaw had now swelled to the size of a tennis ball. As she was still 6 days away from her private dentists appointment, we were left with no alternative but to take her to A&E. Initially, the nurse told her that there was nothing they would be able to do, as “A&E don’t deal with dentistry”. However, as soon as she was seen by the Maxillofacial doctor, she was diagnosed with Periconitis and immediately admitted to a ward, where she was placed on Intravenous antibiotics and nil by mouth from midnight, with a view to removing the wisdom tooth the following day. At last – the end was in sight.. or was it? After night 12 of little/no sleep, Er Indoors was visited by a Doctor the following morning, who confirmed the diagnosis of periconitis, and agreed that the tooth would need extracting. He did not however agree that he should have to do it on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon when he could be out on the golf course. His prognosis was to keep Er Indoors on the IV antibiotics for a few days and then send her home! She could then choose to either sit on the waiting list for 12 weeks to have treatment on the NHS, or pay £231 to have it done privately. When asked why it could not be done that day as promised the previous day, his response was “you have to go back onto the waiting list, else I don’t get paid”. Needless to say, Er Indoors was gobsmacked (I’d imagine if that Doctor gave that level of “patient care” to all his patients, he would find himself gobsmacked quite often). Finally, on Day 13 (yesterday), the Doctor doing the morning rounds (different one from Day 12) actually gave a **** about his patients, and whisked her down to theatre under a local anaesthetic and removed the wisdom tooth – a procedure that took less than five minutes (I think it was trying to escape the infection by itself by this point!), and she was allowed home today (Day 14) – She’s still very unwell, and is now only being sick 2 or 3 times a day. The swelling has reduced greatly, and she’s not in so much pain. I just can’t believe that the NHS Dentistry system let it get to this stage – and at what cost to the taxpayer?
What was required was a five minute procedure that a private dentist can do (at a profit) for £67.90, as sedation was not required. If the procedure had been done on Day 1 or Day 2, it’s quite likely that Er Indoors could have been back at work the following day – As it stands now, she will have missed at least 10 working days. As a Primary School Teacher, that means the school have to find a supply teacher (at a cost of approx £180 per day) for those days. A hospital bed in an NHS Hospital costs the taxpayer approximately £450 per night, so by the time we factor in the cost of manning NHS Direct, the GP’s time, the NHS Dentists time, the A&E staff’s time, and the various drugs that she was prescribed, a £67.90 procedure has cost the taxpayer more than £3,000 on the NHS. I must stress that apart from the one Doctor more concerned with getting paid than getting his patients better, all the staff we came across at the hospital were absolutely first class, and can’t be faulted in any way. It’s just a shame that the whole system of dentistry on the NHS is so shambolic, that all of this could have been sorted out easily, and at very little cost to the taxpayer. It’s all very well to say “we’re spending £xbillion on the NHS”, but it’s easy to spend that sort of money when you’re wasting money in this manner. It’d be far better to spend half as much, on a system that actually works, and then the nurses could be paid a fair wage too. If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!You might also like to read...
A crisis of faith – the first six months
So you’ve scoured this site for every tiny bit of advice out there to help you boost your site’s page ranking. You’ve sifted through all the SEO tips and techniques, you’ve set up a perfect PPC campaign and are adding…...
Still waiting to be chuffin paid
It’s now four weeks to the day since my rant about networks who don’t pay or just seem to make getting paid a hassle, and time for an update. This time, however I won’t be with-holding names as I feel they’ve…...
A red day is a bad day, but not the end of the world
Here’s a quick glance at the movement column of my shares portfolio today: As you can see, there’s a lot of red in the movement column (indicating a loss, grey= no movement, and green = a gain) – The only green…...
If you enjoyed this article, please consider submitting it to the readers of Affiliates4u so that they can enjoy it too! Just click the following button:
Hello Lammo
Same similar story for me. Its weird though since then I’ve fought hard and long to find a good local dentist instead of the one thats about 12 miles from where I live. My wife registered us at her old dentist which has a eight week waiting list for an appointment which is plain stupid. Who knows what they are doing in eight weeks.
There was light at the tunnel though, I cracked a touch and rang up another dentist near where I worked and they saw me about 13 minutes later! You can get an appointment for a checkup/clean within the next 4 days.
This new dentist has told me a Dental Surgery is not supposed to turned away a patient who is suffering pain!
What a nightmare. I am so sorry to hear about your experiences. Totally unnecessary and the shouldn’t be the case in the world’s fifth or so richest economy. It’s shocking how bad it is now, and I’m terrified about how the NHS is going to be run into the ground when the Tories come into power in a couple of years and introduce their “efficiency savings” i.e. sack staff and cut back on expenditure on medication and equipment. Time to start creating your minisites now to focus on private medical insurance.
Having taken my mother to what must be over 50 hospital and clinic appointments over the last year, I must say my total lack of faith in the NHS has been reinforced each and every single time. I don’t just blame the organisational structure and management, which it’s so easy to do, but the staff. Although there is the odd nurse or doctor who does care, the vast majority don’t seem to give a toss (have you ever seen a doctor or nurse smile since about AD 1979?). They will gladly keep you waiting two hours as they go for their long lunch break, without even a hint of an apology. And try phoning any hospital after 3pm to see if anybody bothers to pick up the phone
Sounds like a nightmare mate – hope “Er Indoors” is feeling much better soon.
Being married to a primary school teacher who has spent a lot of time using NHS services I can unfortunately relate to a lot of what you are saying.
It’s a shame there is no joined up thinking to work out the cost to the taxpayer of covering her class while various people dodge the responsibility of getting things sorted out.
Hello,
I am a dental student, yes in fact Indoors could have saved the NHS £3000 and 13-14 days of pain by brushing regularly (twice a day and properly) + flossing.
Pericoronitis (not Perioconitis as u spelled) is a very popular problem in young adults with partial tooth impactions. In emergency clinics, 3 out of 10 patients are suffering from Pericoronitis.
This happens when the soft tissues (gums, flap etc) around the wisdom tooth becomes infected because bacteria have invaded the area.
Why does this happen ? Poor oral hygiene and mechanical trauma on nearby tissue…This leads to inflammation… Food impaction and caries (decay) are also problems associated with wisdom tooth pain.
How do u treat pericoronitis ? it is very simple – brush the area properly (I know it hurts -but have some guts for God’s sake) and u need irrigation with a mouthwash. Basically take a syringe (i dont need the needle) and irrigate underneath the gum that is on top of the wisdom tooth with a mouthwash 3-4 times a day. In this way, u will get rid of the bacteria.
Your GP/dentist might also give u antibiotics in order to get rid of the infection.
If u had a recurrent infection – then u need to extract that tooth.. HOWEVER – EXTRACTION WHILE INFECTION IS PRESENT IS DANGEROUS – it might lead to the spread of infection into the blood system. SO that is why ur dentist gave u antibiotics.
But isn’t wiser to brush twice a day and floos and have less sweets rather than go through all that pain and pay all that money ?
Dentists always emphasise on the fact that YOU NEED TO BRUSH – we don’t do it for you. If you brush twice a day- floss everyday and don’t have too much sweets you will never need to see a dentist, apart from check ups.
Dental Student – You are an idiot! I hope I never have the misfortune to come in to your practice, with your attitude you’ll be broke before you’ve even started! Stop preaching and go do some work
It’s ok. its how he/she has been programmed – to speak medical terms with no thought and consideration to how hard it is to actualy obtain an appointment to see a NHS Dentist, if we all took that rather obvious advice i reckon dentists would be out of business, no?… We all know we have to BRUSH OUR TEETH we are not stupid, however, sometimes these things happen – i brush my teeth everyday, twice a day and use mouthwash and i have been suffering for the past two weeks with teeth and gum pain. The point is, it’s like you have to plan being ill or having tooth ache, with waiting lists as long as your arm to see anyone to sort it out! and when you do see someone, you are pushed from pillor to post that by in the end -you may have sorted the pain but you have lost out financially and wasted employers time in the process. I am literally reaching the limit of pain killers per day (Co-codamol 500mg) whilst losing out on sleep further to that i have to call the emergency dentist at 8:30 on a morning to try and get a dentist in my area or close enough to travel, if i cannot access the dentist they suggest ‘unfortunately’ i have to call back the next day and the next and so on and so forth! still yet i have not seen anyone! I think its a sham and i hope that something is sorted before we are blessed with a country full of people with decaying rotten teeth and bad breath!!!
The Dentist should have recommended the use of something like PerioChip as a treatment for ‘Er indoors’.
PerioChip is a treatment mainly for Periodontitis (gum disease), but benefits to using PerioChip are:
• PerioChip can be used in for periocoronitis, in furcations, abutments to bridges and is also indicated for use prior to implants and in cases of perioimplantitis
• It can be used on any patient with pockets (where the tooth sits in the gum) of 5mm in depth or greater and the only known contra-indication is intolerance to Chlorhexidine, which is uncommon.
• As it is non-antibiotic there is no risk of compromising patients’ bacterial resistance, it is bacteriocidal not bacteriostatic and the PerioChip should be used every 3 months alongside regular root surface debridement until the pocket depth is back to a manageable depth of 5mm or less.
• For any adjunct therapy to be effective it needs to remain in the pocket long enough to kill the bacteria. The chlorhexidine has follow over action in the pocket for up to 100 days after chip insertion, which ties in well with patients’ 3 monthly visits, if pockets are still over 5mm in depth on subsequent visits chip insertion is recommended until pockets are back to a manageable depth, helping avoid more invasive surgery.
You can find more info at http://www.periochip.com
Perhaps Dental Student might like to take into consideration that if people did brush twice daily and floss etc then he or she might be out of a job???
I for one am absolutely fed up of going to a dentist to get lectured about my teeth at the end of the day I’m paying for a service and as such don’t appreciate what can only be advised as a good thorough nag by the dentist. Advice is welcomed, nagging is not.
Right now I am suffering with tooth ache but with the double whammy of paying a fortune (I’m considering re-mortgaging my kidney!!) and receiving a lecture I think I’d rather continue popping Ibroprufen like they are smarties.
it absolutely astonishes me that we can receive a triple heart bypass on the NHS for free (albeit a wait may be involved) but not an extraction or filling?? Ridiculous!!
i dont have a dentist at all, i am 15 now, and have one tooth that is really crooked, it is red and sore and keeps me awake EVERY night, the dentist i used to go to, “kicked” me out when i was 9 because i didnt want to go, and i didnt like going…
how pathetic is that, no kid WANTS to go to the dentist…
the NHS is truly f***ed up…considering britain has the second best economy (although thanks to gordon brown, there are no poor americans, and ur tv is worth mur than ur house…mmhmm)
anyway, considering (although i myself dont pay taxes yet, thank god) i think it is absolutely stupid that you have to pay, the long hard way, whereas you COULD and SHOULD BE ABLE TO be sorted in days…but apparently money is more important…
I suggest you send this to Gordon Brown. Protocol dictates that he or his secretary must reply. My Mum is facing a similar dilemma and I feel helpless to guide her on what to do next.
It’s complete farce with people suffering alon te way whilst Dentist’s line their pockets. Time it was all Nationalised or Hospitals were forced t introdue Dental services as part of A & E/ conventional treatment.
Dentist have the cheek to benefit from NHS funded training hen set up privately and exclude NHS treatment or severely restrict it to ‘Check-Ups’ only. It’s a marketing ploy stating “We accept NHS patients”… because mostly it means “for check-ups only”!… you’ve only got to look at the ’smart’ clinics Dentists are now opening …. like hairdressers but charging exhorbitant fees.
ye benj
i feel fine now
screw the dentists…
i used clove oil, it wasnt nice taste
but in 2days, oooh so worth it
i wunder how to contact gordon brown??
What happened to NHS dentistry was something along the lines of this: (off the top of me head)
The NHS’s evil overlords at the Department of Health looked at the amount of work done by dentists in 2005 and set that as their quota,and paid them for a set number of “units of dental time.”
Once they have done their quota, they won’t get paid a penny more for any work they do on top of that, so, they do private work in order to earn an income, which is why it’s so hard to get on an NHS dentist’s list, as if they take on any more people they won’t get paid for doing the work.
In fulham London we have a good choice of nhs dentists we get seen pretty quick. I had the same problem with one of my wisdom teeth. I could not even close my mouth. The nice dentist at http://emergencynhsdentist.com/ immediatly diagnosed my problem as an impacted wisdom tooth. But the could not take it out due to it being to close to one of my nerves.
The used corsodyl to clean out the area and put me on some antibiotics. I was referred to an oral surgeon and had it removed at my local hospital. Apparently you need to be specially trained to have impacted wisdom teeth taken out. Damaged nerves can mean your lip can become permenantly numb. Im glad I saw a specialist as I had no problems