I went to bed last night with a bit of a twinge in my jaw. I woke at 2am with a full-blown throbbing pain, and I didn't get much sleep after that. It hurts a lot less when not horizontal, so I spent most of the night sitting up, reading.
At 8am, I phoned my dentist, and the recorded message gave me the number of the emergency dentist. I phoned that, and discover that they opened at 9am.
At 9.01 I phoned again, and a nice lady took my particulars, and said that a dental nurse would call me back within an hour. 45 minutes later, the dental nurse called, and went into a lot more detail about what hurt, and then invited me to call round as soon as I could get there.
Which I did; 30 minutes drive to Aylesbury, easy parking, no waiting and a couple of forms to fill in. There was a real dentist there too, and she listened to my story, had a look, and went into action. First, some anaesthetic, but it was just a dab-on thing tasting of bubblegum. Then she nudged at the swelling on my gum with a cotton wool stick (she might have pricked it first, but I didn't feel it), absorbing the bad-stuff, and after a few minutes, it was "Rinse now". Cost £17.50. All done, then off to Morrisons to get the Erythromycin antibiotic prescription filled, free as I'm over 60.
So now I take the antibiotics for a week, and phone my usual dentist for an appointment first thing Monday; he'll probably see me at the end of the week, but I rather think that by then, it'll all be over, because it seems that it's a gum infection, not a tooth, so (hopefully) no drilling required.
Bless the NHS. Americans have absolutely no idea. They could have the same thing, but they don't.
Some of us do have an idea :(
ReplyDeleteWe read your struggle to avoid an NHS with considerable amusement. Death panels! Socialism! Constitutionality! When we set up the NHS is 1948, we just did it, because it was so obviously a good idea.
ReplyDeleteWell, we wish you the best of luck to get yourself an NHS, free for all at point of need (well, £17.50).