[181/365] update

[cosmolinguist]

I gave up on finding an NHS dentist.

There was a shortage anyway, Manchester was particularly short of them anyway, and just as people are starting to think the pandemic is sufficiently over to seek out things like optician appointments and, yes, dentists again, it was probably the worst time to break a tooth.

Thanks to the many phone calls mother_bones made yesterday, I knew a dentist in walking distance had the lowest initial cost she'd encountered for private dentistry so I just called them. I could get an appointment this afternoon.

The dentist I saw was warm and kind. She carefully looked at all my teeth, and said they were better than I was expecting them to be after so long (a vignette:

her: "How long has it been since you've seen a dentist?"
I made a guilty face behind the mask I was still wearing then
her: "More than five years?"
me: "Do you know how hard it is to get an NHS dentist?!!"
her: "Yes."
me: "Oh that's all right then.")

She had a sensible-sounding, minimally-invasive plan for restoring my tooth. (I like how she called all fillings "restorations" instead, it sounds so much nicer! But also of course it really is going to be a restoration in my case...)

But I can't get an appointment for her to do it until

August.

The receptionist, when she was booking it, was confident there'll be a cancellation before that. She was sure it wouldn't really take that long. But even the possibility of five weeks like this nearly made me cry again.

diffrentcolours pointed out we could shop around to see if anywhere else can see me sooner. But I can't face a single phone call to another dentist after the past couple of days. And I really liked this dentist; being so mental it's really important to me to have someone non-scary. But the not-knowing inherent in waiting for a cancellation is not awesome for my anxiety either.

It has been a very mixed day.

Comments

[gender_euphoric]

Jesus. I’m sorry.

I lost my very nice dentist when our insurance changed, and I can’t make myself find another one. I’m considering paying out of pocket for her, which would probably be silly.

[cosmolinguist]

Yeah a very nice dentist is such a big deal.

Good news is good but requires too much patience.

[jesse_the_k]

Sending condolences!

Teeth issues are so intrusive.

Re: Good news is good but requires too much patience.

[cosmolinguist]

Intrusive is a great word for it, that's exactly what it is.

Thanks for understanding.

[otter]

oof, that is a big mix. Was she able to do a temporary something for the broken tooth? When I've had to wait for a reconstruction ( I like that term, too), I have used beeswax to press/mold on the broken area to keep it protected and/or protect my tongue or cheek from sharp edges.

Edit: she sounds like a lovely person to have for a dentist.

[cosmolinguist]

I'd had something temporary done yesterday, but beeswax sounds good. I do worry about food or drink getting in the tooth so beeswax sounds good.

[diffrentcolours]

The covering put on by the emergency dentist *should* be enough, but there's no harm in putting beeswax on top of that :)

[cosmolinguist]

It's been feeling a bit weird on occasion since I went to the dentist yesterday, like the seal isn't as good or something. It makes me freak out a bit about eating and drinking.

[lilysea]

I'm glad she was lovely

I'm sorry about the wait. :(

This all sounds so hard

Thinking of you

[cosmolinguist]

Thank you. I am finding it really hard.

[silveradept]

It is good to have someone who understands, but that's a very long wait to have to suffer from.

[cosmolinguist]

Yeah, it is.

[andrewducker]

Fingers crossed for a cancellation, tooth pain is downright horrible, and I hope you don't get stuck with it for too long.

[cosmolinguist]

It's not painful exactly but it's impeding my eating and other stuff in ways I really don't want to have to deal with for five weeks!

[diffrentcolours]

If it helps, one way to think of this is that the worst case scenario is now a lot better. Before this appointment, the worst case scenario was never getting it treated (or at least, at some indefinite future point), or it being prohibitively expensive to go private.

We now have a fixed date and affordable price for the reconstruction. If we feel like it, and have the spoons between us, we can try to bring that date forward, but if we don't, we still have a fixed backstop. This has been hugely distressing for you and it's no surprise you can't face doing any more about it right now. However, you can see how you feel in a little while.

[cosmolinguist]

Thanks for always being so sensible and reassuring. x

[barakta]

I am glad you found a nice dentist, but sorry you might have to wait over a month, that sounds super stressful. Hoping you can wrangle a sooner appt and or manage the waiting time.