It's not good folks. £2.2k to fix it all. Every molar is needs filling. Wisdom tooth is decaying badly and causing pain and needs to be removed.

Any advice how to break this down or make it cheaper? I've been trying to get into an NHS dentist but not a single place is accepting patients within travellable distance :sadness-abysmal:

  • JonathanKington [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Here in Canada we have private dental care except in emergency situations and I believe an abscessed tooth qualifies since infection can spread. They'll just do the cheapest work possible though, so probably extraction.

    I also remember that when I was looking for cheap options for dental care, it was recommended to look into dental schools to get treatment from students in training. I've also heard that some dentists will negotiate price and will drop cost if you pay in cash, so it may be worth looking into that as well.

    • bigboopballs [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      how do i know if a tooth is abscessed or if it's something else?

      I have a tooth that got infected down to the root or whatever, it eventually fell out by itself but I never got it cleaned out and there's still like an infection or something in there and it creates a little bump inside my mouth like where my cheek and the tooth root meet. how dangerous is this? it almost never hurts and I've had it for years without anything getting worse, but I live in constant fear that it's going to kill me some day.

        • bigboopballs [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          3 years ago

          why? how bad is it?

          I don't know if the E.R. will take care of it if I'm not obviously about to die or something

          also: is this what is called an abscess or not?

      • D61 [any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Abscesses usually can be ID'd by swelling and pain.

        Sometimes the infection will burn out on its own or create a big cyst that ruptures. If it ruptures externally, and can drain, you can get away with keeping the drain site disinfected. If it ruptures internally, the infection can get into your blood stream and cause blood poisoning, which is super bad.

        So, if you aren't having issues with excessive swelling and tenderness, fever, the smell of rotting meat from your mouth, blood and or puss oozing from the site, you probably aren't in danger of dropping dead without warning.

        I'd err on the side of trying to make it a priority to get it checked out though.

        • bigboopballs [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          So, if you aren’t having issues with excessive swelling and tenderness, fever, the smell of rotting meat from your mouth, blood and or puss oozing from the site, you probably aren’t in danger of dropping dead without warning.

          all right, thanks for the tips. the swelling and tenderness has been at a near minimum for a couple years now... guess the infection "burned out on its own" like you said for the most part, though it's obviously still in there or there would be no swelling at all

          • D61 [any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Yeah, it could be some scar tissue or the infection could be contained in a cyst that your body is (for now) able to contain.

    • shath [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      I'll see what I can do. I think if I look around I can try get at least the urgent work done and slowly get the other work done as I go. I'll try find a dental school, thanks!