Is there a need for a Dental Organization

amother

Sat, Nov 02 2019, 10:27 pm

Hi,

Would love to hear your take on this.

3 weeks ago, on Chol hamoed, I suddenly started experiencing excruciating tooth pain .
I needed an appointment NOW.
My regular dentist was not in. And I had no clue where to turn to.
The pain was unbearable. It was right up there with labor and delivery (I had a posterior drawn out hell of a birth with no epidural).
The Gemara even backs me up about toothaches being the worst kind of pain.
Yom Tov passed in agony and if I thought I'm over the, the fun just began.
My dentist told me I need to do a surgery and gave me some endodontists to call.
I called all of them and none of them could give me an appointment right away. First a consultation and then an appointment. Don't forget I'm in excruciating agony for 5 days already. They wanted $1500-$2000 for the treatment but still couldn't give me a same day appointment.
I tried calling other places, tried asking around. All I got from people was "good luck, there's nothing like dental pain, but nobody to talk to".
I don't get it. There are organizations for literally everything. But for the thing that the Gemara says is the worst kind of pain, there is nothing out there?
I wanted to hear what others have to say about this.

My plan for an organization would be:
Referrals
Same day appointments
And help with funding.

Is this something you relate to, like an organization you would donate to?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Amarante

Sat, Nov 02 2019, 10:38 pm

I sympathize with your plight as I have unfortunately had lots of dental work.

However my experience, at least where I live in Los Angeles, is that my dentists will always see my the same day or at most the next day if necessary. The receptionist always asks if I am in pain or if it’s an emergency and somehow fits me in. This has included dental surgeon, endodontist and my regular dentist when I have broken a filling.

I do live in a major city with lots of dentists so this might of course be a case of supply and demand. In my experience, my regular dentist will often be able to make a difference because he has relationships with other dentists.

amother

Bronze

Sat, Nov 02 2019, 11:26 pm

Oy - I feel for you!!
So painful!

I recently had a dental issue.
Didn’t have that problem bh.
My regular dentist sent her X-ray to the oral surgeon and I had an appt the next day.
Yes it was crazy expensive...

I have bad teeth and usually when I needed an emergency appointment my regular dentist got me in where I needed.

Good luck! Hope by now it is taken care of and you feel better.

amother

Sat, Nov 02 2019, 11:29 pm

amother [ Bronze ] wrote:

Thanks. Yes, finally taken care of.