Anyone else finding it difficult to make an appointment with one’s usual dentist ??
OH is in pain and I’ve just been advised that earliest appt is the end of the year.
Seems all emergency gaps have been filled… (feel free to laugh)
thankfully the receptionist “phoned a friend” and I’ve got OH an appointment for 3rd August…
but I had no idea things were so dire in the teeth industry.
Ours keeps emergency gaps, but otherwise it’s a min 6 month wait.
Maybe they’ve had a lot of emergencies?
As an urgence, but not yet registered with a dentist here, I was offered 2 months in late Feb. Neighbours told me it wasn’t just me and they’d had to wait months or find a dentist with a slot in a town far away.
I went back as an emergency to my dentist in the UK. Journey arduous as I was in pain and had to drive myself as no transport was available. Flights cancelled most days and 1 Eurostar per day that didn’t connect with anything. Hugely expensive plus all the newly introduced multiple forms and fees and testing for UK and France which was all very costly and stressful.
I got the impression that in the UK, the GP doctors had run away, but the dentists had bravely stayed to offer a service for emergencies. Seems more the other way round here. Although I suspect there will always be a wait for a good dentist here but much less than now.
In the UK and France I gather some hospitals have dental departments or training schools and I’d consider looking into those if I was an emergency
S1 seems to retain access to one’s doctor and dentist etc in the UK @Stella if resident in France before 01Jan2021 so especially as there are more flights now can a visit be considered?
We have no difficulty in getting an appointment. Jim has terrible teeth and is always having problems with his crowns.
The latest he has had to wait for this type of treatment is a week, normally a couple of days.
To book a regular check up appointment we would ring a month before.
Although we don’t need to visit our dentist very often, we have never had to wait so long, in the past.
thankfully, OH reckons he can wait until 3rd August… I have doliprane at the ready for him if necessary…
In view of current covid stuff, there is no way would we consider going back to UK.
In fact, never mind covid… I still wouldn’t choose to go back there…
I still haven’t found a dentist who is prepared to offer me any kind of appointment so I think there is a real desert around here - not just because of Covid as I’ve been hunting on and off for a long time before that…
In addition to the oft-noted shortage of doctors in many parts of the hexagon, I think think there"s an increasing shortage of dentists. We found an excellent Rumanian dentist a few years ago and have since followed him as he’s moved around the region. OH and self had Saturday lunchtime sessions with him last weekend - can’t imagine a French dentist working in that slot, or am I unjustly maligning them?
Yes. There are people who go above and beyond of all nationalities.
Around here, it’s hard to find anyone outside the hospitality sector working between noon and 2pm on weekdays let alone on a Saturday - not really complaining - it’s a sensible work/life balance
Suggest your OH tries this Stella. It’s strong stuff and can sometimes help with toothache pain, I’ve used it before with some success. Easily available in any pharmacie. Hope he feels better soon.
Izzy x
Failing that, constantly swirling the best cognac or single malt you have around the mouth works too😋
Yes dentists are chockablock, and not too good IMO. p
Clove oil will fix the pain.
As does salt water…cheaper too.
Presumably you have had bad experiences with dentists in France…??
We’ve been very fortunate over the last 20 years.
Found a fabulous one for OH, quite by chance and we stuck with him until he retired about 5 years ago.
His replacement is a young Spanish lady.
Excellent dental skills and very, very gentle, especially with terrified patients (me) … but obviously her list is now overflowing.
Yes Stella. I have an woman who is more interested in selling crowns, bridges implants than doing her job. I’ve found dentists (including friends in the profession) to be breadheads, Which I can well understand 
Since childhood I’ve been terrified of dentists.
Back in UK I was lucky to find one would take the time to gain my trust. He was a great friend of my OH or I’d never have let him within a mile of my teeth.
We stayed with him until we moved to France.
Thankfully, I don’t need much dental treatment these days… I scrub madly at home and that seems sufficient.
On the other hand… OH’s youthful hijinks lost him his 2 front teeth… so he’s always needed good dental care of one sort or another.
Oh dear John. There’s enough of that in England. I really, really hope the lady dentist I’ve been referred to here isn’t like that. Mine in the UK is wonderful, keen on preservation at all costs, hard to persuade to do anything that’s not needed and always tries more preservative things first. (The French will be wondering what we’re talking about 
)
That was why even though it was extremely arduous and stressful I knew he would look after me when I had my emergency in February, if I could somehow make it back to England. He’s putting off retiring but I think must go soon.
And so being recommended to a local French dentist is very good news. I just hope that she’s not an interventionist (a risk in an insurance-based system like here) when I get to meet her after whenever my temp SSN comes through.
I have found a good dentist in Castillon-la-Bataille (33350)
He is a young French chap with an English mother so he speaks excellent English and he has a Yorkshire accent! (where his mother is from).
Ee bah gum. Or by gums in this case.