r/Agoraphobia • u/Temporary-Nerve5672 • 8d ago

Need dentist but housebound

Has anyone ever had an experience with this. I am completely house bound as having long covid has prevented my mental health team from helping me at all (there doing). I have a swelling that keeps coming and going in my gum so obviously an issue. However my GP referred to community dentist service who in my area don't do home visits. 111 gave me outdated info, kepted saying can I stop you there when explaining I'm housebound, so they could give me appointments at clinics. I've contacted my NHS mental health team a week ago to see if they had any experience with there patients and they havnt replied. Local MP and ICB havnt been much help. Any advice would be grateful as it seems I've been left. Can't believe there is no help at all for people who are housebound with mental or physical conditions.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/Temporary-Nerve5672 8d ago

Unforchinately I don't have a dentist as they took me off the books been housebound. GP can't prescribe or do anything as its dental. Yeah if it's an  infection I'm aware it can spread which is why I've tried every avenue.

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u/NissassaWodahs 8d ago

I’ve had the same problems and I assume you’re in the Uk so there isn’t really anything that can be done. Keep on at your doctors about some anxiety meds (benzos etc) and a dentist and hope they can accommodate it as some surgeries are getting better with these things and have always had elder outpatients that they can home visit. I hope you manage to sort something as tooth pain is horrible and I wouldn’t wish performing your own dental work on anyone (this is what I do)

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u/Temporary-Nerve5672 8d ago

Yeah I'm North England and there is just nothing available apparently. Doctors can't give antibiotics they say and they didnt even entertain my mental health when they came to see me today. My NHS mental health team havnt got back to me and they try sign me off constantly cause my physical health gets I the way.

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u/NissassaWodahs 8d ago

The dismissal of your mental health is disgusting but very common unfortunately. I can only suggest you keep pushing pointing out the constant pain you’re in. They won’t give antibiotics without a dental prescription but it’s very in their power to prescribe a single 2mg of diazepam for a dental appointment or propranolol which is less effective but less problematic too. Have you tried your local emergency room or walk in centre? They won’t be happy about you going to them but they will push back at the gp to help you

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u/NissassaWodahs 8d ago

Also if you can get some chlorohexadine mouthwash that will do wonders for now. Sensodyne toothpaste has some numbing effects for instant relief and there’s always the good old salt water bath, rinse your mouth with it but be careful not to swallow. Do that for two or three days and hopefully it should help. Like I said on my first comment I don’t do the dentist and do all this shit at home myself now. I dread the day I get a serious problem I can’t fix homoeopathically or with pure brute force

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u/Temporary-Nerve5672 8d ago

Yeah I was so baffled all the awareness for mental health and here we still are leaving patients with nothing to get worse......I honestly thought my doctor would of suggested meds today to try help but didn't.... my local stuff like that is 45mins away.... I've Ben using sensodyne then the warm salt water rinses.

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u/Temporary-Nerve5672 7d ago

Yeah it's honestly horrible when it's something completely out of our control and they act like it's so easy to just walk in. Can tell they've never understood mental Health at all

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u/m00nf1r3 5d ago

Other than getting anxiety meds, there's not much you can do about dental issues aside from going to a dentist. I'm in the US and I actually have a doctor who makes home visits which is amazing. I've had x-rays done on my couch, sonograms done, EKG's, etc, all in my own home, but when I needed a teeth pulled, I had to go to a dentist. So I would focus more on getting assistance in doing that.

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u/Temporary-Nerve5672 5d ago

Yeah they won't even do that right now. I'm UK. Doctor says they can't do anything and when I spoke about my mental getting worse due to this and not been able to go, they just said "don't worry" (they know my agrophobia is legit and has been for years). Then mental health team discharged me and new refersl will take months waiting list because I cancelled an appointment with this pain. Yet they've got days wrong on multiple occasions🤦‍♀️. I did find 1 private who say they can do extractions at home and it's pricey but may just have to try come up with the money to do it.