Essential service rant
 

So yesterday our 2 year old tripped on the stairs and broke her front tooth. The root is showing and she has been assessed by the dentist( via pictures as we " are not allowed " to go in) verdict...she needs it fixed, BUT because dentist's are under the threat of fines for performing nonessential work they can't do anything. We were told to keep her on Tylenol and wait until it becomes infected then they can pull it but they can't use any form of anesthesia as that is also against the rules. I wonder if someone busted J T's tooth out if he would be allowed to get it fixed or would he have to wait until his vaccine comes out? BTW my home town currently has zero cases of C19 right now. For the good of all Canadians. Complete and total bs.

Yup no different than waiting months for an MRI but professional athletes jumping queue to get one quickly. And that’s during non pandemic times. I feel for your little one.

It’s astonishing that I can buy a 26 of vodka right now but your little one cannot get fixed up right now. Priorities and what they deem essential is out of whack. Shameful...

That’s rough and wish I had a solution for you

As a father I would be frustrated and mad in your position

Cripes, that a tough one. Call around to pharmacies, you might find a kit for broken teeth, dental filler or similar. Guess the main issue would be to cover the nerve until you can get to a dentist.

Good luck.

[QUOTE=1899b;4149299]Yup no different than waiting months for an MRI but professional athletes jumping queue to get one quickly. And that’s during non pandemic times.

I have been against that myself for years, however the dentist is a service that we pay for out of pocket its not a part of our medical system. Weed stores are open as are booze stores....but we can't get a broken tooth fixed? Because it's non essential.

I hope she isn’t in a lot of pain and is able to sleep. Two years old can be challenging at the best of times..

Try a few dentists
 

Hope one of them will man up and say the procedure is required on an emergent basis.

I would keep trying till I found one that would help.

Can’t let a little kid get get infected. That is not right.

Just a guess, but are those MRI machines private and being paid for by team/individual? Same as you or I could do if we wanted to pony up the cash

Paid $800 or so to get my wife in sooner so yes, I would guess.

Agreed... Waiting for an infection for a two year old doesn’t sound right.

Most likely...

Two weeks ago, while at work, a large pipe that had been disconnected and then forgotten about, fell from its hanger and hit me square in the head. My head was OK, but my neck immediately turned very red and got hot. After unsuccessfully attempting to call the hospital several times, they got a private number from somewhere and got through to a medical professional.... and were basically told to eff off in not so many words.

Thankfully the injury turned out to be pretty minor, after a few days with a stiff, sore neck and upper back I was fine... But the medical professionals on the other end of that line did not know the injury was likely minor, nor did they care. Bad time to get injured right now in my neck of the woods, that's for sure.

This ^^^^^

Dodger.

not sure where you are but I did get an email from Arbour Lake dental and they were open for emergencies only.
not sure if has changed now but worth a call
hope she is alright

Yup, infections are nothing to play with either. Call around.

Have an appointment in GP on Wednesday( earliest we could get in anywhere) told up front the best they can do is look at it. Highly unlikely they can do anything to fix it but could subscribe meds/ antibiotic until it can be addressed. We are trying northern bc dentist's as we were told they have a bit more leeway in what procedures they can perform. Calling around now. Its total BS

I am not a dentist but I work in the field- we were forced to close but we are able to take emergencies, and if not us we are referring out to emerg clinics. You talked to someone who doesn't know the rules or does not want to take risks, which is a poor choice on their part. I will quote from the ADA website:

Guidelines on Emergency Treatment The ADA&C is providing the following information for members to use as a resource in addition to appropriate clinical judgment on making decisions to provide care for emergency treatment. __________________________________________________ _________________________________ Emergency dental treatment includes treatment of oral-facial trauma, significant infection, prolonged bleeding, pain which cannot be managed by over the counter medications, or management of known/high risk malignancy. Appropriate clinical judgment and continuity of care during this time period will allow dentists and their teams to care for patients and alleviate the burden that dental emergencies would place on hospital emergency departments. In this context, continuity of care means that patients of record have access to their primary care provider for guidance on emergency care, including pharmacological management of pain. In the interest of the health and safety of both patients and providers, the following guidelines are provided



Your little one falls into the category of oral-facial trauma and pain, they should be helping out. Call around til you find someone who will and if you are declined read them the above. It is against our code of ethics to deny you child treatment and they cannot be find or providing care. Best of luck

Once again, misinformation on this thread and everybody runs with it.

Emergency Dentistry is not, nor has been, prohibited by the Dental Association in the Province, or and provincial, municipal or federal body.

If the case presents an emergency, as determined by the dentist, and he has asked the appropriate COVID health screening questions, he/she can treat any patient legally and without any legal issues.

Maybe talk to a dr as well because of the risks that come with infection they might be willing to pull it. Not the best solution but beats suffering for who knows how long

BC is under the same restrictions....nation wide under threat of serious fines no unnecessary procedures to be performed. Infection is the line that must be crossed to warrant being necessary.

Yup same here, a couple years back paid $580 for an MRI and she had it within 2 days. Am sure sports teams have the same set up at places like the Glen Sather sports clinic

All injuries of cuts requiring stitches or ANYTHING broken should be considered essential, particularly for children.

If that happened to my kid and I couldn't find a dentist I would just go to the hospital.

Wait till it gets infected? Well a MD cant do that. Happens to be against 'do no harm'.

Well we have called every dentist in Grande Prairie and have sent pics as requested and all of them tell us the same thing. It needs to be fixed but we can't do it because it does not meet the requirements of being an emergency yet. If it get infected then they can do something.. Myself and my wife have been on the phone all day trying to get her in somewhere.

Total BS. Sorry you have to deal with that. Tooth could abcess and then her life could be at risk. If you were in Calgary all 4 dentists I work with would see your kid

Absolutely, if this isn't an emergency , what is ? :confused: Some of these measures defy logic. Maybe try a different dentist. I see West Olds Dental is advertising emergency service, locally.

Grizz

Montana, Idaho or Washington. Get acceptance from a clinic, a price and a letter from the dentist stating its emergency work required unable to complete in Canada. Call boarder and send letter ahead of time to ensure you can cross.

Extreme solution

That is terrible. At this point, I would consider calling around to media and radio stations, they love stories like this. Imagine the public learning that a 2 year old has to wait for an infection that could put their life at risk to obtain help.

If they can put the word out, might shame a dentist into doing the right thing. Especially if it's their own policy that isn't following suit with legality.

Good idea. Some clinic might see it and offer to save the day.

call the darn dentists back via email with this attached and tell them to explain as the,pain cannot be cured with meds

Your little one falls into the category of oral-facial trauma and pain, they should be helping out. Call around til you find someone who will and if you are declined read them the above. It is against our code of ethics to deny you child treatment and they cannot be find or providing care. Best of luck[/QUOTE]

Because over the counter meds are keeping her from being beside herself we were told unless that changes we need to wait for infection for it to be classed emergency status. They said nothing about oral trauma as being a reason for it to be classified as emergency status.
Thank you for this info we will call a few of them back tomorrow and try that tract