I have been distracted for the past few days mainly due to a temperamental temp crown that has fallen out twice within 2 days (and the drilling felt like the dentist was embarking on an archeological dig…though they are, in my opinion, impressive sculptors of the enamel…it is a real art mastered by those teeth doctors!!). There are now bets whether this one will stay the course for the week or fall out (another dentist has, it feels like, packed the pulp of the tooth in a kind of flexible cement).
Amazingly I have been bombarded with tips regarding how to deal with a loss of a temp crown, DIY style, such as supergluing it back into place or sticking chewing gum to protect the dentin, the pulp of the tooth, from further exposure. Actually, it reminded me of Michael Moore’s film Sicko where people talked about DIY surgery and medical procedures because they couldn’t afford the treatment. And my dentists are passionate defending of the NHS though demoralised by the lack of funding NHS denistry receives.
And due to the fact that the 3 main parties want to launch measures of the austerity kind on the public sector and welfare state, who knows what kind of DIY dentistry people will be forced to take or indeed are already forced into! The fact as well you have to pay (if you are not exempt from charges) a standard level charge based on 3 bands. And yes, that’s what ‘hard choices’ and ‘tough decisions’ are about in the real world such as whether you can afford to pay for your treatment as opposed to 3 main party leaders bleating about the ‘tough decisions’ and ‘hard choices’ (or that fantastic euphemism known as ‘efficiency savings’….) they have to make in cutting the public sector and the welfare state to the bone. And it will be working class people will suffer the consequences of these ‘tough decisions’….
Interestingly enough, this specific tooth (yes, dear cyber readers I know you are rooting for more…bad pun…nevertheless) has caused me a wretched time and it was time to bite (oh, c’mon…) the bullet and get a crown. During the past 18 mths the tooth has had many a temp filling and usually it fell out after 6 mths. I had an emergency appointment at another out-of-hours-dentist who used the latest private up-to-date-new-invention sticky style filling on my tooth (you couldn’t get it for some gawd damn reason on the NHS). It lasted longer than other fillings, over a year, but the fact this newer and better filling was just too expensive, seemingly, for the NHS (he charged me at the NHS Band 1 level). And that sucks! It truly bloody does. Why shouldn’t everyone get a level of care that includes better and more up-to-date medical expertise…and not just for the select few who can afford it! And don’t get me on the issue of private medical ‘care’….. as I can’t think of any polite language to express my feelings..
Defend the NHS! Universal free health care for all!
