Dentist wont?

My husbands dentist wont write my husband a prescription for antibiotics or pain medication for 5 absess teeth because we cant afford to have the teeth pulled until Jan. I called today and told them that my sister would borrow us the money and the dds office said that when we come in to pay for the dental work, the dds would write the scripts. I have never heard of such a thing before in my life! My husband hasnt eaten very well, he cant sleep and his face is swollen up and the dds can see this and told him that this could land him in the hospital. My sis isnt really sending the money but I figured if I told them that and made the appt I could stop by and pick up his scripts. They want me to go in and pay for all 5 teeth first then he will get his scripts. I have had alot of dental work done before and I've never had a dentist let me walk around in pain and swollen up before... Well I told his office off, where to shove it and how far and that he dont need them..

Dentist wont?
I don't know the particulars of this..but I agree it doesn't seem very humane does it. My dad was a dentist for 32 yrs and I have worked for others..I never seen any of them treat an established patient that way. Is your husband a new patient or someone who has been there before.?. As far as calling a physician for antibiotics and pain meds..it is really best to contact a dentist when the cause is infection in the mouth and pain. hope this helps you. I sincerely hope you have found a dentist that can help your hubby.
Reply:you should be asking your regular physician for prescriptions for pain meds and antibiotics.. dentists are not like regular doctors... and he sounds like he isnt willing to give out pain meds just willy nilly to anyone.. go to your reg. doctor...
Reply:You did the right thing. That is ridiculous!





Go to a dental school or another dentist. At this rate, by the time he is done with the antibiotics it will be January any way.





Good luck to hubby...
Reply:I would go to a emergency dental place, kind of like Immediate Care, but for teeth. Some docs are like that, and want to make money off of anyone and if they dont get a dime from you they wont help you out... thats probably why he wont write the script. If he gives you the perscription he gets nothing out of it.... unless he does the work for you... so I would leave that dentist and find one who actually cares about the patients and not about how much money they will make. A true doctor will want to help you in every way that they can, not for how much money they can get out of you.
Reply:Well a natural remedy: chop garlic mince small put 1/4 cup of hot water. Rinse or swish out teeth. It will burn a little but it cuts the infection out. Also use peroxide as a wash it will also boil out infection. Complete by rinsing again with plain water.
Reply:If his face is swollen then yes the infection could go to the brain . He needs the antibiotic and heck yea I would prescribe the pain medicine also. You can file charges with the board of dentistry. You might not be able to pay for the teeth to come out but that has nothing to do with the infection that he is ethically and legally suppose to treat.
Reply:I don't mean this answer to be harsh by any means I am just answering this question from the dental point of view. We have at least ten or more patients a week that have neglected their teeth over the years, end up with infections, and then want us to see them immediately for an emergency visit. I am assuming that you went in for an office visit/emergency visit to this dentist first, due to your statement that he has five abscessed teeth. If the dentist wrote you a script the first time and you did not return for the treatment, than he does not have to write another one. He gave you the treatment plan needed, and it is up to you to have the money to complete it. By your own admission you were going to say that your sister was going to pay for the treatment, when you had no intention of keeping the appointment. And you are angry with the dentist for not writing you another script? This is the very reason dentists don't do this. They can't keep writing scripts for antibiotics and pain meds when you the patient have no intention of returning for weeks or months. It is not the dental offices responsibility to take care of your teeth, it is yours. This means financially as well as keeping up with dental care so you don't end up in this mess. I know that he is in major pain, and I know that people in pain get desperate. However where does your responsibility begin and end? If you keep putting this off, what is to say that you won't continue to put it off in January? What if you don't have the money then, will you ask the dentist again for an RX? I am sorry to say that people in your unfortunate situation are quite common, and from experience our dentist follows the same guidelines as your dentist did. Don't get me wrong, we write RX's for antibiotics only if someone can't afford to get their teeth extracted, but they don't get pain meds more than once unless they complete the treatment diagnosed. This is to weed out the drug addicts (not all pain meds dispensed by our office are controlled substances) who sometimes put off dental treatment and request "Vicodan" or "Demerol" each time they come in for an emergency visit, of course they are denied. I am not saying that this is your situation. However if they pay for an emergency visit, doc will at least give them an RX for an antibiotic if there is an infection involved. You say that you have never heard of this situation before, however it is more common than you think. If you can't afford extractions at this office, find one that you can. Your husband can go to the ER, however they are going to tell you to see a dentist, and if you continue to go to the ER you will also be denied eventually. The dentist telling you that your husband needs extractions is called informed consent, meaning he let you know what needs to be done, that you understand that abscessed teeth can be dangerous, and that you choose (your husband) to not correct the problem until ? That is where the dentists responsibility ends. He gave you the diagnosis, and it is not up to him whether you follow through with it. It is up to you.





Doctors and Dentists are not all out for the money, and they have every right to get paid for their services. Would anyone of us work at our job and say, well I am trying to help the company out, so you don't have to pay me? Not. Would that make all of us out for the money and bad people? Not. Making a statement like "if they won't help you out", eg. basically give you free services, than they aren't worth seeing? This is totally ridiculous.