YOUR TURN: Weekend emergency and not a dentist to be found
Please help me to understand why we on Cape Cod do not have coverage for emergency oral surgery on a weekend. We have a large proportion of aging residents, although certainly not the only ones with oral care emergencies.
I am 80 years old and had a dental/oral health emergency on a weekend. Beginning late Friday night, I was in incredible, increasingly worse tooth pain. On Saturday morning, I called my dentist’s “emergency” line. I was given an antibiotic over the phone and told to go to my local ER where I would be screened by a doctor and then likely sent to a Boston ER.
Why would I go to two emergency rooms and expose myself during a pandemic, especially where staff are so overwhelmed? I called several oral surgeons’ answering services on Cape Cod and was told that, unless I was a current client of the oral surgeon, I could not be seen by them on a weekend. Again, I was only referred to my local ER. I did call the local ERs — there are no oral surgeons on call nor was a Boston hospital ER identified.
I have been in medical social work care management for more than 50 years, identifying resources, navigating health insurance, and coordinating care. But with all my experience, I did not know where to go, nor could I receive an immediate and sufficient resource from any answering service. But by Sunday, my jaw was swollen to the size of an orange, the pain was excruciating, and I was concerned that this infection could lead to enhanced health risks.
Again I contacted my dentist who offered an office visit. However, I could not even open my mouth and again I was urged to go to the local ER and would be sent to one of the Boston hospitals providing emergency dental/oral surgery. But which hospital?
The dentist finally researched and clarified the resources as Tufts Medical Center, Boston Medical Center or Mass General Hospital emergency rooms. On Sunday, 48 hours later, my husband drove me (not everyone has this support) to the Tufts Medical Center ER where I was treated magnificently by a resident oral surgeon — my gum was incised, a drain inserted, I was prescribed a stronger antibiotic, and told to return the next day for a tooth extraction, which I did.
A follow-up was scheduled for one week later. The care at Tufts Medical Center ER and Dental School was extraordinary. We have several animal hospitals on Cape Cod. If there is an emergency with a pet, or any animal, every animal hospital that I called had a number of identified locations, on the Cape and the South Shore, where a sick or injured pet who required emergency care, even on a weekend, could be seen.
Please help me to understand why Cape Cod cannot have a coverage system for any person requiring emergency oral care on a weekend.
Ronnie Gullette lives in West Dennis.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: cape has lack of emergency weekend coverage for dental issues
