After several phone calls, one dentist called back and worked me into his schedule when I had a toothache several years ago. Apparently some are booked solid for months and some have no interest in a new patient. Or should I say customer? But at least I had a chance. This poor cabbie apparently didn’t.
Not all dentists do extractions.
My husband needed a tooth extracted. There are 2 oral surgery practices available, 45 minutes away. In one, a surgeon was on vacation, another had left to move elsewhere and a third was recovering from back surgery. In another, 4 had left/retired over the past year and the new guy was booked solid. One local DDS who did extractions had just reupped his enlistment and was closing his local practice. Another has a closed practice and we just didn’t know much about a third, but probably would have tried him if it had become unbearable.
The wait was 2 weeks. He managed it with scrupulous cleansing, avoidance of food with potentially small hard pieces, benzocain gel and NSAIDS.
The cost was really very little: a little over $100 for the extraction and around $35 for a panoramic X-ray. Full recovery took about 4-5 days and I believe he only took 2 or 3 Vicodin in the entire time.