Guildenstern D.D.S (aka Dr. Dent. Friedel)

ok, I blog pretty late this time. I was really busy. Last Friday I had a little accident. A few month I had a smooth toothache on a back tooth. OK, I knew that one of my first visits back in Germany would be my dentist. Last Friday it happened. First I thought: "WTF - sand in the chewing gum?" - but it was a filling. I lost a filling and had a big big hole. It was big enough to put the tip of a pencil inside! However I had no pain. Only if I chewed something hard I noticed it. So what to do now? I'm German visiting UK and I'll be back in Germany on 24th August. Four weeks is a long time. I need a dentist. Hopefully it wouldn't be to expensive in UK. Thus I waited until Monday and asked my supervisor what to do. He lives here since 10 years.

He gave me a phone number of a walk-in clinic (?). I called there and left a message on the answering machine. That was 11:30am.

02:30pm - I looked for the opening hours in the internet. Maybe they have holidays. I found a emergency number. I called the number and managed to navigate through the automated service until I got a human on the other end. We had a nice conversation. I understood not much. He asked me why I call. I tried to explain. Then he asked me something about registration, dentists, blah blah. I told him that I have no dentist here, that I'm only a visitor from Germany and that I will go back in three weeks.
Then he asked me about my tooth and my pain. I answered. Then he asked about my gums. "Sorry what?" - "Your gums" - "Pardon" - "Your GUMS"
OK, we all know the British politeness. But he sounded nerved. Actually it was not the first time I asked twice. But he sounded nerved after a while.
Finally I had an idea: "aaaah- the flesh?" - "yes" - "no, that is ok. not swollen or anything"
Then he recommended me to go to a pharmacy, Boots or Tesco and buy something called DenTek. That's a temporal filling. Thus I can replace my filling and make a date with my dentist. If I have a problem or pain I should call again. Then I called my German dentist and requested a comment. Yes, that tooth had a filling and yes, it is alive though I should do something or I will get pain. In Germany there is a stuff called Cavit. DenTeks filling is called Temparin (R). Later I could compare the ingredients. It is almost the same.

3:45pm - A woman from the clinic called me. I explained my situation and she explained me that in that case I have to call the emergency number which I already called.

3:55pm - I left the office.
Ok.. I know Tesco. Boots? I wear shoes!?! OK, I went to Tesco. Of course they had nothing in stock. They told me that I can get that in a pharmacy in Ashden Road or in town centre. Gee... I saw no pharmacy there - not even a shop. And she told me about boots again. I still had no idea what they mean?

I arrived in town centre at 6:00pm. All shops just closed. Hm.. ok one more day.
Tuesday 9:00am I went to town centre to Boots. They had a whole first aid kit (which I bought) and only this Temparin stuff. I read the describtion which was the same like in the internet. But I found no describtion what Eugenol is. The basic set contains one wooden stick, 2 cotton tips and 1.7g Temporary Filling. I'm willing to spend more for my oral health. Though I bought the Dental First Aid Kit with one additional cotton tip, 3.7ml Eugenol, a small box called "Tooth & Crown Saver" for lost teeth and a comfortable big plastic case for travels. I considered to buy a dental pick, too, but I didn't. I paid 7.99 GBP and I missed 28p because I have no club card.

The rest is not very spectacular. It sounds really weird to be its own dentist but I brushed my teeth, dried my wrecked tooth and put 2 tissues in my mouth to ensure it stay dry until I finished. Ok, I always buy the cheapest tissues which are original Tempo Plus with Aloe and Camomile. In the first try I almost puked due the essential oils. Anyway... my dentist explained me, that the filling becomes hard in contact with spittle. Therefore I put two folded and rolled tissues in my mouth like a professional dentist. I used a cotton tip to ensure the whole is dry. Damn the hole was big enough for the tip!
Then I put the filling in and chewed on it, removed the material which was to much, scraped my tongue et voilà my tooth is saved.
After 3 hours I could eat again.

Actually I think this system is not to bad. It sounds weird but it is pretty easy. In the internet people say the filling will fall out after 1-2 weeks. I hope it will remain 3 weeks. If not - I still have enough filling material to repair 10-20 teeth.