One thing that is abundantly clear to those of us in Thanet needing to find dental services is that there are not enough. One thing I do not understand is that Doctors and Pharmacists seem to have some contractual arrangement that prevents them even talking about your teeth with you. Try it and watch them react as if they were the undead in a b-movie and you have just shown them a holy icon.

If some one would care to enlighten me on this arrangement that seems to benefit no one but the dentists please use the comment form right now. For the rest of us the issue is still highly pressing and has resulted in horror stories of medieval style "home dentistry" more likely to kill than cure. For times when the pain gets way too much there are things you can do.

Admittedly unless you can get your hands on a great deal of cash then there is no chance of getting intervention in the form of a filling that will save the tooth. No, poor NHS user you must wait until the pain can not be dulled with pain killers and then there is help. A little help but also a "secret dentist" that we can all use.

By phoning 234566 you can get emergency treatment via "dentaline" but only Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the evenings (7pm to 10.30pm). Other evenings you can call 01227 781818 but will need to find £30 for a taxi to Canterbury (or if you are quick footed a little less for a train). They will do the minimum they can to stop the pain and them pat you on the head and tell you to call your dentist for further treatment. Cries of "but if I had a dentist I would not be here" will be met with stale platitudes and leaflets of dubious worth.

Fortunately there is a well kept secret in the form of "dental access centres". According to this site (with some dead links on it) "Dental access centres provide emergency dental treatment and are available to everyone even if they are not registered with a dental practice. They also provide some routine checkups and treatment..."

The only such service is in Newington Road Clinic (Newington Road, Ramsgate, CT11 OQU, phone: 255200). There is a formal document from the parliament.uk website listing all such centres in the country. As with all such services you will need to call as soon as the lines open and keep trying and putting in ring back requests until you get it to ring or the ringback request is accepted. Be prepared to spend about an hour doing this. The word is that the number to call is actually 01233 658 406.

With the Newington Road option you can only make the appointment on the day you want it. Be sure to say that you have pain (which is quite likely) or you may well not get in. Here is a link to a map in case you need directions.

You can always try ringing around all the dentists you can find and asking if they have any NHS spaces left. Here is a list of all the Thanet dentists that I could locate using that great resource - the Internet. I can not vouch for the accuracy of this data but it seems to match what I know of local dentistry.

Brennan C G & Associates
3 High Street, Margate, CT9 1DL
292441
38 St. Mildreds Road, Westgate On Sea, CT8 8RF
835515

Richard Flanagan
100-102 Northdown Road, Margate, CT9 2RE
299402

Dalby Dental & Cosmetic Practice
1 Dalby Square, Cliftonville, Margate, CT9 2ER
220014

Hamill Family Dental Practice
73 Hereson Road, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 7DS
581666

Vale Square Dental Practice
44 Vale Square, Ramsgate, CT11 9DA
591083

Miss L Pienaar/Putter P W
144 High Street, Broadstairs, CT10 1JB
861664

P G Doyle
6 Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs, CT10 1QQ
865591

J C Dirksen
86 High Street, Broadstairs, CT10 1JJ
862040

S C Crocker
11 Carlton Avenue, Broadstairs, CT10 1AB
861356

David A Reekie
33 Herne Street, Herne Bay, CT6 7HL
01227 369921

M P Egan
7 Surrey Gardens, Birchington, CT7 9SA
841715