In the south of Deux-Sèvres (79), thanks to a local system, pharmacists and nurses will now be able to relieve the dental pain of patients who struggle to find an appointment with the dentist.
A CPTS initiative to quickly relieve toothache
While the waiting time is 11 days in France to get an appointment with the dentist, what solutions can be provided to patients who suffer from a sudden toothache?
According to information relayed by La Nouvelle République, it seems that the Sud-Deux-Sèvres Territorial Professional Health Community (CPTS) has found the beginning of an answer.
After two years of work, she has just developed a unique device. For this, she was inspired by the protocol which allowed pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics in cases of cystitis, an initiative which was initially local and which quickly became national according to Fabienne Ranchère, co-vice-president of the CPTS Deux- Sevres. On the same principle, the CPTS plans to call on pharmacists and nurses to provide a response in the event of dental pain. Without access to a dentist or general practitioner, patients will still be able to obtain a prescription in the event of an infection or dental abscess.
A new “dental pain” protocol in Sud-Deux-Sèvres
This protocol “ dental pain » new is based on a digital questionnaire developed on software (Citana). Pharmacists and nurses will be able to follow a list of specific questions to ask the patient. According to the answers obtained, the software will allow “issue the prescription that corresponds to the pain“. And to prescribe an analgesic “stronger than Doliprane”, or even antibiotics, without even examining the patients’ mouths.
The new device should be deployed at the end of January and beginning of February in twelve pharmacies and with six nurses in the south of the department. It would be accessible to all patients, including those who do not live in the areas concerned, provided they travel.
-An emergency solution to the shortage of dentists in Deux-Sèvres
Fabienne Ranchère, herself a dental surgeon, would like to point out that this device can only treat the symptoms and not their cause:“The goal is to relieve people’s pain while they wait until they can find an appointment with a dentist. But finding a dentist is what’s difficult…”she laments.
The Deux-Sèvres department has only 132 dentists, or 60 practitioners less than the national average, according to Jean Desmaison, president of the local dental surgeons' union. On a daily basis, this shortage of caregivers impacts access to prevention and dental care and promotes cases of untreated infections and complications.
Also providing on-call duty on Sunday mornings, Dr. Ranchère was able to observe more and more emergency cases for poorly treated or unmonitored patients.because they can't find dentists».
In addition to the lack of practitioners, Fabienne Ranchère points to an excess of specialization among young dentists. The latter would abandon the overall care of general practitioners (such as the treatment of cavities or the installation of crowns) to concentrate on specialized procedures (implantology, periodontology, etc.).
