Finding space to see an emergency can be a real challenge in some practices, let alone finding time to treat them. I am booking in Nov. already, and this is the reason that I have had to stop taking new patients for the past 3 years. It breaks my heart to turn people away and we have to do this several times a day, but I can't keep up with my existing patients. And the problem with leaving spaces in the day for emegencies is that it just pushes back appointments for scheduled work (and some that is fairly urgent too). BUT we do see people, even if they aren't patients of record, for emergencies. We may not follow up, but we will at least find out what the problem is and put a 'band-aid' on the situation. A big part of how soon one is seen is how emergent the situation is: a 10 yr old who has knocked his tooth out gets in
now, same for someone who has swelling. Someone who has a broken filling but it isn't sore may be a day (or two). It depends on how bad it sounds to the receptionist. But our receptionist will at least give the patient an idea of when, not leave them hanging. If you were a patient of his I would think that they should at least have given you an idea of a time, not have you waiting by the phone indefinitely.
As far as suing for an implant? If the tooth was going to be lost anyway the only harm was the self-inflicted pain. Calling another dentist would be an alternative. But there is probably a reason there are more personal injury lawyers than cardiac surgeons in our society
