THERE is hope for anybody experiencing tooth pain during the coronavirus crisis.

That’s according to a father of two young children, who hailed the work of the NHS in Wiltshire in dealing with an agonising and potentially serious dental condition while clinics across the UK are closed.

At the start of March George Bevir, 41, developed an abscess and started treatment at his local dental clinic, Marlborough Dental Care in Hughenden Yard.

He said: “I went for treatment and the standard practice is to pack it all out and come back in a few weeks.”

But in that time the lockdown was announced by prime minister Boris Johnson – and George’s wife Gemma showed some symptoms of having coronavirus.

He said: “I didn’t want to go anywhere during that time.

“But 10 days ago the abscess started back up. It’s really painful – it’s horrific. It starts in the tooth, and the jaw, but it spreads, and it spreads to the face and gives you earache and affects the glands in the neck. And it’s not only the pain, but it can make you quite unwell.”

George didn’t hold out much hope of being able to get the problem sorted, but rang his normal dentist and was referred for emergency treatment.

He said: “I was called by a triage dentist, who asked a few questions and then offered me an emergency appointment that day.

“I was a bit unsure. I was saying I could come a couple of days later, but they said they wanted to get emergency treatments done as soon as possible, to keep the capacity, and they were able to do it that day.”

George was told to go to West Swindon Health Centre in Link Avenue and was impressed by how well it was being managed.

He said: “I had my instructions, I was to drive there and call from the car park. A nurse came out, took my temperature and checked some things.

“When they were ready I want straight in and through to the room and the dentist and assistant were all PPE’d up.

“They took the tooth out and it was all done in about 20 minutes.”

Under normal circumstances George said he was told it might have been possible to save the tooth by root canal work, but that would have needed a number of appointments.

He said: “I was impressed that I was able to be treated in the first place – I thought I might have to just put up with the abscess but it was so painful I was really glad I was able to be seen. And it was very well organised for the safety of everybody.

“I’d say to people who have a medical problem other than Covid-19 it’s worth ringing – because if there are the resources to see you, you can get treatment.”

The Adver has attempted to contact West Swindon Health Centre.