THE subject of NHS dentistry is in the news again (March 15). After being bumped off my dentist's list because I couldn't afford to go private, I found myself in the unenviable position of having an abscess on one tooth and an excruciating toothache in another.

Compound all this with the fact that it was the weekend and my nightmare began.

I rang my doctor's emergency phone number and was told they wouldn't treat me and I would have to contact NHS Direct. This I did after three hours trying - Saturday not being a good day to be ill I think - and was treated to a return call four or five hours later, some common sense advice and a phone number for a dentist in outer Mongolia.

So I took the advice, took painkillers and suffered in silence. When I awoke from a fitful sleep the next day my face had swollen up to alarming proportions.

There was nothing else I could do, so I took myself off to casualty at York Hospital. Staff took one look at me and handed out antibiotics and stronger pain killers, which was great. My face began to subside and the pain went.

I was told that once the abscess had gone down I should contact the emergency NHS dentist at Monkgate, York, who would take a look.

Well, once the abscess had gone, I felt a bit better and, being terrified of dentists, I avoided it like the plague. Big mistake. The pain returned so I rang, got an appointment that afternoon, had the horrid tooth out and now feel great again.

I cannot praise the service at Monkgate enough. Staff there were kind, sensitive and very friendly. All of them should be commended on the job that they do, which must be stressful.

Jenny Cammidge,

Ouseburn Avenue,

York.

Updated: 10:36 Friday, March 17, 2006