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Exclusive: A locum pharmacist in Swindon who is also in his final year of study to qualify as a dentist saved a patient’s life this year when he used his dental training to spot a potentially fatal abscess, P3pharmacy can reveal.

Mohammed Iqbal Hussain (pictured) recently spoke to P3pharmacy about a consultation he had earlier this year with a methadone patient.

“He came in complaining of a toothache and just wanted to buy pain relief medicines,” said Mr Hussain of the patient. 

He continued: “But I recognised what it was and did a consultation with him before walking him over to the dental surgery and explaining that he needed an urgent appointment because of the high risk of an infection spreading.

“It turned out he had a dental abscess around the posterior mandible and there was a high risk of it going down to the sternum. 

“With him already taking methadone and having a dry mouth, there were loads of factors as to why I had to urgently escalate him.” 

His dual training also helped him spot that another patient had problems with her parathyroid function, he says. 

“She came in with a complaint about alendronic acid and vitamin D. Alarm bells rang for me, especially having the background in both dentistry and pharmacy and knowing about medicines that affect jaw bones. 

“She was complaining of excessive thirst, so I wrote a letter to her GP for them to take her in for a blood test and review the vitamin D levels, as I had a feeling that was causing the excessive thirst. 

“I also wrote down other reasons for excessive thirst, for example an issue with the parathyroid hormone or kidney function, as her GPs were telling her to just get on with it. 

“When I wrote to them to explain my diagnosis and my differentials, they took that on board and sent her off for a blood test that revealed a tumour in her parathyroid hormone."

He says the patient, who is now under a consultant’s care, wrote to the pharmacy afterwards saying: “Thanks to Mohammed’s intervention they were able to act in a timely manner, it saved my life.”

Mr Hussain says he wants “the pharmacy world to know” about the role dental health plays in overall physical wellbeing. 

Pharmacies are “seeing oral health conditions without knowing the full picture,” he commented. 

Explaining his decision to retrain as a dentist, he said: “I wanted more one-to-one interactions with patients and something where I can see the results of my work.  

“Through studying dentistry I’ve developed an interest in the connection between pharmacy and dentistry, especially how medicines affect oral health. 

“I’m pursuing further studies in medicine so I can train in oral medicine.”