How do I find a private dentist?

I managed to find one, and went to him due to extreme pain I was having. He told me that I had the largest abscess that he'd ever seen (showed me, it was like the size of a pistachio), two wisdom teeth coming in, and a chipped tooth. He prescribed me anti-biotic to shrink the abscess and said once I was done with the antibiotic to come back and we'd begin the dental work...

However, life often doesn't go as planned. After I finished the antibiotics the dentist was no longer in business, he's office had been closed due to mental illness. According to the townsfolk, shortly after my initial visit, he walked to the pub to get a beer completely nude, and at some point during what had to have been a chilly walk and awkward entrance into the pub, he decided he no longer wanted to be a dentist.

So as the Welsh say, There we are then.  I haven't been able to find a new dentist, everyone I've found is NHS, and they have long waiting lists, when I tell them I have an abscess they just refer me to some other dentist with a long waiting list or the NHS hot line.

I would like to see a private dentist, preferably one that isn't mentally ill, but I'm not picky I know beggars can't be choosers, so as long as he or she can wait until after my abscess is taken care of before they have their breakdown, I'm okay with that.

Any advice?

Have you tried asking the NHS dentists if you could register as a private patient? I was under the impression most NHS dentists also do private work.

There's a map of dentists here that seems to work well for the areas I know (I can't think of any they've left off). Barring that, I know my local hospital has an emergency dentistry section, perhaps yours has one, too?

If it becomes a huge issue, you could also look around at the Universities around you to see if there is a dental school.  You would always be heavily supervised, and sometimes they can fit you right in!

http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/serviceSearch.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/serviceSearch.aspx

As the OP is in Wales the NHS England website won't have the information she is looking for...however here is the NHS Wales site for locating services: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/directory.cfm.

As others have said, you can call around and see if any of the NHS dentists are taking Private Patients, or you might even be able to squeeze in as an NHS patient and save yourself a significant amount of money.

No lolz for my dentist pulling a Lady Godiva?

Thanks for all the advice! =)
No luck yet, I am in a very very rural area of Wales, I did manage to get one lead which I'm going to follow up on Monday. Wish me luck! 

Where in Wales are you?  I had no problem finding an NHS dentist in Cardiff, but obviously it will be different out in the villages.  You can also call your local trust who should be able to tell you which, if any, dentists are available in the area.  Sometimes the information is not up to date, but it should be pretty close.

If you do that and can't find anyone in time, I agree with the other poster, just start looking for recommendations of good dentists and there's a good chance they'll take on private clients even if they are NHS.