Patients should be aware of dental services available locally to manage emergency dental conditions, including:
- on the NHS website – find out more about dental services on the NHS website
- NHS 111 online – visit the NHS 111 online website
- local dental access centres
- local NHS dentists – find your local dentist on the NHS website
Emergency dental services
- GPs are not responsible for treating dental problems.
- Patients should be advised to contact local emergency dental services or the emergency department.
- General dental practitioners have an ethical responsibility to provide access to emergency treatment outside normal hours.
- Having established an apparent dental problem, GPs or practice teams should direct the patient to a dentist or local emergency service, or refer them to secondary care.
- If the patient has no usual dentist or there is no response from the usual dentist, the patient should contact NHS 111 (England)
- Patients presenting with signs of spreading infection or systemic involvement of a dental infection should be referred immediately to secondary care for appropriate surgical management.
Prescribing
This guidance applies to patients seeking an NHS prescription following the issue of a private prescription or recommendation of a drug by a dentist.
- Dentists are obliged to issue NHS prescriptions to NHS patients where required.
- Dentists have a duty of care to issue private prescriptions to private patients.
- If a legitimate need for an NHS prescription cannot be established, it should not be provided.
