If you think you need urgent treatment, contact your usual dental practice and ask to be seen as an emergency. If you do not have a regular dentist, you can still get urgent care. Call NHS England, the commissioning board, and ask for the dental access helpline, or call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.
You may need urgent treatment if you have:
- toothache or swelling that suggests an infection of a tooth or gum
- severe toothache or facial pain which is not controlled by taking over-the-counter painkillers
- trauma of the face, mouth or teeth after a recent accident or injury
- a permanent tooth being knocked out
- bleeding after tooth extraction that you cannot control
- serious swelling of the mouth or face which is getting worse
Most urgent treatments can be dealt with in one appointment. However, if more than one visit is required, and you return to the same dentist to complete the urgent course of treatment, you will only need to pay a single Band 1 (£18.00) charge for the whole course.
Once your urgent course of treatment has been completed, you may be advised to make another appointment for a separate course of non-urgent treatment. In this case, you will have to pay a second charge in the relevant treatment band.
