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.