NHS Grampian Dental Services: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response - Accessing dental services
Published: 28/04/2022 16:00It is now possible to access a wider range of dental services at your local dental practice following further relaxation of Covid-19 infection prevention and control (IPC) measures.
Visiting your dental practice for treatment
High street dental practices are now open for the provision of a full range of dental services, with some enhanced infection control measures still in place.
Health and care services will still need to undertake triaging prior to treatment for patients and individuals with confirmed or suspected respiratory infections, including Covid-19. You should not attend your dental practice unless you have an appointment.
Your dental appointment
It is important that you follow any advice given, such as needing to wear a face covering, as this information is provided for your safety and the safety of the dental team.
Maintaining physical distancing to ensure your continued safety may still be required by your dental practice for patients on the respiratory pathway (that is if you have confirmed or suspected respiratory infections, including Covid-19). This information will be provided to you if you require an appointment.
Available treatments
It is now possible for your dentist to provide the full range of NHS treatments including aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) using the standard infection control and prevention measures that were in place prior to the pandemic.
In some cases, an enhanced level of personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary to provide this type of care if you are placed on the respiratory pathway (that is if you have confirmed or suspected respiratory infections, including Covid-19) or if the dentist choses to as a precautionary measure.
Getting help with a dental problem
If you have a dental problem you should contact your dental practice for an appointment. The team will give you advice about the options available and guide you to make sure you get the right treatment.
Where your practice is closed, you should hear a message which provides details of their out of hours arrangements for providing advice and treatment.
Outside normal working hours (between 6pm and 8am on weekdays or anytime at weekends), if you have an URGENT dental need, please contact NHS 24 on 111.
If you are not registered with a dentist
Help is available by contacting the NHS Grampian Dental Information and Advice Line DIAL on 0345 45 65 990. This service is available between 8.05am - 6.00pm (Mon-Fri) and can also be used if you are just visiting the Grampian area and cannot wait until you see your local dentist. For URGENT dental problems that occur between 6pm and 8am or any time at weekends, you should call NHS 24 on 111.
Further information about who to turn to in case of dental emergencies is available here.