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Care Opinion

Out of hours Dentistry

Posted By Utterly let down

"Out of hours Dentistry"

About: Dundee Dental Hospital / Dental Services

(as a service user),

I had been experiencing intense acute pain to a pre-molar and attended my dentist who provided treatment in the form of a temporary filling under local anaesthetic. A few hours later as the anaesthetic began to wear off the pain returned with a vengeance. I contacted NHS 24 to seek an urgent appointment with a out of hours dentist only to be informed that there was no such service in Dundee and that i had to continue to self treat with over the counter pain killers (with no effect as i had been doing so) and arrange to see my own dentist the next day. 

I find it utterly unbelievable that in modern times with a health service as advanced as ours, in the fourth biggest city in Scotland there is no provision for emergency dental care in the out of hours period. It is absolutely disgraceful that anyone should be asked to suffer so much pain due to the complete lack of access to healthcare. Whoever made the decision to cut these services, probably to save money, I can only hope that one day they can understand what it's like from a patient's point of view.      

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Responses

Response from Alison Moss, Feedback Manager, NHS Tayside 4 years ago
Alison Moss
Feedback Manager,
NHS Tayside

Submitted on 10/02/2020 at 17:56
Published on Care Opinion at 17:56

Dear “Utterly let down”

I am sorry to hear of the pain you experienced following your temporary filling and your frustration that you were unable to get an urgent appointment with an out of hours dentist.

Whilst I fully recognise the distress caused by dental pain, particularly when this cannot be managed with over the counter painkillers, NHS requirements are that urgent dental care should be arranged within 24 hours of it being identified and the advice you were given was correct. Medical emergencies, such as trauma and extensive infection, can be referred to hospital if required.

I hope that your Dentist was able to help with your pain and further treatment.

Kind regards.

Morag Curnow

Clinical Dental Director

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Utterly let down (a service user)

Hi, I’m afraid your sympathy is not what I was looking for. Or a recap of how insufficient the service is. My question was why in a health board with a population of 396,000 has no provision in the OOH period to treat patients with severe dental pain?

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