Extra urgent dental appointments now available in the West Midlands

Extra appointments are now available for people in the West Midlands who need urgent or unscheduled dental care.

These appointments are part of the 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments being rolled out across the country.

The appointments are for urgent conditions including severe toothache, dental abscesses, broken or knocked-out teeth, bleeding in mouth following a dental procedure or an injury, significant swelling in the mouth or face that could indicate an infection, severe bleeding from gums, or acute conditions affecting other soft areas of the mouth.

Other treatments may also be available at the discretion of the dentist.

These treatments may require extra visits and costs.

Adam Morby, regional chief dental officer for NHS England – Midlands, said: “We know how important it is to people in the West Midlands that they can get urgent dental care when they need it, so we’re pleased to be offering these extra appointments.

“Through this initiative, and others that have expanded NHS dental services, we are helping to improve patients’ access to dentistry. 

“There is also work happening nationally to improve dental workforce recruitment, retention and training.”

Mohammad Shaikh, a dentist in Dudley, added: “Our dental practice regularly provides urgent dental appointments. Patients either call us directly if they are a regular patient, or they ring 111 to be directed to us or another regional dentist if they are not.

“Last week, I saw an urgent dental care patient who required a same-day tooth extraction due to severe pain.

“The patient told us that although they had experienced long waits for dental care last year and they feel that emergency dental services have improved significantly and that it is now much easier to get an appointment when they need one.”