If you need urgent dental care, contract your regular dentist in the first instance. If you don’t have a regular dentist or can’t get an appointment, please call NHS 111.
For any of the following conditions, NHS 111 can book you an urgent appointment with a dentist if appropriate.
- Severe toothache: persistent and intense pain that cannot be managed with over-the-counter painkillers.
- Dental abscess: infection causing swelling, pain, and possibly fever.
- Broken or knocked-out tooth: trauma resulting in a fractured or completely dislodged tooth.
- Bleeding in mouth following a dental procedure or an injury that doesn’t stop by itself but can be self-controlled using local measures. Note that if bleeding cannot be self-controlled in any way, emergency care may be necessary.
- Swelling: significant swelling in the mouth or face that could indicate an infection.
- Fractured, loose or displaced fillings causing pain.
- Severe bleeding from gums, or acute conditions affecting other soft areas of the mouth (such as cheeks or tongue) which require urgent treatment.
- Other treatments may be available at the discretion of the dentist. These treatments may require extra visits and costs.
You may be offered up to two additional appointments to carry out follow-up work and to stabilise whatever caused the problem.
You do not need to be registered with an NHS dentist to access these appointments.