Residents on the Isle of Wight will now have improved access to routine and urgent NHS dental care as 2 new NHS dental practices open on the Island.
Dental provider Dentistry For You, is working with NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight to provide 21,000 routine urgent dental appointments as part of a national programme to support patients who need emergency treatments.
This follows on from the opening of Damira practice in Ryde who were also awarded a contract to deliver 21,000 urgent dental appointments.
James Roach, Director of Primary Care and Local Care at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said:
“We have worked closely with Dentistry For You to increase the availability of routine urgent dental appointments for residents on the Isle of Wight. We are expanding access points for patients and will soon be launching urgent dental hubs across various locations to help deliver these appointments.
“Access to routine NHS dental appointments is improving and this significant increase in routine urgent care will strengthen NHS dentistry locally. As a commissioner we are keen to maintain increasing appointment availability year on year, and we encourage patients to use the appointments available in line with need.
“We are changing the landscape of NHS dentistry on the Island and would like to thank all our partners for their support. We are also about to launch an oral health promotion programme for children and identify a site for a dental school hub.”
Dr Murtaza Kanani, Clinical Director at Dentistry For You, said:
“We are pleased to support the delivery of routine and urgent dental care appointments across the Isle of Wight. Using 111 online is the best first step for anyone unsure if they need urgent treatment. They will then be guided to the right service, which may include one of the local practices offering these additional urgent appointments.”
These urgent appointments are for patients who are likely to be in significant pain, including those suffering from infections or needing urgent repairs to a lost filling or crown, and require urgent treatment. Use 111 online or call 111 to check symptoms and access the right care.
Conditions suitable for urgent dental appointments include:
- 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.
More information on urgent dental conditions at: NHS.uk/urgentdentalcare
The key word that undermines this apparently good news is “urgent”.
“Urgent” means that you get a temporary filling or a prescription for antibiotics then told to sign up for their private service or go away and find a dentist to get the problem actually fixed.
That is a sticking plaster, not a service.
We need dentists who will provide regular check-ups and actual treatment and that won’t happen without a massive shake up to the way practices are licensed.
Most of the dentists already here would give you an emergency appointment if you pay, we need a fully funded NHS dental service.
Yes we need nhs freevdental not private ive worked all.my life get mynpension which i paid for but get no other benefits but dtill have to pay for a private denyist whichni did for. 2 years and you hadv2 hygenist app includer with my monthky payment no where near as good as my last dentist i paidvfor hygenist andvdentist hygenist was brilliant damira hygenist wasca. Awful my teeth did not look sny better than before it took all of.15 minutes no one ever answered.the phone and as far as i was concerned moved to the.ryde practise as a nhs patient andbthenbwas tokd no vacancy for nhs so i vcould just carry on.paying and be private after theynbtold.me i was on nhs list so guessvwhst i .stopped.my direct debit as did my friend as she did same went to ryde as nhs patient and told same no vacancy for nhs she slso cancelled her direct debit so both of us have no dentist now thats how damira has the bad name they now have