Dentists

How we are improving access to dental services 

Since April 2023, Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board has been responsible for commissioning Dental Services in mid and south Essex.  

We are committed to helping residents of all ages have access to timely and quality NHS dental care, and have introduced several programmes to help us achieve this.  

Finding a dentist

You can find a dental surgery that’s convenient for you, whether it’s near your home or work, and phone them to see if there are any NHS appointments available. 

Dental surgeries will not always have the capacity to take on new NHS patients. You may have to join a waiting list, or use the NHS Find a Dentist website to search for a dentist who is taking on new NHS patients. 

Once you find a dental surgery, you may have to fill in a registration form at your first visit, which is just to add you to their patient database. But that does not mean you have guaranteed access to an NHS dental appointment in the future. 

Dental emergency and out-of-hours care

If you think you need urgent care, contact your usual dentist, if you have one, as some surgeries offer emergency dental appointments and will provide care if clinically necessary.

You can also contact NHS 111, who can put you in touch with an urgent dental service.

Do not contact a GP, as they cannot offer urgent or emergency dental care.

When to contact NHS 111

You can get help from NHS 111 or NHS 111 online if you have:

• severe pain
• heavy bleeding
• swelling of your mouth, throat, neck or eye

Call 111 or use NHS 111 online.

When to go to A&E

Only visit A&E in serious circumstances, such as:

• injuries to the face, mouth or teeth
• severe or increasing swelling in your mouth, throat or neck, making it difficult to breathe, swallow or speak

Find your local A&E

If you’re not sure whether you should go to A&E, contact NHS 111 online.

How much will I be charged?

The emergency dentist will only deal with your current dental problem and provide clinically necessary treatment to stop any pain.

An urgent dental treatment will be charged at Band 1 (£26.80), unless you’re entitled to free NHS dental treatment.

If you’re asked to come back for further treatment, this will be considered a separate course of non-urgent treatment.

If you’re not entitled to free NHS dental treatment, you’ll have to pay the relevant charge for the new course of treatment.

Ask the dentist what the treatment will cost or ask for a treatment plan.

Problems finding an NHS dentist

If you’ve been unable to find a dentist and you want to raise your concerns about this, you can contact our Complaints and ConcernsT. 

As an Integrated Care Board (ICB) we commission dental services in England and are required to meet the needs of our local population for both urgent and routine dental care.  

If you’re still not satisfied with our response, you can take your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.