Dental services

If you develop an urgent dental issue, telephone 111. Patients will receive a medical triage and dental triage by an appropriately qualified clinician so that they can understand the urgency of the treatment needed. The dedicated emergency helpline will provide access to emergency dental care.

The NHS 111 health advisor will assess your situation, and if you have a clinical need for urgent treatment, they will make an appointment at the nearest urgent dental care service. If the issue is not assessed to be urgent, you will be directed to another NHS dental practice and/or given self-care advice until you can get an appointment.

Please note: urgent and stabilisation dental services are available in Dorset and are designed to be accessed promptly, either by visiting NHS 111 online or calling 111. Patients should be able to access these services without significant delay.

Patients are not registered with a dentist in the same way as a GP practice – patients can contact any NHS dental practice to access care if they have NHS appointments available.

We are aware of the extensive waiting lists for children and adults and we are exploring ways to address this issue. Although some practices are putting on additional capacity for new patients, this does not mean that they will be able to accommodate all new patient requests.

Some practices have waiting lists for patients requesting an appointment at the practice for routine NHS dental care. As independent contractors, dental practices are responsible for managing their own appointment books and are best placed to advise if they can take on new patients.

Please note: NHS Dorset does not hold information on practices who are currently accepting new patients so will not be able to arrange a dental appointment on your behalf.

You can search for local dentists using the NHS Find a Dentist website.

Please note: NHS Dorset has no control over this NHS website and it is mandatory for dentists to keep it updated with their current status on accepting NHS patients.

Currently, there is no system in place for assigning members of the public to a high street NHS dentist. Each practice manages its own availability and is required to publish it on the NHS Find a Dentist site. While some dental practices maintain waiting lists, this is not mandatory

A dental practice has an NHS contractual obligation during an open course of treatment for example crowns, bridges, and dentures. If something goes wrong, requiring repair or retreatment, within 12 months of the original treatment, then your dentist should do what is necessary without any additional charges. Outside of this, a dental practice does not have any obligation to continue to offer NHS care to a person.

The ICB understands that there are long waits for dental services, including for children, and how frustrating this can be. We also acknowledge that being unable to access a dentist and poor oral health can have a profound impact on a child’s life, including lower school attendance. We’re committed to addressing this and working with our partners to do so.

Community dental services are provided by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SFT), who provide dental services in both the East and West of Dorset. The community dental services team provide special care and paediatric dentistry (SCPD) which is the treatment of:

• Adult patients who cannot be treated in a high street dental practice due to the nature of their physical or mental disabilities, or because they have a need for additional support to receive treatment
• Children who may have needs as described above, or who have more complex or significant treatment needs

Please note: referrals to the service can only be by made by a dentist or other healthcare professional using the forms on the website.

Home visit can be arranged in exceptional circumstances via the community dental provider.

Community dental services are provided by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SFT). who provide dental services in both the East and West of Dorset. The team at Somerset provide special care and paediatric dentistry (SCPD) to patients who cannot be treated in a high street dental practice, which includes domiciliary visits.

Please note: referrals to the service can only be made by a dentist or other healthcare professional using the forms on the website.

As of June 2025, there are 107 dental practices in Dorset that offer NHS dental and orthodontic services.

NHS Dorset is responsible for planning and meeting the healthcare needs of people and communities in Dorset. As the commissioners of healthcare, we have responsibility for commissioning dental services and recognise that dentistry services, like other parts of primary care, are under significant pressure and are facing a number of challenges.

As part of their duties, NHS Dorset regularly reviews the performance of all NHS dental contracts and supports dental practices in delivering their contracted activity to ensure they reach their maximum potential. Furthermore, the team identifies opportunities for commissioning additional NHS work from dental practices that have the capacity to do so.

NHS Dorset is also working closely with the Local Dental Committee (LDC) and the Regional Dental Networks to try and build capacity in Dorset, noting there is a National Contract Reform Programme being undertaken by NHS England.

NHS Dorset are currently taking a range of actions to improve dental care availability and preventative programmes for patients without a regular dentist. These actions include:

• Commissioning additional urgent dental care appointments that patients can access by calling
• Providing additional appointments for those who seek urgent dental care and who have a number of dental issues that need addressing, as part of unscheduled dental care
• Supporting the First Dental Steps initiative, which trains health visitors and midwives to give oral health care advice and provide care packs (toothbrushes and toothpaste) to families with children under two
• Big Brush Club a supervised toothbrushing scheme -3-5yr olds attending nursery, reception or preschool (within a school setting) Big Brush Club. Resources provided by Big Brush Club. The aim of the programme is for every child to brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste once a day and ideally twice per day at home too. This scheme is run in partnership with NHS Dorset and At Home Dental
• Finally, providing additional stabilisation services across all areas of Dorset

Stabilisation treatment is available for patients who have experienced a dental problem and have not been able to access NHS Care. Stabilisation appointments usually follow an episode of urgent care and provide the next steps for a patient who is out of immediate pain but requires additional work to be able to eat.

Before any treatment is started, you will be asked to sign a personal dental plan. This will explain the NHS treatment the dentist is going to carry out and the cost. If any private treatment has been discussed, this cost will be listed separately. NHS dentists provide all treatment that the NHS dentist feels is clinically necessary to keep teeth, gums, and mouth healthy.

NHS dental charges from 1 April 2025 are:

• Band 1 course of treatment – £27.40 (examination, diagnosis, scale, and polish if clinically needed, preventative care and advice on how to prevent future problems)
• Band 2 course of treatment – £75.30 (everything listed in band 1, plus any further treatment such as fillings, root canal work or removal of teeth)
• Band 3 course of treatment – £326.70 (everything listed in band 1 & 2, plus crowns, dentures, bridges, and other laboratory work)
• Emergency dental treatment – £27.40 (covers emergency care, such as pain relief and temporary fillings)

Additional information on dental costs can be found at NHS UK.

You are entitled to free NHS dental treatment if at the start of the treatment you are:

• Under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education
• Pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months
• Being treated in an NHS hospital and your treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist. You may have to pay for dentures or bridges
• Receiving low-income benefits, or you’re under 20 and a dependent of someone receiving low-income benefits

More information can be found at NHS UK. There is also a service to check what help you could get and how to apply.

Many practices offer both NHS and private treatment. We expect practices to use their NHS funding to provide the maximum possible amount of safe care for patients, and we are supporting practices with this approach.

Mixed practices tend to have separate appointment books for both NHS and private treatment, and they may have different staff teams. They should provide NHS services during their contracted opening hours; however, because of high demand, they may have used up their available NHS appointments so the practice may, therefore, offer the private option to patients.

NHS Dorset is aware that there are private treatment options available to patients, however, this would be for the patient to seek this care independently.

There are several ways to reduce the cost of private dental care. One option is to get dental insurance that can cover some of the expenses. It’s important to compare different insurance plans to find the best one for your needs. Additionally, shopping around for dental providers and comparing their prices for specific services can help save money. Negotiating fees with your dentist, especially for expensive procedures, is another possibility. Visiting a dental school where students, supervised by experienced dentists, may offer services at a lower cost is another option. Finally, some dental practices may offer payment plans that allow patients to spread out the cost of treatment over time.

To raise a complaint, you can either ask your practice for a copy of their complaints procedure. More information about the NHS complaints procedure can be found on the NHS Dorset website. Please note that the Ombudsman can only intervene once you have attempted to resolve the issue locally, with the practice or ICB.

If you require assistance in making a complaint, The Advocacy People offer free advice and support for complaints regarding the National Health Service in Dorset.

You can reach them at:

The Advocacy People

PO Box 375

Hastings

TN34 9HU

Telephone:  0300 440 9000

Email:  info@theadvocacypeople.org.uk

Text: 80800 using keyword PEOPLE, followed by your message.

To support access to care for all, practices should have arrangements in place to use translators and interpreters for patients who require support with communication.

Other useful links/information

Dental services – NHS

How can you find an NHS dentist? Healthwatch

 Dental health

Dental health tips – NHS England

Dental health advice – Dental Health Foundation

We are trying several initiatives to both recruit and retain dental clinicians in the NHS. Nationally, the NHS Workforce Plan looks to substantially increase the number of training place over the next 5-10 years. In the South West, we are supporting existing dentists through a peer review project to help them feel more supported and to be able to meet with other clinicians to share best practice.

We are also supporting work experience to attract students into dentistry and support dentists who have qualified outside of the UK to come to and stay in the region.

We have made a commitment to develop a three-year plan to further invest in high street dentists and several incentives have been planned to try and increase provision.  In 2024 an additional 17,636 patients in Dorset benefitted from a new patient incentive, and we have made a commitment to extend this initiative throughout 2024/2025 and 2025/2026

In February 2025 the Government announced there would be an extra 700,000 urgent dental appointments nationally. For Dorset the share of this is 13,569 additional dental care appointments which we are currently in the process of procuring.

Additionally, the Government has directed ICBs to ensure the availability of urgent dental care appointments for the public. This initiative guarantees that patients can access prompt NHS treatment for urgent dental needs. Following initial care, patients requiring further treatment will be referred to a stabilisation service to complete their dental care.

In Dorset we have taken proactive steps to address the challenges in NHS dental access by significantly increasing the funding allocated to dentists for NHS work. While this change may not see immediate results, we anticipate that it will incentivise more local dentists to expand their NHS commitments over time and improve access to the Dorset population.

We have a partnership with Health Sciences University (HSU) to establish an Oral Health Institute as the vehicle to design and deliver a future workforce model in support of the Dorset Oral Health Care Model. During 2025/2026 we will work with HSU to develop oral health training and treatment hubs across the county.