Patients are recommended to attend their own dentist in the first instance.
The A&E clinic operates a walk in service from 8:30am for the morning clinic and 1:30pm for the afternoon clinic, Monday to Friday. Patients are accepted for treatment in the A&E clinic for the management of acute pain, severe infection, haemorrhage, oro-facial trauma, swelling or possible/suspected cancer. The clinic is unable to see other patients. Specifically the clinic does not provide Oral Maxillofacial Surgery or Oral Medicine services, restore teeth, repair dentures, Orthodontics or carry out routine extractions. The A&E is staffed by the NCHD (Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors). No Specialist Services or Consultants are on duty in this service.
A triage system is used in our Accident and Emergency Department to ensure that the patients with the most urgent needs are accepted. There is no guarantee of acceptance or treatment. The dentist on duty, will determine whether the presenting dental problem is appropriate for treatment by our Accident and Emergency team.
Acceptance for this service is at the discretion of the screening dentist on duty in line with our acceptance criteria. If treatment is provided it may be just temporary – sufficient to relieve the pain and prevent serious damage until the patient can attend your own Dentist.
As our Accident and Emergency service is restricted on the numbers of patients which we can accept on each clinic, we do on occasion reach our full patient capacity in either a morning or afternoon session. Unfortunately such an occurrence is unpredictable as this service is walk-in. If this occurs during the morning session you may be asked to return that afternoon or alternatively if it occurs in the afternoon you may be asked to return the following day. Please be understanding to our staff that this is outside their control and this event occurs due to high demand on our Accident and Emergency services.
At present we are experiencing high demand for this service.
Patients who are under treatment from staff or students in another clinic in the DDUH should, in the first instance, try to contact the relevant individual or department.
There is a limited service most evenings and weekends. At weekends, A&E is not a walk in clinic. Patients must first phone the Dental hospital and leave a message for on call staff who will return the call and discuss the need for the patient to attend the Department.. Any patient who requires emergency treatment should, in the first instance, contact his or her own dentist, or if eligible, the local health board clinic.
The DDUH has no arrangements with any dental practices to see emergencies on their behalf, despite, information highlighted in some practices.
Dentists who have cases requiring emergency dental treatment should note that cases that are beyond the scope of general practice are also probably beyond the scope of the A&E clinic and normally require attention in a consultant/specialist clinic. It is advisable in such cases to telephone the appropriate Department in that specialty.
Please DO NOT advise a patient to attend the A&E Clinic, whether or not you provide a letter of referral, without discussing with the A&E Department as it leads to patients being upset, when treatment cannot be provided.