Finding an emergency dentist in Hull has genuinely been made easier by the introduction of a central phone line
Up until a few years ago, finding an emergency dentist in Hull was quite difficult. Most people in Hull used private dentists. The level of emergency services provided varied from clinic to clinic. Sometimes people were left going around in circles when they needed a dentist out of hours. If they called their regular dentist, all they got was an answering machine. Sometimes they were advised to go to a chemist for pain medication or to the hospital in an emergency. In many cases when they did so, they would be directed back to their dentist.
In 2008, the NHS trust responsible for the Hull area decided to do something to improve things. They introduced a single number for people in need of emergency dental care to call. Patients who called this number are given advice. If they need it, they are given an emergency appointment with a dentist. They attend the appointment and get the treatment they need there and then. All the patient needs is the money to pay for their treatment.
This emergency appointment is with a dentist that is located close to the bus station or train station. The NHS Trust took this approach to make sure that the emergency dental service they were offering would be genuinely accessible for everyone in the city.
It was a well-planned solution, so it worked smoothly from the start. Four years later hundreds of people in the city are still benefiting from this service. It is a model of emergency dental care that is now being used in other parts of the UK.
Locating an emergency dentist in Hull is simple
Dental clinics like the East Hull Dental Centre are doing their part to make sure that it is easy for their patients to get the emergency dental care they need. On their website, business cards and appointment cards they list the emergency number. The out of hours tab on their website explains, in full, how the city’s emergency dental care system works.