People in need of the most urgent dental care can now access one of the 44 urgent dental centres now open in the West Midlands.

Since social distancing measures for Covid-19 and restrictions on daily activity were introduced, all non-urgent “face to face” dental activity at dental practices in the West Midlands has stopped.

People with dental problems should phone their usual local dental practice for a telephone or video-link consultation. They can be prescribed painkillers or antibiotics if needed. People without a dental practice, or for problems that happen out of hours, should contact NHS 111 for advice.

Following these telephone or video consultations, those urgent cases will be referred to one of the new Urgent Dental Care (UDC) systems which have been established to meet the distinct needs of people who are possible or confirmed Covid-19 patients, those who are shielded, those who are vulnerable or those who do not fit into these categories.

All the dental staff at these UDC systems will be dressed in full personal protective equipment, and due to the nature of dental interventions, each surgery will be ventilated and fully cleaned following each patient to help prevent the transmission of the virus.

The UDCs will operate by appointment only following telephone or video triage – there are no walk-in or drop-in appointments to ensure the safety of all patients and staff members.

In addition, people seeking help should not visit A&E departments or GP surgeries for dental care – they will not be seen and will be directed back to their own dental practice or to NHS 111.

Trish Thompson, director of Primary Care with NHS England and NHS Improvement in the Midlands said: “We now have a system in place to ensure that those people who have an urgent dental care need during the Covid-19 pandemic have access to treatment. It has been a collective team effort which we hope will help those with the most serious and long endured dental problems.

“Every member of dental staff will need to wear full PPE to protect patients and also themselves. Each surgery will be ventilated and cleaned after each patient to prevent the transmission of the virus ensuring the services we offer are safe. My thanks go to each and every member of dental staff for the role they play in providing this care.

“These arrangements have been made at pace, and NHS England and NHS Improvement will monitor closely to ensure these meet the needs of the local population and will also take any learning from the Covid-19 incident to help inform the future design, access, resilience and sustainability of dental services.”

Out of Hours services continue to operate with patients being assessed and seen as necessary. Access to these services is via NHS 111.