Dental services - public | Right Decisions

Role of the Public Dental Service

We assist patients who are restricted to their homes or hospitalised. We assist patients who are restricted to their homes or hospitalised. The service offers services for anxious patients, including sedation and general anaesthetics.

The additional core roles of the Public Dental Service (PDS) fall into the following main categories:

Referrals

Patients are referred to the PDS for treatment that requires expertise, equipment, accommodation or services not readily available or economical in traditional High Street Practices.

This includes referrals for Paediatric, Anxious Adult and Bariatric services.

In addition, the PDS has fully accessible premises supplemented with specialised equipment to assist those with additional needs.

Children

We provide dental services for children who have been referred for care that is often not available at a local dental practice. Instances where children may require community dental services include:

those with extensive untreated tooth decay who are particularly anxious
those with physical or learning disabilities or certain medical conditions
children referred for treatment requiring sedation or general anaesthetic

Special Care

The PDS provides access to dental care for patients with special care needs and/or were learning difficulties, mental health or physical disability may preclude treatment within General Dental Services. We can provide care for hospital in-patients and domiciliary care where appropriate to housebound patients.

Older People

The PDS provides Older People's dental services to care homes throughout Borders and in our accessible clinics if further treatment is required. There is a focus on the Caring for Smiles national programme for older people in supported care.

Who to refer, who not to refer, how to refer

Who can refer:

Referrals to the Public Dental Service are accepted from primary and secondary health and social care professionals.

Who not to refer:

The PDS will not accept referrals for the following:

Patients with lesions in their mouth considered ‘urgent suspicion of cancer’. Referral should be made directly to the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery service at St John’s Hospital using the specific SCI Gateway.
Patients with mild or moderate special care need(s) whose care can be reasonably delivered in a GDS (General Dental Practice) setting.
Patients taking anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs whose INR is maintained below 4 and have no other relevant medical complications.
Patients resident out with the boundaries of NHS Borders (applies to primary health and social care referrals).

How to refer:

Referrals to Public Dental Service are accepted from primary and secondary health and social care professionals.

GDPs (within NHS Borders) providing NHS dentistry must refer to Public Dental Service via SCI Gateway. Any other route of referral will be rejected.
If you are a primary / secondary care health or social care professional without access to SCI Gateway, please email pdsreferrals@borders.scot.nhs.uk
- Please note that the secure transmission of emails containing patient information is the referrer’s responsibility

Referrals should be completed as fully as possible, forms with incomplete information will be rejected. Relevant radiographs / images should be included in your referral. These can be sent as an ‘attachment’ in SCI Gateway. If you are not registered with SCI Gateway, please provide the images in an alternative accessible format.

Discharge criteria:

Patients will be discharged from the care of the Public Dental Service for the following reasons:

Their care can be reasonably delivered in a GDS setting.
They have completed a course of treatment under conscious sedation or general anaesthesia.
They fail to attend or repeatedly cancel their appointments at short notice. The referrer will be duly informed. For patients still wishing to be treated by the Public Dental Service, a new referral will be necessary.

Primary care management

Primary Care

“High Street” Dentist/General Dental Practitioners are usually the first point of contact for patients seeking dental care. You will know this simply as your dental practice if registered. Most of these dentists are independent general dental practitioners working on behalf of NHS Borders. These dentists are independent contractors and own their own businesses. This means that many dental practices undertake private treatments along with their contracted NHS dental services.

Registering with a dentist

As a result of the current challenges around dentistry provision within Borders and across Scotland, few dental practices are in a position register new NHS dental patients.

If you do not have a dentist because you are not registered or have been recently de-registered, please contact NHS Borders Dental Enquiry Line on 0300 7900 710 or by email at Dental.Enquiry@borders.scot.nhs.uk for advice and help registering.

Public Dental Service

NHS Borders PDS provides an alternative service to independent dentists with a particular focus on providing care to those with additional oral health needs. It offers referral services for dental anxiety, special needs, paediatric dentistry dental sedation and General Anaesthetics.

Experiencing dental pain

Not registered

If you are experiencing acute dental pain and are not registered with a dentist, you should call the NHS Borders Dental Enquiry Line on 0300 7900 710 (Monday to Friday, 8.00am – 6.00pm).

Registered

If you are experiencing acute dental pain during normal working hours and are registered with a dentist, you should call the dental practice that you normally attend by phone.

Emergencies occurring outside normal working hours

Outside normal working hours, if you feel that you have an urgent dental need, please call NHS24 on 111 regardless of whether you are registered with a dentist.

What is a dental emergency?

Abscesses and swellings in and around the mouth
Bleeding
Trauma – such as a tooth having been knocked out or broken

Local service details

bor.pdsreferrals@borders.scot.nhs.uk

Dental.Enquiry@borders.scot.nhs.uk

Dental services - public