Managing dental emergencies in general practice

Abstract

Patients will often avoid seeking dental care until they are acutely unwell and may present to other medical providers of care, including GPs and Accident and Emergency departments. The number of patients seeing GPs for dental problems is increasing, with GPs seeing on average of between 30 and 48 patients with dental problems per year. Common dental presentations to primary care include pain, swelling, bleeding, dental injury, ulceration, and oral lesions. There are a number of clinical, ethical and legal considerations when triaging, managing and signposting such patients to appropriate care.