Urgent Dental Care: Accessibility, Availability and Equity

Objectives: To evaluate an emergency dental service available in-hours and out-of-hours to a population of half a million people in Sheffield, England. Treatment at a dental clinical provider (CP) was accessed via a 24 hour telephone triage provider (TTP).
Methods: Analysis of retrospective activity data from the TTP and CP over one year and data analysis of a patient experience questionnaire. The demographic profile of the patients and local population were compared.
Results: During the evaluation period 17,559 people contacted the TTP, 6,367 were referred to the CP, of whom 5,365 attended. Most calls to the TTP were answered within 60 seconds (96.6%) and sufficient appointments were provided at the CP. Most referrals to the CP were appropriate (93.7%), the main reasons for attendance being pain (70.4%) or swelling (18.8%). Most treatments involved surgical interventions (77.9%), whereas 18.1% were prescription only. There was high satisfaction with the CP. Cost per person calling the TTP was £5.04 and cost per person utilising the CP was £65.75. There was proportionally higher use of the TTP and CP by people living in more deprived areas and proportionally higher use by 20 to 44 year olds. Almost 50% of CP attendees were recorded as not having a dentist.
Conclusions: An equitable high quality service provided timely advice and treatment for people with emergency dental conditions. The supply of clinical care met demand. Comparison with other service models would inform on the relative efficiency of the service.