- NHS Dentistry -
Unfortunately, we DO NOT have the capacity to accept anymore NHS patients for routine dental care at this time. If these circumstances change, we will ensure to have this noted on both this page of the website and our Facebook page. |
We are currently accepting NHS Oral Surgery referrals via FDS System only, which needs to be completed by a Dental Professional only. This will place you on to our waiting list for care. PLEASE NOTE this is subject to change at anytime due to number of referrals received and capacity. Alternatively, we are accepting private fee basis referral also. |
Our practice is one of very few general practices in Cumbria who are contracted to provide both inhalational and intravenous sedation for anxious patients as part of our NHS services. Most other general practices will refer patients who require these more advances services to our colleagues in Special Care Dentistry. In addition we are one of a small group of practices accredited as part of Cumbria & North Lancashire's innovative Oral Surgery Clinical Network. This is an initiative by the NHS locally to improve the availability of more advanced procedures which not all practices feel confident to provide. It forms an intermediate stage between general dental practice and our specialist colleagues working in hospital, allowing them to concentrate their expertise on the cases which most need it. We provide a range of oral surgery procedures (such as the extraction of broken down teeth or the removal of wisdom teeth), and because of our interest and extended skill range, we are able to offer these treatments, where appropriate, under sedation. Once we have received your referral, our receptionists will contact you and offer you the first available appointment we have. If you have been referred for treatment under sedation, we will post out our medical form (and ask that you return it promptly), as well as an explanation of the procedure. For sedation patients David will need to see you for an assessment visit prior to treatment, so we have had the opportunity to review your medical history, discuss with you what is involved and gain your consent to proceed. This also allows patients to ask any questions they may have, and agree the best way for them to undergo care. Our oral surgery network sessions are time limited so if you have to cancel please give us as much notice as possible so we can offer the appointment to someone else on the waiting list. As we only have a limited amount of time available, and receive a highly variable number of referral requests, our waiting list is sometimes longer than would be ideal. If you feel the wait is too long, you have several options. You can ask your own dentist to refer you to an alternative network site (which may mean travelling further), but which may be able to offer you a faster appointment. You could discuss your case with NHS Cumbria's Dental Commissioning Team personally or you could ask to be referred privately. Private referrals will NOT be funded by the NHS, but will involve a shorter wait and greater flexibility in appointment times. |
For further information you can email Dr. David Smith: |
Oral Surgery Network Patient Information | |
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