East Sussex Emergency Dental Service

About

East Sussex Emergency Dental Service provides urgent dental advice and triage for patients in Saint Leonards-on-sea and across Sussex when care is needed outside normal arrangements. If someone has a regular dentist, the service advises contacting them first to support any ongoing treatment needs. Where a patient does not have a regular dentist or cannot be seen, help is available through the Sussex Dental Helpline, which can book patients into NHS dental practices with availability in Sussex. For out-of-hours support, the East Sussex Out of Hours Dental Helpline can provide advice, self-help, signposting and triage based on clinical urgency. Access is controlled, and appointments are made through the triage helpline prior to attendance. Urgent treatment options may be limited and some care may be temporary to manage an acute problem, with further treatment potentially needed from a daytime dentist. The service also highlights that NHS 111 can help, either by calling 111 or visiting 111.nhs.uk, and patients can search for a daytime dentist using NHS Find a dentist. Payment may be taken remotely at the appointment booking stage where NHS patient charges apply, and patients exempt from charges are asked to bring proof of exemption. Helpline users are asked to respect staff, and any abusive calls will be terminated.