There are three ways to access dental treatment at the dental hospital at Leeds Dental Institute.
Referral by your dentist
To be referred to our hospital for treatment we would require a referral from your primary care dentist. If you don’t have a dentist, we may accept a referral from your doctor but this can’t be guaranteed. This would usually be a referral for complex/specialist treatment, assessment or advice which your general dentist does not feel equipped to administer. Our specific referral forms can be found via the ‘Information for referrers’ page. Acceptance will be assessed by certain criteria. Waiting times follow the NHS 18 week pathway according to the urgency of the referral.
Emergency Treatment
The Leeds Dental Institute provides training for students who want to become dentists. Part of this training involves treating patients with a variety of dental problems in our Acute Dental Care Department.
In this department, patients who are not registered with a dentist but are having difficulties with their teeth may receive emergency treatment. At this time, they may also be assessed for any further treatment needs.
If you have been assessed and your needs match with a student training need, you may be asked if you would like to be placed on a waiting list for treatment by a student. If not, you will be advised to register with your own dentist for further care. The Institute cannot offer routine treatment, except for the purposes of student training.
You can get advice from the Acute Dental Care Department by contacting the telephone triage service on the following phone number 0113 3436225. Please note we do not provide a “walk-in” service and appointments to be seen on the Department can only be made by telephone.
The telephone triage service is available from 9:15am to 10:00am and 1:45pm to 2:30pm Monday to Friday. If the treatment you require is appropriate for treatment in the Acute Dental Care Department you will be given an appointment for the clinic.
Only a limited number of patients can be seen on each session. If demand is high, it may not be possible to see you on the day that you telephone us.
The clinic is not an NHS commissioned emergency clinic and it only operates during the term times of the University of Leeds.
Priority will always be given to patients with dental conditions that may be a threat to their health. A high level of pain is not necessarily an indicator of such conditions.
The emergency dentist for the Leeds area is contactable through the 111 service.