Finding a new NHS dentist
When you move to a new town or city, you may need to register with a new NHS dentist and thankfully it is an incredibly easy process, primarily because you don’t need to register in the same way you would with a GP.
Unlike GPs, your dentists can be outside of a catchment area and this gives you the flexibility to choose a location that could be near home, or maybe near work.
In order to find a dentist surgery, you need to use the NHS website and search for the dentists in your local area, or an area you’ve specified. From here, you need to call them and see if they have any appointments available.
Unfortunately, some surgeries may not have the capacity for new patients and consequently, you would have to join a waiting list or look for an alternative dentist who is accepting new patients. The website will detail all this information. Once you arrive at the surgery, you will have to fill in the registration form, and you will then be added to the patient database.
If you have suffered a dental emergency and are not registered to a dentist surgery, then you can organise an emergency dental appointment and most surgeries offer these each day, however, they do come with an additional cost. You can contact NHS 111 and they will be able to help with emergencies and direct to the nearest available surgery for treatment as soon as possible.
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