Local treatment planning
Understand the treatment and the local access route before requesting care. The treating practice assesses suitability and confirms any appointment, fees and follow-up.
Urgent dental safety
Seek urgent dental assessment for severe or persistent pain, increasing swelling, a knocked-out adult tooth or bleeding after an extraction. Call 999 or go to A&E for serious facial injury, heavy bleeding that will not stop, or severe mouth or neck swelling affecting breathing or swallowing. Do not wait for an Odenta response.
For urgent dental problems, contact your usual practice or follow your local health board's dental helpline instructions. The correct route can vary by health-board area. The routine Dental Access Portal is not an emergency service: do not wait for an allocation if pain, swelling or injury needs attention.
Local patient planning
For Cardiff urgent dental help, the Cardiff and Vale health-board advice service is the relevant local NHS starting point when your usual dentist cannot help. Its assessment determines the appropriate next step; hospital attendance should follow instructions. Do not wait for a Welsh Dental Access Portal allocation for increasing pain or swelling. An Odenta emergency request seeks private care from participating practices where available and is separate from NHS Wales triage. Check the current participation information below before relying on that option.
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board publishes a local emergency dental advice line and describes clinical assessment before an appropriate appointment or referral. Use the current health-board page for its contact arrangements. Do not assume that the University Dental Hospital is a walk-in alternative or that joining the routine Welsh portal will address an urgent problem.
Check whether a proposed visit is private or part of NHS Wales care, and what charges and later visits may apply. If you are travelling from elsewhere in the Vale, use the offered venue rather than assuming a Cardiff city-centre appointment. For routine NHS needs, read the Welsh portal eligibility guidance and keep existing practice arrangements up to date.
If you do not have an NHS dentist, the Welsh Dental Access Portal lets eligible people register interest in routine NHS care. Health boards allocate places when they become available. Check the official eligibility and application guidance, including applications for children or someone you care for. Keep using your usual practice if you already have one.
Understand dental access in WalesLocal access sources checked . These independent public services are separate from DAN participation. Follow their current instructions.
A dental professional assesses the problem, your symptoms and relevant medical history.
Prompt assessment can identify whether pain, swelling, trauma or a broken restoration needs urgent treatment.
An online request is not a diagnosis and does not guarantee a same-day appointment.
Ask whether the quoted fee covers assessment only or includes X-rays and immediate treatment.
This is general information. Your clinician assesses the problem, explains alternatives and agrees your individual plan.
Read the complete emergency dentist guide
For dental practices
Apply through DAN, complete onboarding and control your public profile, services and patient requests. Your practice decides whether it can offer an appointment.
Apply to join DAN