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.
Start with your registered practice. If you are not registered and need urgent care during the day, follow the local health-board route listed by NHS inform. For out-of-hours dental emergencies, contact NHS 24 on 111. Some emergency centres require an appointment after telephone assessment; check before travelling.
Local patient planning
For urgent help in Inverclyde, identify your town and whether you are a resident or a visitor with a dentist elsewhere. Follow the relevant registered-practice or Greater Glasgow and Clyde advice route and confirm attendance before setting off. If your planned onward journey is imminent, tell the assessor; do not assume that urgent care will finish every stage. Ask for the immediate instructions, the remaining recommendations and how another clinician can obtain the findings once you return home.
Use NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's dental guidance for public urgent access. Registered patients contact their practice; unregistered patients follow the board's current assessment instructions. A dental hospital or referral service is not automatically open for walk-in attendance. Odenta requests are independent of the public service and do not confirm that a participating practice is available in Inverclyde.
If you are visiting Greenock or staying only briefly, explain when you leave and where ongoing care could continue. Residents travelling elsewhere should ask how many returns are expected and whether the same site handles problems between visits. Confirm any transport after receiving the actual appointment rather than building plans around a clinic name found online. Request findings for your usual dentist when care is shared.
For ongoing NHS care, use NHS inform's dental service information and ask practices about registration. An emergency assessment is not the same as joining a practice for routine care. Odenta's expression of NHS interest is independent of NHS Scotland registration and cannot reserve an NHS place.
Understand dental access in ScotlandLocal access sources checked . These independent public services are separate from DAN participation. Follow their current instructions.
This shared access guide is also linked from the places below. Public services can have their own boundaries and assessment rules. These links describe guidance, not DAN practice coverage or travel availability.
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