Dental practices across Devon came together over the 2025 festive period to provide extra urgent dental care through the NHS Devon Give a Smile for Christmas initiative.
The scheme helped people get emergency dental treatment at a time when access is usually very limited, including patients who are not registered with a dentist and those referred through NHS 111.
Give a Smile for Christmas encouraged dental practices across the county to pledge additional urgent dental care sessions during the festive period. With many practices closed over Christmas and New Year, a number of local dental practices stepped forward to offer extra appointments for patients who needed urgent help.
As a result, 61 people were seen over four days during the festive period, helping to relieve pain, manage infections and prevent dental problems from getting worse.
Jonathan Bouwer-Davies, Clinical Dental Adviser at NHS Devon, said: “It has been great to see practices involved in the Give a Smile for Christmas campaign.
“This ensured that even more urgent dental care was available for our communities throughout the festive season.
“Practices and their teams provided their expertise and time to care for patients who needed help for people who had been directed to them through NHS 111.
“This is a fantastic example of teamwork and dedication to patient wellbeing.”
Ongoing access to urgent dental care
-Extra urgent dental appointments are now available for people in Devon who need urgent or unscheduled dental care.
-These appointments are part of the 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments being rolled out across the country.
-People do not need to be registered with a dental practice to access urgent NHS dental care.
-People who need urgent dental care should visit NHS 111 online or call 111.
-NHS 111 will assess the situation and help arrange an appointment if needed.
More information about urgent dental conditions is available at NHS.uk/urgentdentalcare
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