GPs are often asked to see patients for dental conditions. This can include assessments for dental conditions and requests for prescriptions for antibiotics.
Guidance set out by the British Medical Association to GPs, with regard to treating dental
infections.
Unfortunately, GPs are unable to provide dental care. Broadly speaking, this is because GPs are not trained in Dentistry.
The specific reasons for this are given below (cited from British Medical Association Guidance.
Patients presenting with dental problems
- GPs should not attempt to manage a condition requiring dental skills unless they have appropriate training
- Both the civil courts and the GMC require doctors to have appropriate skills for any treatment they offer
- Patients should be advised to contact local emergency dental services or the emergency department.
- General dental practitioners have an ethical responsibility to provide access to advice and emergency treatment for patients, including those under a private contract.
Acute dental conditions
Clinical guidelines recommend that the first-line treatment for acute dental conditions should be an operative intervention, such as extraction or root canal treatment.
Acute dental abscesses respond well to local surgical treatment. For patients presenting with
bleeding and trauma, early diagnosis and referral to a dentist is advised.
Antibiotics should only be prescribed in patients exhibiting signs of local or systemic spread or for those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.
The treatment plan should be advised by a qualified dentist who has seen and assessed the patient.
Prescribing
This guidance applies to patients seeking an NHS prescription following the issue of a private prescription or recommendation of a drug by a dentist.
- Dentists are obliged to issue NHS prescriptions to NHS patients where required.
- Dentists have a duty of care to issue private prescriptions to private patients.
If a GP were to issue antibiotics for a dental condition, this could do potential harm e.g. inappropriate or insufficient treatment, which could result in antibiotic resistance and further complications.
If you need to find a dentist, please use the link below:
Emergency dental services are accessible through calling 111.