NHS centres help 85,000 people get urgent dental care
A network of urgent dental access centres has helped over 85,000 people to get NHS urgent dental care since it was piloted in 2024.
The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) invested £9.5 million in 23 urgent dental access centres (UDACs) to provide people who can't access NHS dental care with a lifeline when they have an urgent problem.
The centres were piloted in Darlington and Carlisle in 2024, at a time when NHS 111 received around 1,400 calls a week from people trying to access urgent dental care.
Following the successful pilot, centres were launched across the region in November 2025 and the network now provides almost 109,000 appointments every year to diagnose and treat urgent dental problems.
Adults and children can use the service, and people can visit any centre, not just the one closest to them. UDACs don't provide routine dental care, like check-ups.
Patients are able to book their own appointments online, giving them more choice about where and when to get urgent dental care. More than 40,000 online appointment bookings have been made so far – that's almost 4,300 online bookings every month.
The online appointment booking system has generated a 13.9% year-on-year reduction in dental-related calls to NHS 111.
On average, 91% of UDAC patients received a definitive treatment for their urgent dental problem, which lead to a 14% drop in antibiotic prescribing between November 2025 and July 2026.
Samantha Allen, chief executive of the ICB, said: "Urgent dental access centres have helped over 85,000 people across the North East and North Cumbria get safe and reliable care for urgent dental problems.
"By giving people the opportunity to book their own appointments online, we have reduced pressure on NHS 111 and provided patients with more choice to get urgent dental care at a time and place that suits them.
"Alongside an increase in definitive treatments for urgent care problems, this new model of care has proven to deliver huge benefits to patients across the region."
Tom Robson, dental clinical lead for the ICB, said UDACs are also having a positive impact on NHS dental care in the region: "UDAC appointments are published two days in advance which gives centres the flexibility to tailor capacity to demand and, as a result, minimise unused urgent care appointments and maximise NHS staff time."
UDACs are located in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, Teesside, and North Cumbria.
Photo:
Samantha Allen, chief executive, and Tom Robson, dental clinical lead, of North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board.