Dental support
This page offers information about getting NHS dental care.
How to find a dentist
The NHS has a Find-A-Dentist service to help you find a practice offering treatment near you.
We know it is challenging to find dentists currently offering NHS care in Norfolk.
*If you need emergency treatment, contact 111 for help finding urgent NHS care*
Having trouble facing a dentist?
Everyone should be able to get the care and advice they need to keep their teeth healthy. But local Healthwatch continue to hear that this isn’t the case.
Are you having trouble finding an NHS dentist? Read Healthwatch England’s tips on what to do if you’re facing problems.
Advice for people looking for a dentist in Norfolk
There are unfortunately difficulties getting an NHS dentist across Norfolk and this has been an ongoing issue for a while.
Recruitment of dentists to the area has been particularly challenging and this may mean that you may have to travel further to access NHS dentistry or join a long waiting list because very few dentists in Norfolk are taking on new patients.
The best way to try and find a dentist which is taking on patients is to visit the NHS website and search for local dentists based on your postcode: www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist.
There is an indication on this website whether each practice is taking on patients. However practices are able to open and close their books to new patients as needed and do not necessarily keep these details up to date. Unfortunately, it would be a case of contacting the practices directly and making enquiries. Healthwatch Norfolk have raised our concerns around dental practices not keeping their information up to date.
Although we cannot make any recommendations for dentists, we have seen that the following dentists on this site (www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist) have updated their information recently to say that they are accepting patients (last checked 15th May 2023) or we have heard they are taking on new NHS patients. Even though these pages have been updated recently, we cannot guarantee they are taking on patients.
We are not aware of any practices in Norfolk currently accepting new NHS adult patients. (last updated June 13, 2023)
This practice in Norfolk says it is accepting children:
- Bupa Dental Care (Gorleston) – 01493 662083
These practices in Suffolk say they are accepting children:
- Station Road Dental Surgery (Beccles) – 01502 712250
- The Dental Surgery (Beccles) – 01502 712424
- The Dental Design Studio (Beccles) – 01502 713427
- The Dental Design Studio (Lowestoft) – 01502 567568
There have been cases of social media posts scamming people out of money for NHS dental appointments. Dentists are allowed to collect NHS fees before commencing treatment but there are very strict rules about this. You can find out more here at the Dental Choices website.
For information about emergency appointments, please see the panel below.
Emergency dental appointments
Information updated June 13, 2023
If you require emergency treatment and attend a dental practice regularly, please contact them first to request an urgent appointment.
If you do not have a regular practice and have a problem which is not routine (toothache, facial pain, swelling, bleeding, or a broken tooth with an exposed root), please call 111 and say you require urgent dental treatment. The 111 team can then approach a dental practice who can treat you for that problem. If you are having difficulties accessing emergency treatment via this 111 route, please let us know.
If you are trying to access urgent dental treatment for residents living in care homes or for someone who is housebound in Norfolk, please email the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) which aims to bring together health and social care on [email protected] and they can refer you to a service. Again, if you do not get a response within a reasonable period of time, please let us know.
