Community Dental Service
North Wales Community Dental Service (CDS) is commissioned by Welsh Government to deliver dental care and treatment to a specific patient group, who have a range of complex additional needs that seriously affect the provision of dental care, which cannot be accommodated in NHS general dental services.
What services does the CDS provide?
We provide clinical services to vulnerable adults and children via clinics across North Wales providing a full range of dental treatment.
We provide conscious sedation services such as inhalation and intravenous sedation and are also involved in the general anaesthetic (GA) services for paediatric patients and adult special care patients.
We provide domiciliary care delivering dental care in patients own homes, nursing and residential care homes, rehabilitation units and elderly long stay hospitals. This service is for those who are housebound and/or cannot be expected to travel to a dentist to receive dental treatment.
The CDS also provides dental care to inmates at HMP Berwyn and plays an important role in supporting oral health promotion programmes and community-based preventative initiatives.
Who can benefit from our care?
- Children and adults who are medically compromised or complex
- Children and adults who have moderate to severe learning disabilities
- Children and adults who have physical disabilities who require high level of support and or care for their daily activities, including dental visits.
- Children and adults who have mental health problems for whom there is evidence that they cannot be treated in a general practice setting, and require additional skills.
- Children and adults who experience disproportionate dental anxiety and phobia
- Children and adults with significant cognitive impairments
- Patients exceeding General Dental Practice weight limits (up to 25 stone / 158kg)
- Patients who require a domiciliary visit (care at home)
- Looked after children, children in need and subject to a child protection plan
- People in rehabilitation with substance misuse and patients in secure units
- Inmates at HMP Berwyn
How can you access the CDS?
CDS clinics are different to high street dental practices in that we see patients on a referral basis only, which ensures patients receive their treatment from the most appropriately trained member of staff and in the best clinic to suit their needs.
The Community Dental Service cannot accept self-referrals directly from patients
Referrals are only accepted from:
- General Dental Practitioners
- General Medical Practitioners
- Hospital specialists
- Any other health or social care professional, social care workers and residential care home workers
You should contact your health professional to request a referral
All referrals for treatment are screened and patients will need to meet our strict criteria to ensure they are appropriate for our service. If accepted for assessment and treatment, patients are then allocated to the most appropriate clinic for their needs, which may not necessarily be the closest one.
Where does the CDS provide dental treatment?
Please note, not all CDS services are provided at each site – you may be required to travel depending on what treatment you need.
Who works at the CDS?
The North Wales Community Dental Service team consists of highly trained staff working together to utilise different skills to deliver dental care to our patients. We employ dental care professionals consisting of the following:
- A visiting Consultant in Paediatric dentistry
- Specialists in Special Care Dentistry and Paediatric Dentistry
- Senior Dental Officers and Dental Officers with additional training in paediatric dentistry, orthodontics, oral surgery, endodontics and special care
- Dental Therapists with extended duties including inhalation sedation and direct access to patients with highly complex needs
- Dental Nurses with additional qualifications - radiography, conscious sedation, oral health education, orthodontics and special care
- Dental Health Care Support workers with a range of duties and skills
- Dental students, dental core trainees and trainee dental nurses