Getting help with a dental problem

See Inverness Dental Centre details and location, within UHI House beside Raigmore Hospital. 

The Dental Centre has an open plan teaching wing with 12 dental chairs. This has been designed to give privacy but to also let the supervisors see what is happening.

Gaining experience of providing care directly to patients is a necessary part of training to become an independent dental professional.

NHS Highland is working in partnership with the University of Dundee School of Dentistry to provide training placements for final year dental students, who will treat patients at Inverness Dental Centre. In addition, there are Dental Therapy students who are training towards the University of the Highlands and Islands BSc in Oral Health Science - you may be treated by a therapist for aspects of your treatment.

All treatment will be checked by a supervisor, normally a senior clinician for the dental students.

The appointment should be no different in terms of the quality of care and treatment you receive. Before a student is allowed to have contact with, or provide care for, a patient, they are assessed to ensure they are ready.

Student dental professionals are required to meet the same standards of professional behaviour as those who have qualified. You should expect:

• students to put your safety, health and choices first
• to be treated fairly and with respect, kindness, dignity and compassion
• to be listened to, and have your preferences and concerns taken into account
• students to behave professionally

However:

• The appointment will be longer, and treatment plans typically take longer to complete.
• If you have other commitments that limit your availability and time to attend appointments, or you are in a particular hurry to complete treatment, then the student clinic might not be the best option for you.
• There will be more people around you, as the clinic is open-plan, and a supervisor will check treatment.
• We do not have students providing treatment all of the time as they have university holidays and time away for examinations, and as such there may be breaks in your treatment.
• The treatment is free.
• You may be asked for feedback on how the student provided the care, as part of their assessment process.
• The dental students only provide one course of treatment - after this you will need to register with a dentist for check-ups or return to your own dentist if you are already registered.
• The dental chairs have a maximum weight limit of 21st 6lbs (136.1kg) - if you exceed this we cannot treat you in the student clinic.

You can ask the student or the supervisor to stop at any time during the appointment. The person supervising will be appropriately qualified and can step in.

If you are unregistered with a dentist, you can call the Dental Centre and refer yourself to the student clinic.

Your dentist may refer you to the student clinic either for all of your treatment, or for a certain aspect of it.

There may be some dental problems that cannot be treated by a student. In this case, a member of staff will inform you what will happen next.

If you need to cancel an appointment you should call the Dental Centre as soon as possible, so that this appointment can be offered to another patient. As student appointments are longer, it is important for us to know if you cannot attend as we want to ensure that the student sees a patient.

Patients who do not let the clinic know they cannot attend, or cancel at very short notice (within 24 hours) on more than one occasion, will be discharged. Patients will also be discharged if they fail to attend their first visit.

Facilities include:

• patients' seating area
• baby feeding and changing room
• toilets with access for people with limited mobility
• hearing loop system in reception
• language interpretation service via Language Line

If you have any other needs please call the Dental Centre, or speak to a staff member at reception when you arrive.

Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 4.30pm - except for:

• 12.00pm to 1.30pm daily
• Monday morning
• Friday afternoon

See information about travel to Raigmore Hospital (including public transport) and parking at UHI House.

If you wish to comment on, or are unhappy with, any part of the service, please speak with a member of staff in the first instance.

If you are still unhappy and wish to make a complaint please contact the NHS Highland Feedback team.

If you have a dental emergency, contact your own dentist.

If you are unregistered, call the dental helpline.