SDCEP Management of Acute Dental Problems
The main contact for this toolkit is scottishdental.cep@nes.scot.nhs.uk
About this toolkit
The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) Management of Acute Dental Problems toolkit provides interactive, online tools to support decision making for healthcare professionals encountering a patient presenting with an acute dental problem. The tools are based on SDCEP’s Management of Acute Dental Problems guidance which aims to support any healthcare professional to identify any immediate attention or advice to give the patient, and to determine the appropriate urgency and provider of subsequent care. The tools represent pathways to providers of care for patients with: pain; swelling; bleeding; trauma; ulceration; altered sensation or abnormal appearance in the head and neck.
The toolkit is intended for use by staff in any healthcare setting who may be asked to advise or manage patients with acute dental problems, including non-dental professionals such as general medical practice, emergency department and pharmacy staff, as well as members of the dental team. The toolkit is not intended for use by patients.
The content of this toolkit is based on SDCEP’s Management of Acute Dental Problems guidance. This guidance has resulted from careful consideration of the available evidence, other resources and expert opinion where evidence is lacking. The guidance was developed with a multidisciplinary group comprising representatives from a range of healthcare settings including general dental practice, dental specialties, emergency dental services, general medical practice, emergency medicine and pharmacy. More information on the development of the guidance is available in the About this guidance section of the guidance website.
Statement of intent
As guidance, the information presented does not override the healthcare professional’s right, and duty, to make decisions appropriate to each patient, with the patient’s valid consent. However, it is advised that significant departures from this guidance, and the reasons for this, are fully documented and that this documentation is included in the record of advice given to patients who present with acute dental problems.
The SDCEP Team are responsible for monitoring and review of the toolkit content. The toolkit will be updated in response to any changes made to the source SDCEP Management of Acute Dental Problems guidance. A scheduled review of the guidance topic will take place five years after publication of the second edition of the guidance (published 2026) and if there are significant changes, the guidance and toolkit will be updated accordingly. Updates outwith the scheduled review period may also be triggered in response to significant developments in the guidance topic.
RDS automated alerts when scheduled review is due will be sent to the SDCEP Team.
Content has been checked for accessibility in line with the relevant RDS standard operating procedure.
The app:
- is compliant with Android and Apple accessibility standards for native mobile apps
- is supported by Android 4.4 or later and iOS 8.0 or later devices
The website:
- is compliant with WC3A 2.0 Standards
- is optimised for use on both desktop and mobile devices in the following browsers - IE9+, Chrome, Edge and Safari
All icons are from Flaticon.com, accessed through the licence held by Tactuum Ltd. for the resources supported by the software platform it provides.
Other toolkit content © Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) 2026.
SDCEP operates within Public Services Delivery (PSD) Scotland.
You can copy or reproduce content from this toolkit for use within NHS Scotland and for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of the content for commercial purposes is not permitted. No material may be modified, edited or taken out of context such that its use creates a false or misleading statement or impression as to the positions, statements or actions of SDCEP or PSD Scotland.
The SDCEP Team has overseen the development of this toolkit. The content of this toolkit was reviewed by the SDCEP Team and signed off by the SDCEP Director in August 2026.
The SDCEP Team will continue to oversee the development and management of the toolkit and request further approval from the SDCEP Director as required.
The email for the SDCEP Team is available in the "Key contacts" section above and can be used to highlight any feedback or complaints.
The SDCEP Team will address the feedback. If significant amendments to this toolkit are required, these will be presented to the SDCEP Director, and the Guidance Development Group if required, for approval.
This toolkit is based on the SDCEP Management of Acute Dental Problems guidance. The guidance was subject to external peer review, and approval from the Clinical Guidance Development Group was sought prior to publication to ensure its accuracy and to mitigate any risks to patient safety. The content of the toolkit has been reviewed by the SDCEP Team to check consistency with the guidance.
The SDCEP pathways are not considered to fall within the definition of a medical device, based on the guidance in the following documentation:
Guidance on software as a medical device from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) based on this UK legislation.
European Commission guidance document Medical Devices - Scope, field of application, definition - Qualification and Classification of stand alone software - MEDDEV 2.1/6 which the MHRA also references and is helpful in defining software as a medical device.
Functional testing was carried out by the SDCEP Team and Knowledge Manager as content was added. The toolkit was subject to end user testing (a combination of goal and experience questions) prior to the toolkit being published. User testing was carried out by individuals representing a range of healthcare professionals from different settings including general medical practice, emergency medicine, nursing, pharmacy and dental practice. Feedback was collected using Microsoft Forms and used to inform improvements to the toolkit prior to publication.
The content of this toolkit is based on SDCEP’s Management of Acute Dental Problems guidance. As guidance, the information presented does not override the healthcare professional’s right, and duty, to make decisions appropriate to each patient, with the patient’s valid consent. However, it is advised that significant departures from this guidance, and the reasons for this, are fully documented.
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this toolkit, with a commitment to keep it up to date, information can be subject to change and therefore SDCEP cannot guarantee its correctness and completeness at all times. SDCEP will not be held liable for information that is inaccurate.
The toolkit is intended to be applied alongside sound clinical judgement, and as such, SDCEP is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis or management decision made on the basis of the toolkit. Use of the toolkit within patient care settings should always be in accordance with local policies and guidance.