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- Page navigation anchor for Toothache piling financial pressure on GPsToothache piling financial pressure on GPsI read with interest the article by Cope et al. on dental consultations in UK general practice and antibiotic prescribing rates.1 This study shows that the average rate of dental consultations was 6.06 consultations per 1000 patient-years. This equates to approximately 600,000 consultations for patients with dental problems at GP practices every year. Patients with emergency dental problems (including toothache and abscesses) typically require some form of operative intervention, which GPs are not trained or equipped to provide. Patients requiring operative interventions are usually referred on to a dentist.The Personal Social Services Research Unit has calculated the unit cost for GP services as £36 for 9.22 minutes of patient contact.2 This would suggest a minimum added cost to the NHS of dental problems being handled by GPs at around £21.6 million per year.Not only is this bad for our patients, it is also bad for the NHS.References1. Cope AL, Chestnutt IG, Wood F, Francis NA. Dental consultations in UK general practice and antibiotic prescribing rates: a retrospective cohort study. Br J Gen Pract 2016; DOI: 10.3399/bjgp16X684757.2. Curtis L, Burns A. Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2016. Kent: Personal Social Services Research Unit, 2016. www.pssru.ac.uk/project-pages/unit-co...Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.