Secondary Care Clinics
Oral Surgery / Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Acceptance Criteria
Primary Care (for undergraduate dental students only)
A) Extractions: Routine extractions and appropriate surgical extractions in patients without complex medical histories.
Secondary Care
B1) Oral cancer / salivary / skin lesions (All patients)
- Patients with oral lesions suspicious for oral cancer – please call and write
- Patients with neck lumps – please call and write
- Patients with salivary disease – stones, lumps or bumps please call and write
- Soft tissue lesions e.g. – mucocoele, fibro-epithelial polyps, labial frenulum and tuberosity reductions.
- Patients with facial skin lesions, – suspicious lesions
Oral Cancer / Salivary / Neck Disease
These patients are treated in a Multidisciplinary Team in both the Dublin Dental School and the National Maxillofacial Unit.
Any patient with an ulcer or new lump within their mouth, neck or salivary glands for longer than 2 weeks needs to be seen urgently – please call and write
Any white or red patch of concern and it is not possible to identify a cause needs to be seen urgently – please call and write
B2) Jaw pathology (All patients)
- Jaw cysts
- Bony lesions of the jaws
B3) Dentoalveolar (Please see letter to GDPs for Patients requiring Dentoalveolar Surgery)
(Surgery is usually provided under local anaesthetic and sedation. Please do not discuss the option of GA with the patient. It is usually not necessary.)
- Impacted and displaced teeth. Wisdom teeth, Canines etc. These patients will be assessed for surgical exposure, removal or possibly no treatment
- Retained roots requiring surgical removal
- Surgical removal of ankylosed teeth / teeth with hypercementosis (evident on radiograph)
- Patients on intravenous bisphosphonate therapy for advice and possible treatment
- Peri-radicular surgery providing that an adequate root filling is present
- Oro-facial infections / Dento-alveolar trauma (Please see documentation for patients on oral bisphosphonates.)
B4) Bone grafting / Implants
- Jaw bone grafting / implantology. Treatment will be undertaken in conjunction with Prosthodontics and Periodontology
B5) Jaw deformities
Facial deformity secondary to congenital, trauma, neoplastic conditions / diseases. Treatment will be undertaken in conjunction with Orthodontics / Maxillofacial Laboratory.
B6) Temporomandibular joint / Facial pain
- TMJ problems, – limited mouth opening, – closed lock, – dislocation, – deformity
- TMJ reconstruction
Waiting Times:
All letters are appointed by the consultant involved upon receipt and stratified into very urgent, urgent, soon and routine.
Capacity for New Patients:
There are two consultants and three specialists in this area. The current capacity is for 90 – 100 new patients per week.
Information Required at Referral:
Oral & Maxillifacial Surgery proforma letter
Letter to GDPs for Patients requiring Dentoalveolar Surgery
Surgical Management of the Primary Care Dental Patient on Warfarin Final
Guidelines for treating patients taking bisphosphonates prior to dental extractions
The dental patient with a congenital bleeding disorder
Medical emergencies in dental practice
Renal disease and chronic renal failure in dental practice
Oral Medicine
Acceptance Criteria
- Persistent or recurrent oral ulceration including oral ulceration lasting >2 weeks, following primary care treatment of possible causes
- White or red oral mucosal lesions
- Pigmented lesions
- Non-odontogenic pain, i.e. pain where a dental cause has been excluded
- Oral dysaesthesias
- Xerostomia
- Granulomatous disease
- Cheilitis/stomatitis/glossitis
- Oral mucosal infection
- Oral manifestations of systemic disease
Information Required at Referral:
Waiting Times:
All letters are stratified by the consultants into urgent (to be seen in less than ten working days, usually through the Accident and Emergency Department), priority (to be seen in less than six weeks) and routine (to be seen in less than one year).
Capacity for New Patients:
There are two consultants in this area. The current capacity is for 42 priority or routine new patients per week.
Dysplasia Clinic
Acceptance Criteria
Referral to this clinic is made directly, only by the consultants in Oral Medicine and Oral and Maxillo-facial Surgery. Following initial assessment and biopsy, where applicable, of potentially malignant oral lesions, patients are reviewed on this clinic. This clinic also follows up on patients who have had treatment for oral cancer.
Capacity for New Patients:
This clinic runs once a month. Eight new patient and eight recall patients are accepted in each clinic.
Joint Complex Oral Medicine Clinic
Acceptance Criteria
Referral to this clinic is made directly, only by Oral Medicine Consultants, following initial assessment of patients, where the treatment plan is complex. This includes, for example, patients who require systemic immunosuppressive therapy.
Capacity for New Patients: This clinic runs once a fortnight (need number)
Joint Oral and Maxillo-facial Surgery /Prosthodontic Clinic
Acceptance Criteria
Referral to this clinic is made directly by Consultants in oral and maxillo-facial surgery and prosthodontics.
Waiting Times:
All letters are stratified by the consultants into urgent (to be seen in less than one week), priority (to be seen in less than six weeks) and routine (to be seen in less than one year).
Capacity for New Patients:
This clinic runs once a fortnight. The current capacity is for 8 new patients per clinic.