Paediatric dentistry

We provide specialist oral healthcare for children aged 0-16 years old, who cannot manage routine dental treatment by their own dentist or the community dental services.

We provide services for children:

• who demonstrate intellectual, medical, physical, psychological and/or emotional problems.
• with dental trauma.
• with dental anomalies, including those with cleft lip and or palate.
• who have been referred from their dentist because they are too young or anxious for routine dental treatment.
• who require emergency dental treatment.

Following a referral, a qualified member of staff will assess your child’s individual treatment needs to determine if they are eligible for treatment.

If your child is accepted for treatment they may be placed on a waiting list or booked in for their first appointment. If your child is not accepted, you will be advised to return to your local dentist.

Depending on the type of treatment your child needs, they may be looked after by a number of different clinicians at different stages of their training.

Our paediatric services are offered at the The Royal London Dental Hospital and at our Sir Ludwig Guttman Centre in Stratford and at Barkantine.

Some children may need operations to carry out their dental treatment. Operations for children are conducted in our children’s hospital at The Royal London and also on the 2nd floor at the Dental Hospital.

We have a 'zero tollerance policy' for abusive behaviour towards any of our staff and if we encounter such patients in any setting we will discharge those patients immediately.

For all Dental emergencies: 

• Contact your own dentist in the first instance. 
• Contact the Dental Hospital between 08:00 and 09:30 Monday to Friday on 020 3594 6845 – we can see a very limited number of emergency patients. The telephone line will close as soon as we have filled our emergency appointments, so if you cannot get through, you will need to seek help elsewhere. 
• Call NHS 111 who will help you find emergency care. 

If you attend the Dental Hospital without an appointment, it is likely that you will be turned away.

Referral process for general dental practitioners

If you live in a London borough:

You should refer your patient directly to the community dental services using the CDS referral form

If you live outside of a London borough:

Please complete the out of area paediatric dental referral form [doc] 115KB and send it by email to paediatric dentistry team

We no longer accept paper referrals or by fax. All referrals must be sent in by email to paediatric dentistry team

Our acceptance criteria [docx] 13KB provides more information about referring to the paediatric dental service. 

Referral process for other clinicians

We can accept direct referrals from general medical practitioners, paedistricians, other medical specialties and other community/hospital based dental specialties.

Please email your direct referral to paediatric dentistry team.

Project Tooth Fairy is a new, dedicated surgical centre based at The Royal London Dental Hospital. The team at the centre will treat children and young people from across London who have been waiting a long time for operations to remove problem teeth or need multiple fillings.

If your child is identified as a suitable candidate to be treated as part of Project Tooth Fairy, you will be contacted by letter. This will tell you the time and date of your child’s appointment, which will take place in clinic 7 on the second floor of The Royal London Dental Hospital.

If you have any questions after receiving a letter, please speak to your usual dental team.

There's more information in the Project Tooth Fairy leaflet [pdf] 2MB and you can watch a video to find out more information about where to go for your appointment.