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Hildenborough & Tonbridge Medical Group
Sedatives for Dental Work
We will no longer prescribe drugs such as Diazepam for sedation or for anxiety around procedures at a dentist.
Many dentists prefer not to treat a patient who is sedated for an intervention that needs informed consent.
Advice from the Kent Local Dental Committee
The dental practitioner’s formulary i.e. the list of drugs a dentist can prescribe, includes Diazepam and other sedatives. Some dentists do prescribe these for their anxious patients. The dentist should be responsible for issuing the prescription for these patients.
If the dentist is treating a patient within their practice NHS contract then the prescription should be on a FP14D form. Dentists do not have Electronic Prescription Service. If a dentist is treating a patient privately, they should write a private prescription.
They should not normally send that patient to see their GP requesting that the GP prescribes for the patient. Dentists should prescribe within their competence and for dental use only. Dentists may contact a GP for information or advice, if, for example the patient has a complex medical history.
Dentists can access a patient’s summary care record via electronic referral system for all patients registered with a GP in one of the six ICB areas covered by NHS England South East.