​In response to the current level of community transmission of COVID-19 in New South Wales, to minimise unnecessary transmission risk to patients and staff, and to support the NSW Health system to provide timely and appropriate care to the people who need it most at this time, public dental clinics in NSW have been advised to postpone all non-urgent dental treatment in line with the recommendations of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) Advice to National Cabinet on 25 March 2020.

Public dental clinics will be restricted to providing urgent dental care only. Some dental procedures that may be associated with increased risk will also be unavailable. Outreach dental services are to be limited to fixed clinics, and the Primary School Mobile Dental Program will be suspended effective immediately.

Patients who have travelled overseas in the last 14 days or been in close contact with a person sick with COVID-19 infection are asked to self-isolate and reschedule any dental appointments. Read more about symptoms and self-isolation on NSW Government - COVID-19.

Patients with a dental emergency, such as facial swelling, uncontrolled bleeding, or a dental injury, who have tested positive to COVID-19, or who have been instructed to self-isolate due to suspected infection, are asked to contact a hospital emergency department, which will be equipped to manage patients with infectious diseases.

Patients who have appointments for non-urgent treatment will be offered care on a later date and will not lose their place on a waiting list. Patients who are unsure of the urgency of their condition can contact their local public dental service for triage and advice.

NSW Health is committed to providing safe and effective public dental services. Appropriate models of dental service delivery will continue to be reviewed as the pandemic progresses. ​