The provision of emergency dental care by general dental practitioners in an urban area.

The provision of emergency care by dental practitioners in the Manchester area was assessed by a postal questionnaire. A 54.8% response rate was obtained. The average number of emergency patients treated by respondents per working day was 3.2; the practitioners seeing these patients principally by 'double booking' appointments. One-third of the respondents claimed to provide specific slots for treating dental emergencies, which could be related to the amount of NHS work undertaken. Out-of-hours emergencies were delegated to a third party by 46.3% of practitioners who replied to the questionnaire.