Remote and rural

Patients living in remote and rural locations may have to travel for longer to access primary care dental treatment, or secondary care in those very rare circumstances when a severe bleeding complication occurs, and may have difficulty accessing healthcare professionals out of hours.

The individual circumstances should be taken into consideration for patients in remote and rural settings and particular emphasis should be placed on the use of measures to avoid complications (e.g. limiting the initial treatment area, staging treatment and haemostatic measures). In addition, extended post-operative monitoring of the patient prior to discharge is advisable.

As with all patients, attitude to risk and the consequences of bleeding complications should be discussed and given due consideration when agreeing treatment.