The first on-call member of staff in a regional maxillofacial unit will frequently receive emergency telephone referrals of patients with facial swellings from general dental practitioners (GDPs), or will be called to assess these patients in the emergency department. Often, these cases will require inpatient treatment due to their severity or associated airway risks; however, our experience is that many could be managed by the primary care dentist, using local measures such as extraction or intraoral incision and drainage, with adjunctive antibiotics as appropriate.1

The potential seriousness of odontogenic infections, which can progress to life-threatening conditions such as sepsis and Ludwig's angina,2 likely contributes to a tendency to refer early for a secondary care opinion, which is not to be discouraged. However, it may be that some GDPs lack confidence and experience in the assessment and management of these patients, due to lack of practical exposure to such cases and insufficient access to educational resources tailored to this critical topic.

Having consulted common sources of dental education and continuing professional development (CPD) (BDA, RCPS Glasgow, RCS Edinburgh, RCS England, CGDent, ProDental CPD, Dentistry CPD, Dentinal Tubules), no resources could be found which specifically educate dentists on the assessment and management of facial swellings. This prevents primary care practitioners from upskilling to be able to assess these patients properly, make appropriate emergency referrals or initiate timely management in primary care.

We believe this area should be prioritised by the General Dental Council (GDC) as part of its recommended CPD topics,3 bringing it in line with the other potentially life-threatening conditions which may be encountered in dental practice. There are 21 webinars/e-learning resources from the above sources on oral cancer and 32 resources on medical emergencies, which are GDC-recommended and highly recommended topics, respectively. A recommendation by the regulator to undertake CPD on odontogenic infections and facial swellings would create an appetite for education in this area, and increase the provision of courses, providing opportunities to upskill.

Providing GDPs with accessible tools and resources to build knowledge and confidence will, in turn, ensure that patients receive timely and appropriate care. Such measures would ultimately enhance patient outcomes and reduce the burden on already overstretched hospital services.