A summary is given of how urgent dental care was established in the North East of England during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may help with future preparedness for pandemics.Aerosol generating procedures were almost always avoided in the delivery of urgent dental care. A telephone triage system was effectively used to determine who needed clinical care and to separate symptomatic, asymptomatic and shielding patients, with very few failures in triage noted.

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Infection control and knowledge of common infectious agents is a cornerstone of safe dental practice. This paper summarises the measures that need to be taken to control cross infection and discusses some of the infectious agents of concern to dental practitioners.