Text messaging to be introduced for community dental service patients
Patients receiving care from Hywel Dda University Health Board’s community dental service will benefit from a new text messaging service from October 2026.
These text messages may include appointment reminders, links to complete pre-appointment forms, and invitations to provide feedback after appointments.
The community dental service provides dental care for vulnerable adults and children in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. This service is for people who may have difficulties in seeking and receiving dental treatment in a general dental practice.
The text messaging service aims to improve communication with patients and will help clinical teams make the most of their time with their patients.
Community dental service users are encouraged to check their contact details are up to date, including mobile number and e-mail address. If your contact details have changed, please let a member of staff know at your next appointment.
You can also contact the community dental service directly to update your records by calling 0300 303 8322 (select option 4) or email HDUHB.CommunityDentalService.HDD@wales.nhs.uk.
Marie Mickiewicz, Head of Dental Services for Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “We hope patients, carers and staff across our community dental service will benefit from our new text messaging service.
“Text message reminders and digital forms will make appointments easier to manage and make it simpler to stay in touch with our teams.
“These changes will also reduce paperwork and give our staff more time to support patients.
“We hope this will reduce missed appointments and help make sure more appointment times are available for patient care.”
To protect patients from fraud, text messages from the community dental service will only relate to their dental care. Patients will never be asked to provide passwords, or other sensitive information such as bank details, or payment details. If you receive a message that seems suspicious, please contact the service to check.
Patients who cannot use text message links or digital forms will continue to be supported by the service as they are currently.
The community dental service is a referral only service. Patients must be referred by a general dentist practitioner or healthcare professional (for example a GP or health visitor) to use this service.
For more information, visit hduhb.nhs.wales/healthcare/services-and-teams/dentist/community-dental-service-cds.