Some dental cases get passed along quietly, from one practice to the next, until they land somewhere equipped to handle them. In Coulsdon, that place is often 72 Dental on Brighton Road, a general practice that also takes referrals and runs in-house surgery led by the practice’s GDC-registered specialist in oral surgery. As of April 2026, dentists across Surrey send patients here.
Here is the part that surprises people. You do not have to be referred to benefit from it.
A high-street practice that does hospital-level surgery
Most family dental practices reach a point where they have to say, “this one is beyond us”. A buried wisdom tooth. A root tip that snapped during an extraction. A cyst that needs careful removal. The usual answer is a hospital referral, which can mean months on a waiting list.
72 Dental sits in a different position. The building has been a dental home for the people of Coulsdon for over a century, and more than fifty years of continuous care, but the surgery happening inside it now is properly modern. The practice’s GDC-registered specialist in oral surgery handles the complex extractions and surgical work that many local practices have to refer out, and does it on the high street rather than in a hospital.
That matters for two reasons. You are seen faster, and you are seen by a clinician who does this kind of work all the time.
What “GDC-registered specialist in oral surgery” actually means
The word “specialist” gets thrown around loosely in dentistry, so it is worth being precise about it. In the UK, any dentist can carry out a straightforward extraction. Only a clinician who has completed years of further surgical training, passed formal assessment, and been entered on the General Dental Council’s specialist list may use the title specialist in oral surgery.
72 Dental has one such clinician. That is a protected title, not a marketing phrase, and it is the single area where the practice can honestly use the word. For you, it is a quick way to know that the person planning a difficult surgical case has trained specifically, and at length, to do exactly that.
The cases that end up here
What sort of problems get referred in? A fair range, as it turns out.
- Wisdom teeth that are impacted, lying sideways, or wrapped around a nerve
- Broken-down or root-filled teeth that fracture during removal
- Surgical extractions where a tooth has to be sectioned and lifted out in pieces
- Cysts and small soft-tissue lesions that need removing and checking
- Exposing buried teeth so an orthodontist can guide them into place
- Patients who are very anxious, or have medical conditions, and need advanced sedation to get through surgery comfortably
Some of these come from the patient’s own dentist, who simply does not offer surgery at that level. Others come from people who found the practice themselves, often after being told elsewhere that their case was “too complicated”.
Why imaging changes the whole game
You cannot plan surgery well on a flat X-ray. A standard dental film shows you a tooth in two dimensions, which is fine for a filling but not much help when a wisdom tooth is sitting millimetres from the nerve that supplies your lower lip.
This is where CBCT comes in. Cone beam computed tomography produces a three-dimensional scan of the jaw, so the surgeon can see exactly where a root sits in relation to the nerve, the sinus, and the bone around it before picking up an instrument. It turns a guess into a plan. 72 Dental offers CBCT referral imaging for its own patients and for other practices that need a scan for their own cases.
When you can see the problem properly, surgery is faster, safer, and far more predictable. That is the whole point of imaging first, cut second.
More than one specialist-level service under one roof
Oral surgery is the headline, but it is not the only advanced service the practice keeps in-house. 72 Dental also runs an endodontist referral service for root canal work that has gone wrong or never settled, including retreatments and apicectomy, handled by a dentist focused on saving natural teeth. There is an implant referral service too, run by an implant surgeon, for patients who need a tooth replaced after surgery.
For a high-street practice, that depth is unusual. Most places do general dentistry and refer everything tricky elsewhere. Here, a patient can have a complex tooth removed, the site assessed for an implant, and the work finished, mostly without leaving Brighton Road. The practice’s prevention-first principal, Dr Raman Sandhu, built the team around exactly that idea, keeping difficult care local rather than scattering it across hospitals and distant clinics.
What it is like to be referred here
The experience is built around people who are nervous, because most surgical patients are. There is a chat before anything starts, usually in a non-clinical setting, where the surgeon goes through your scan, explains what needs doing, and answers the questions you have been turning over.
Advanced sedation is available for those who want it, so a procedure you have been dreading can pass in a calm haze. The practice’s whole ethos leans on comfort, with longer early-morning appointments and a deliberately non-judgemental approach. You will not be lectured about how the tooth got into that state. The job is to fix it.
What does oral surgery cost?
Fees for oral surgery in the UK vary widely with the difficulty of the case. A straightforward surgical extraction sits at the lower end, while a deeply impacted wisdom tooth that needs CBCT planning and sedation costs more, because it involves more imaging, more time, and a specialist’s surgical skill. As a broad guide, private surgical extractions in the UK commonly range from a few hundred pounds into the high hundreds per tooth, with complex multi-tooth or cyst surgery higher again. Your exact fee is confirmed after assessment, and you can review the practice’s fees for context before you come in.
FAQ
What is a GDC-registered specialist in oral surgery?
It is a dentist who has completed several years of additional surgical training beyond dental school and is entered on the General Dental Council’s specialist list for oral surgery. Only clinicians on that list may use the title. At 72 Dental in Coulsdon, this clinician handles complex extractions and surgical cases that many general practices have to refer to a hospital.
Can my dentist refer me to 72 Dental for surgery?
Yes. 72 Dental takes referrals from other practices for oral surgery, endodontics, implants, and CBCT imaging. Your own dentist can send the details and any X-rays, and the practice arranges your assessment. You can also contact the practice directly if you would rather not wait for a referral, and the team will explain the next steps.
Why might I need a CBCT scan before an extraction?
A CBCT scan gives a three-dimensional view of the jaw, showing exactly where a tooth root sits relative to nerves, the sinus, and surrounding bone. For impacted wisdom teeth especially, this lets the surgeon plan around the nerve and reduce risk. A flat X-ray cannot show that depth, so complex cases are far safer planned with proper 3D imaging first.
Is surgery at a dental practice safer than a hospital?
For suitable cases, a practice with a registered oral surgery specialist offers care to a comparable surgical standard, usually with a much shorter wait and a more personal setting. Genuinely high-risk or medically complex patients may still need a hospital. An assessment at 72 Dental will tell you honestly which setting suits your case best.
Will I be put to sleep for oral surgery?
Most oral surgery is done under local anaesthetic, so the area is fully numb but you stay awake. For anxious patients or longer procedures, advanced sedation is available, which keeps you deeply relaxed and aware of very little while you remain conscious. The surgeon discusses the right option with you beforehand, based on the procedure and how you feel about it.
What to do next
If you have been told a tooth is too tricky to remove, or your own dentist has suggested a referral, you can be seen at 72 Dental in Coulsdon. The practice will review your case, arrange a CBCT scan if needed, and set out a clear plan before anything happens.
Call 020 8660 3308 or use the contact page to arrange an assessment. Other dentists can find referral details on the for dentists page.
