Hmm.... I should be a bit more clearer. These patients who come into UBC have already been screened and for the most part are on-going patients for the students. There are a handful who haven't been to UBC in years and only come in when they have a toothache. Money and fear are usually the two reasons why they don't come earlier.
So we categorized them as 'emergency' patients. Since we cannot see everyone as we are technically on summer break, we cannot turn away patients because they're in pain or something's bothering them. The thing is, we're not a private practise, we cannot offer them the best treatment in the time given. The dentist who are seeing these patients are usually part time or doing residency etc.
We can only offer them pain relief (i.e. antibiotics or extractions) till the clinic is in full swing in September. The only option is to send them off to a private practise. It's a hard thing to do but we cannot treat every cases on the spot.