Advice for patients :
Routine dentistry during COVID-19 requires the
correct social distancing measures and personal protective equipment to be in
place.
The experience of going to a dentist might be
different now, but they remain safe places to be.
Patients still need to be patient because many
practices are still catching up from when they were closed during the first
national lockdown and those delivering NHS care, in particular, may have a
backlog.
For our practices, our priorities are likely to
be:
Patients needing urgent care.
Patients at higher risk of oral disease and Patients
with outstanding treatment needs.
The reason for the long waits is not just because
of the backlog, but also because there’s a lot more disinfection of surgeries
required after each treatment. Depending on the nation, sometimes they have to
wait for anything up to an hour before they can have another patient in the
chair.
What's happening in dentistry now:
As restrictions are lifting and freedoms are
returning, in dental practices, things are still quite different and will
remain so for quite some time. We are working under current national dental
guidelines and await further updates from the government.
Reduced capacity
Our team is working their normal contracted hours but
due to government guidelines, we typically can only accommodate about 50% of
previous attendance.
Enhanced disinfection protocols, the time taken to
put on and take off PPE, the time taken to clear the air after a water-based
dental treatment and social distancing means that, although we are open our
usual hours and we are working harder than ever, we can accommodate fewer
patients than before.For your safety and the safety of our teams,
dental restrictions will remain in place for some time to come
The waiting list
This means we have to prioritise patients in
relation to their dental needs. Patients in pain remain our top priority and as
all appointments must be carefully pre-planned, our dentists also take time to
speak with patients on the telephone to assess their needs before they attend.
We also accommodate unregistered patients who can no longer access walk-in
clinics in hospitals.
We are working through canceled or postponed
treatments, dealing with emergencies, caring for unregistered patients and
providing on-call every weekend and bank holiday. With stringent operating
guidelines limiting our capacity, it can be difficult to accommodate routine
check-ups, but if you are in pain or you are worried about your mouth, we are
here for you.
How we've changed
As a practice, we have invested considerable
finances to increase patient capacity to help deliver the service we did
pre-Covid. We have cored out 9-inch holes in our walls and installed upgraded
ventilation systems to increase the number of room air exchanges to increase
the frequency of our appointment times within the current restrictions.
Government support
As we struggle with providing care to patients we
do so with financial insecurity, the private income stream to our practice has
received no grants from the local government to offset the lost income. The
Department of Health NI has provided much-needed support to prop up the NHS
component of the dental practice, this has been an extremely welcomed lifeline
to dental practices. We would however ask that DoH commits to providing ongoing
support at least until the end of this financial year and starts to develop
plans or a new dental contract to rebuild dental services into 2022.
Finally, it must be acknowledged that, like
ourselves, most dental practices and teams are doing an amazing job in an
exceedingly difficult situation, we are aware of so many examples of teams
going the extra mile at present, it's easy to forget the extent of the problems
we are dealing with when the teams are doing so very well and delivering dental
care.
NHS and private care
Some patients might find that a treatment is
available quicker privately than it is on the NHS. As with medical care, this
is often because the queue for NHS treatment is longer. It may simply be that
there are many more people looking for NHS appointments than private
appointments. Many practices will provide a mix of NHS and private care. But
those practices will have a limit to the amount of NHS care they are able to
provide.
Calling the practice
Please make sure you keep your appointment if you
have one; it’s going to be safe and it’s important we don’t waste limited
resources. If you can’t make an appointment, your practice may be able to offer
it to someone else who needs it. Unfortunately due to limited NHS appointments
failure to attend 2 appointments may mean you can be deregistered from NHS
dental services at our practice.
If you’re looking for care, you may receive
initial remote advice via phone or video call. This may lead to advice being
given or the arrangement of an appointment if the dentist deems it necessary.
Some routine care like a check-up might be delayed, potentially until next year,
unfortunately.
Please be assured that dentists are working within
the current guidelines issued by governments and are doing their best to help
patients wherever possible.
Receptionists are also doing their best to ensure
that priority cases are treated as soon as possible. Please treat all the staff
with respect. We know it can be stressful, but they are doing their best to
help.
Please check in with your own practice or if
you haven’t regularly sought care:
Phone NHS 111 if you live in England, Northern
Ireland or Wales
Phone NHS 24 if you live in Scotland
What are dental appointments like?
Practices are using personal protective equipment
such as masks, gloves, and aprons and social distancing measures to keep staff
and patients safe.
If you call to make an appointment, you will be
asked some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again at
your appointment to see if anything has changed since you booked
You will probably be asked to use hand sanitiser
or to wash your hands when you arrive (and again before you leave)
You might also be asked to wear a mask in the
waiting rooms if you can
You will also find that waiting rooms might look a
little different with two metre markers in place
You will also notice that the dental team may be
wearing different protective equipment to what you are used to seeing – this
will be to increase your protection
Appointments will be managed to allow for social
distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options
for scheduling your appointment.
How you can help:
Please do not arrive without an appointment
With the exception of children and persons in
need, patients should come alone
Patients should attend wearing a mask if possible
or be prepared to wear one. A distance of at least two metres must be observed
if another patient is present in the dental practice
If you arrive early to the practice, you may be
asked to you wait outside the practice until your appointment time.
Staff will not shake your hand
If you show covid 19 symptoms following
appointment booking, you should contact NHS Test and Trace
If asked to send in photographs of your children’s
teeth, first watch this helpful video on how to photograph children's teeth
It is likely to be some time before dental
services can return to what you previously experienced as normal.
However, your dental teams will be doing all they
can to ensure you receive the treatment you require in the safest way.