We are open! But for the time being, it’s not exactly ‘business as usual’. We are not able to see as many patients in a day and quite a few treatments have specific restrictions associated with them. This will mean longer waiting times to see a dentist. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes and we appreciate your understanding and patience at this time.
We are offering routine appointments for check-up’s and treatments, as well as the emergency treatments which we have been providing throughout the pandemic. We will continue to provide as much of a ‘normal service’ as we possibly can, unless we are advised otherwise.
Where urgent appointments are needed, we will do everything we can to see you as soon as possible, although it may be unlikely that same-day appointments will be available due to the stricter management of our diaries. We will also not be accepting ‘walk-in’ patients for the foreseeable future.
Again, we apologise for any inconvenience. Rest assured we will do everything we can to keep all of our patients mouths and teeth healthy, in the safest possible way we can. We appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding at this time while we try to get back to ‘the new normal’.
When you next visit the practice, things will be a little different
There will be things we will be asking you to do, and you will notice some changes that we have made.
These things are to keep both you and our staff safe, and to ensure your visit is as hassle-free as possible.
Here is what we will be asking you to do
If we have your email address, we will be sending you any forms to be filled in prior to your appointment. If it is necessary for you to sign a form when at the practice, we will provide you with a clean pen to do so.
Please make every effort to arrive for your appointment on time, if not a little early.
We are trying to avoid too many people sitting in the waiting room together at one time. This might mean you are asked to wait outside until it is appropriate for us to let you in.
We ask that you wear a clean mask to enter the practice. You will be instructed by the dentist when you are able to remove the mask.
Adult patients are asked, where possible, to attend alone to minimise the number of people in the practice at any one time.
Accompanying people should wait outside wherever possible.
Children should be accompanied by a person with parental responsibility as usual, but without other members of the household.
Please try to avoid any physical contact with the staff, e.g. handshakes, and avoid touching anything in the practice as best you can.
We ask that you go to the toilet before you attend, to reduce the use of the practice toilet as much as possible. If you do need to use the practice toilet, please ask reception first.
For payment, we encourage the use of contactless cards where possible, or payment over the phone.
Changes you will notice at the practice
In the waiting room all magazines and leaflets have been removed. Sitting in the waiting area is discouraged, and on entering the practice it is likely that you will be taken straight through to the surgery.
A clear perspex screen will be in place at the reception desk to ensure the safety of our staff.
Your temperature will be taken with a contactless infrared thermometer. We will also be taking the staff’s temperatures daily to ensure they are not a risk to you.
Hand sanitisers are placed in reception and you are encouraged to use these when entering and exiting the building.
Air purifiers will be placed in the reception area and surgery, and windows will be left open where appropriate for good ventilation.
Measures we will be implementing to ensure your, and our, safety
All staff at the practice are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. All members of the practice are taking lateral flow tests regularly to check their Covid status and ensure it is safe for them to be working.
Where possible phone consultations will continue, to assess your dental needs and to review any recent treatment you may have had.
A few days prior to your appointment, you will receive a phone call, or assessment form via email, from the practice to assess your risk of having had, or been in contact with Coronavirus recently. You may also receive a similar phone call the day before, or the day of, your appointment. If you or someone you have been in contact with in the last 14 days have displayed symptoms of Coronavirus, you will be asked to postpone your appointment until it is safe for us to see you.
Appointments will be organised to ensure patients attend at staggered appointment times, to minimise the risk of inter-patient contact, and to ensure sufficient time between patients for adequate infection control procedures to be carried out.
More vulnerable patients are encouraged to delay their appointments where possible. If this is not possible, they will be encouraged to attend at the beginning of the day. If you are unsure if you are in a vulnerable/ shielding group, please click here.
‘Higher risk’ treatments will have a ‘Fallow Period’ following them, where the surgery is closed for a specified amount of time. This ensures sufficient air changes within the room before the next patient enters. We will also allow enough time between appointments to ensure sufficient cleaning and infection control is performed.
Regular and thorough cleaning of non-clinical areas will also be done throughout the day.
During ‘high risk’ treatments, we will likely use something called a Rubber Dam, where possible. This is a rubber sheet which goes over your mouth and only exposes the tooth we will be working on. It doesn’t cover your nose, so you can still breathe. It reduces the generation of particles in the air and therefore the risk of spreading potential virus cells, and is akin to the surgical drapes used during an operation to keep the operation site sterile.
When a number of treatments are required, we may ask to book you in for longer in order to get more done in one sitting, to reduce the frequency of cleaning and conserve PPE as much as possible.
Symptoms of coronavirus
Cough
Fever/ chills
Muscle pain/ body aches
Headache
Breathing difficulty
New anosmia (reduced ability to taste things)
Fatigue
New loss of smell/appetite
Sore throat
Congestion/ runny nose
Nausea/ vomiting
Diarrhea
If you present with these symptoms, or have done in the last 14 days, you will be asked to re-book
Questions you will be asked to assess your risk of having Coronavirus:
1
Have you tested positive for COVID-19?
2
Have you a raised temperature or fever? (feel hot to touch on your chest/ back)
3
Do you have a new continuous cough? (1hr recurrently or 4+ episodes/24hr)
4
Do you have partial/total loss of your sense of smell or taste?
5
Have you been in isolating with symptoms in the past 14 days?
6
Have you been in contact or does your household exhibit any flu like symptoms?
People considered vulnerable:
Pregnant
Aged 70 or older regardless of medical conditions
Under 70 with an underlying health condition listed below (i.e. anyone instructed to get a flu jab as an adult each year on medical grounds):
Chronic (long-term) respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis
Chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
Chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), a learning disability or cerebral palsy
Diabetes
Problems with your spleen – for example, sickle cell disease or if you have had your spleen removed
A weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy
Being seriously overweight (a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above)
Patients in shielded groups are also extremely vulnerable. These include:
Solid organ transplant recipients
People with specific cancers: o people with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy
People with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy
People with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
People having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
People having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors
People who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs
People with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD.
People with rare diseases and inborn errors of metabolism that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as SCID, homozygous sickle cell).
People on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection.
Women who are pregnant with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired
What we mean by high and low risk treatments
Some of the equipment we use in the surgery create ‘aerosols’ when they are used. This means that any particles already in the air, or that are generated by the treatment being carried out, or breathed out by the dentist, nurse or patient, are kicked up into the air so that they are floating in the environment for a while afterwards. This equipment includes the drills we use for fillings and crown and bridge work, the air/water blower which is used in the majority of treatments, and the de-scaler which is used to clean your teeth. For this reason, some appointments and treatments are considered higher risk than others.