Still far from normal as we enter our second year dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic.
So what exactly is the state of play at your Dental surgery? You are sure to be asking, especially if you are amongst the remaining 60% of patients who have yet to see us and experience our COVID management strategy.
Public Health England and The Federation of General Dental Practitioners give us very clear, reasonable recommendations for best practice during these unprecedented times, adapting their advice to follow the path of the pandemic and level of risk.
We are continuing to follow what we consider the correct course of action and details of our additional measures to keep patients and staff safe whilst attending the Practice can be found on our website.
https://www.stpaulsdentalpractice.co.uk/routine-appointments.html
On a positive note, we are grateful to the NHS for providing us with the additional PPE required to continue to provide all dental treatments whilst our usual supplier costs were soaring, sometimes as much as 1000% and thankful that following our strict protocol of infection prevention our team have remained fit and well.
The downside to the current way of working is the need for additional staff for the additional measures and extended appointment times to allow for fallow time between patients, hand scaling to avoid aerosol generating equipment or treatment techniques and additional sanitisation of clinical areas.
As a result, we just can’t see as many patients a day as usual and there is great speculation in the press about how long it will take for us to catch up and routine dentistry resume.
Despite these difficulties and constraints, we absolutely guarantee to maintain a high level of service. If you need to see us for a dental problem or are concerned about not having been seen for a very long time, we will book you an appointment. During your appointment, you can expect to receive all the necessary measures to restore or maintain your oral health, including:
- a thorough clinical examination of your mouth, gums, teeth, jaw, bite
- a review of your general health
- x-rays, hygiene advice and treatment as required
- head, neck and oral screening for mouth cancer
- any dental treatment required, fillings, crowns, repairs etc
- referral to other services where necessary, such as orthodontics or hospital services.
We will try to address all your dental needs in as few visits as possible, time permitting.
We have added some great people to our team this year to facilitate the smooth running of the Practice. Ellen joined us in January, an experienced, qualified Dental Nurse. Tariq joined us mid-May, as an Associate Dentist and able replacement for Neil Black, who retired at the end of last year. And just this week, Sammy has taken up the post of trainee and is learning the ropes initially to support the admin team.
Please keep your contact details up to date, get in touch if you need any advice (we guarantee any question answered) and give us feed back, good or bad to help shape our service for the future.