COVID-19 UPDATE

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COVID -19 UPDATE

Dear Patient

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health.

You may have heard today from the First Minister  that  Scottish NHS Dental Practices can open for urgent care from next week.

Our practice will be opening very soon but we just wanted to be clear that this will not be business as usual. The treatments you are offered will be different to those you received before. It will take some time before services return to what you previously experienced as normal. Please be patient.

We have been told to see no more than 10 patients  per day just now between all the dentists at the Practice.

To put this into perspective on a busy pre covid 19 day we would expect to see over 90 patients per day!

We also still cannot use our equipment that generates aerosol ( drill and air line ) so treatment options are extremely limited.

We will only be able to offer routine extractions and possibly a temporary filling if no drilling or drying of the tooth is necessary which it usually is.

So please keep this in mind when you telephone the surgery most dental treatments involve using a drill and air drying the tooth and we are still not allowed to do this.

Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our surgery. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.

Our practice follows infection control guidelines made by the governing bodies. We are up-to-date on new guidance that has been issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to recommendations.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• Our practice will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again at your appointment
• We have hand sanitiser that we will ask you to use when you enter the practice. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the practice for you to use as
• We no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your

We have already had hundreds of calls from patients desperately wanting dental treatment and asking for a priority appointment. This is not possible.

Please be patient.

We will do our best.

How you can help:

• With the exception of children and patients with carers, patients should come alone
• A distance of at least 2 metres must be observed if another patient is present in the dental practice
• Staff will not shake your hand
• If you show symptoms following appointment booking, you should contact the practice by phone
• Please do not arrive early to the practice. If necessary, you should wait outside the practice
• Please do not arrive without an appointment.

Sincerely,

John   Lorna    Alina    Colin       and all the staff