Dental care during lockdown no 2

Now that we're in another lockdown, can I still get routine dental care?

The short answer is yes.

During the March -June 2020 lockdown, all routine dental care in England ceased.  This was as a result of instructions given by the Chief Dental Officer and backed by the other regulatory bodies due to the unknown nature of coronavirus.  Since the restart of routine dental care in June, practices continue to work under additional guidelines to ensure that the risk of infection transmission during a dental appointment is minimised.

And in the new lockdown, dentists, hygienists and support staff are designated as 'essential workers' and so do not need to close as previously.

At AllClear, we care deeply about your safety.  Since reopening in June, we have invested in the practice and implemented a number of initiatives to keep you safe:

• All staff in the practice now use appropriate protective equipment including respirators , masks, visors, disposable aprons, gowns & hoods.
• All patients are asked to complete a medical form and covid questionnaire electronically prior to their visit.  The completion of forms, either on paper or electronically on our tablet, within the practice has been discontinued.
• All surgeries are left for a minimum of 20 minutes after the completion of any procedure which produces spray to allow time for any contaminated airborne water droplets to settle and surfaces to be disinfected
• Our ventilation has been upgraded with the purchase of new extraction units to remove airborne contaminates quickly.  The ventilation systems in each surgery can now achieve at least 9 air changes per hour
• A new extraoral suction machine has been purchased to remove airborne droplets immediately on production
• Portable air purifiers and a disinfecting fogger have been purchased.

Unfortunately, it is still necessary for us to restrict entry to the practice in common with many other businesses.  We realise, particularly as winter approaches, that this is not ideal but this reduces the risk of infection being brought into the premises by casual callers and asymptomatic patients/companions.

The world is a very different place to this time last year but you can visit your dentist in the knowledge that every effort is being made to create a safe environment for your treatment.