You will be more than aware of the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on your dental treatment. To get an appointment over the last 2 years has required answering numerous questions on the telephone, waiting weeks for the appointment and then standing on the pavement until your allotted time slot. Then, once in the Practice, being confronted by everything and everyone wrapped in plastic. We realise how difficult this will have been for you. We thank you for your understanding and patience, it has been equally frustrating for our dental team. The good news is that, with the lessening effect of Covid-19 on society, the Chief Dental Officer has recently written out to advise that the restrictions on your dental care can now be reduced. This still does not mean that everything has returned to the pre-Covid situation, however, so we wanted to help explain what this might mean for your dental treatment. Waiting rooms can now be used, but face masks will still be required. This is to help protect you, the staff and other patients who may have health conditions that may put them at risk if they were exposed to a virus. There will still be screening questions prior to your appointment, but these will be to determine if you have symptoms or a current risk of a respiratory virus, not just Covid-19. If the assessment is no, then your dental treatment can almost be as it was before the pandemic, but still with a little extra caution, such as the continuing need for masks. If you do have respiratory symptoms you will simply be asked to reschedule until you feel better, in order to keep everyone safe. Don’t worry, if you have a dental emergency, therefore needing to be seen urgently, but have respiratory symptoms, your dental team will still be able to treat you. This will obviously require more planning as well as some of the robust Personal Protection and infection control procedures that were needed during the height of the pandemic. Your dental team are looking forward to getting back to normal, we will continue to work hard to keep you safe, and in return we ask that you bear with us as we work through the backlog of care caused by the pandemic.
