Our Covid-19 Reopening Policy
This policy outlines the changes to our normal policies and procedures that we will be employing from 8th June when our practice will open after the COVID-19 pandemic peak has subsided.
As new scientific evidence emerges, there may be further adjustments to this policy. Thank you to all of our patients for your patience and understanding over the past few months, and for your co-operation whist we implement new measures at the practice. We will as always be providing dental care to all of our patient in the safest way possible. We appreciate your co-operation with any new or modified procedures at the practice.
Please be aware that initially we may only be able to provide a limited range of treatments.
Our timetable
We will re-open for patients who require URGENT dental treatment on Monday, 8 June 2020. As the demand for urgent care decreases we will be able to see other patient groups. Initially we will be seeing patients with emergency dental problems that require urgent assessment and treatment. As soon as we can thereafter, we will contact patients with treatment that was not completed prior to lockdown, as well as those patients who were due for routine treatments during the lockdown period.
The whole team have been working hard to ensure that your visit to the dental practice will be an effective, and most importantly, safe experience.
If you are unwell, for any reason, it is better to not come to the practice. If you suspect you have symptoms of Covid-19, please stay at home and follow NHS guidance.
Before, during and after your visit:
At home
In order to reduce time spent in communal areas at Ernevale House we kindly ask you to:
- Clean your teeth at home as it will not be possible for you to do so at the practice.
- Ideally we would prefer that you do not use the toilet facilities but we do understand this is not always an option (!). If that is not possible, please do so before your appointment and avoid using our facilities afterwards.
- Order any oral health supplies from home via phone or email so that we can have them ready for you to collect after your appointment.
- Complete any paperwork at home and have it ready to hand to our Receptionist on arrival.
On Arrival
- If you have a face covering, please arrive wearing this. If you do not have one, you will be given one to wear.
- The door to the practice will remain locked. When you come for your appointment, please wait in your car or outside the practice (if you are not coming by car).
- Please call the practice to let us know you are there and a member of the team will come to the door to let you in.
- We request, that unless absolutely necessary, you enter the practice alone. We will of course welcome carers who need to accompany you. Children may be accompanied by one adult but please do not bring other family members into the practice with you.
- Please do not bring excess personal belongings with you. These will need to be left in the entrance and we cannot accept liability for these.
- On arrival at the practice we will take your temperature using a contactless thermometer. If you have a temperature above 37.8C we will ask you to rebook your appointment for two weeks’ time.
- Anybody entering the practice will be required to sanitise their hands with the sanitiser provided.
- You will be given a tissue to hold throughout your appointment so that you are prepared to catch any sneezes or coughs. This will help keep the surgery environment clean.
- You will notice that our Reception team are now behind a screen to protect their work environment. Many of us looking after you will also be wearing various levels of PPE and we are likely to be wearing a mask / visor as we greet you. This is because we may be closer than 2m.
Your Appointment
- We will invite you straight into the dental surgery that will have been prepared to provide a safe environment for you and our team.
- Your dentist and nurse will be speaking through their masks at all times, so please let us know if you are unable to hear us clearly.
- We will provide you with a mouthwash to rinse with before starting treatment.
- At the end of your procedure you will be offered the usual mouthwash and asked to put your facemask back on before leaving the surgery. Please continue to wear your mask until you have left the building.
- You will then proceed to reception to make your payment.
- For any follow-up treatment, Ernevale House Dentistry will be operating contactless payment systems as far as possible, and we will call you prior to appointment requesting that payment is made over the phone. This reduces unnecessary contact or use of card terminals at reception.
- We will call you shortly after your appointment to arrange your next appointment and will email or post treatment plans to you. We will also call you before those appointments to take payment so that we can remain as contactless as possible.
Practice Procedures
Our team has been assessing every aspect of the practice and have removed all non-essential items that can potentially be a source of infection. You will find that the practice may appear bare when you attend. All clinical and common areas, including door handles and surfaces will be regularly disinfected in addition to our normal cross-infection protocols which we had in place prior to the pandemic. Dental surgeries are already a very clean environment compared to public areas and there is no evidence of Covid-19 transmission occurring in increased rates in dentists or their staff.
We are especially mindful that many dental treatments are aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs). Aerosol suspended in the air is a theoretical source of infection which we wish to keep to a minimum. Our use of our normal high-volume suction reduces aerosol production by over 90%. Our surgical face masks filter over 95% of remaining airborne particles. We therefore feel that our normal dental procedures can be carried out with minimal risk.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation whilst we implement these new measures at the practice.