COVID 19 Update

Carnegie Dental Clinic Re-opening details

We are pleased to tell you that we will be seeing patients from Monday 8th June, as per the Government’s recent instruction. If you have been advised to shield from Coronavirus or if you are deemed to be at risk of severe symptoms if you catch Coronavirus, we would advise that you postpone any non urgent dental treatment until the Government deems it safe for you to leave your home.

Initially we will be seeing patients for dental treatments that do not cause an aerosol, eg pain assessments, extractions, adjusting dentures and temporary dressings that do not require the use of a high speed drill. We plan to increase the range of treatments that we can provide in line with advice from NHS England as the National Coronavirus risk level reduces.

If after assessing you it is decided that an aerosol treatment is required to resolve your pain we will continue to refer you to our local Urgent Dental Centre for treatment at this time.

We have been busy making changes to all of our practice policies and procedures in the time that we have been closed and your journey through the dental practice will be quite different the next time that you attend.

The changes that we have made have all been designed to reduce the risks to our patients and our team of catching Coronavirus.

We aim to do this by ;

1, Screening patients as they attend for appointments and also screening staff
2, Reducing the numbers of patients in the practice at any one time to ensure social distancing
3, Reducing the amount of time every patient spends on the premises
4, Continued high levels of cross infection control in all areas, both clinical and non-clinical

By reducing the factors above and operating with an enhanced level of personal protective equipment (PPE) we will greatly reduce any Coronavirus risks to both patients and the dental team. This week, I qualified as a competent mask fit tester, so that I can meet the legal requirement to test the fit of all the FFP2 and FFP3 masks on the team in house before we offer aerosol treatments

The "New normal" dental visit at Carnegie Dental Clinic.

We will be conducting video consultations or telephone consultations with you the day before your appointment. In these we will review your medical history, complete a covid-19 risk assessment questionnaire and find out about any dental problems that you may be having.

We will then use DocuSign to send out your completed medical history and completed Coronavirus questionnaire via email, along with instructions about how to virtually sign these forms. You may be asked to pay for your dental treatment at this consultation.

On the day of your appointment please notify our reception that you have arrived by a telephone call to 01274 590777 and if possible stay in your car. We will then ring you back when the dentist is ready for you.

Please come to your appointment unaccompanied (unless you are under 16y) and with minimal baggage.

If you are unable to stay in your car please attend no earlier than 5 minutes before your appointment.

You will be greeted by our receptionist who will unlock the door and take your temperature.

After this you will be asked to use our hand sanitiser and to place your coat and belongings into a sealed container.

You will then be escorted to your surgery where your dentist, hygienist or therapist will greet you. Due to our additional PPE we may look a little different to usual but don’t worry, we will still have our usual friendly smiles underneath the masks!

You will be asked to rinse with an anti-bacterial&viral mouthwash in the surgery before treatment commences and will be asked to refrain from using the spittoon.

Once your visit is complete the receptionist will make your next appointment. This will be emailed to you.

If you have a quote for dental treatment we will also email this to you via DocuSign for your virtual signature. You will need to sign this before we can commence any treatment on your plan. Please note that any paperwork via DocuSign is easier to read on a computer or tablet than via a mobile phone.

If you have any queries relating to your treatments please let us know and a member of our team will give you a call to discuss your concerns and queries once you get home.

Unfortunately we will no longer be offering co-ordinated exam and hygiene appointments and these will need to be booked on different days. This is because we cannot maintain social distancing with multiple patients sat in the waiting room. The patient toilet will also be out of use, so please bear this in mind.

We understand that your dentist visit will seem very different and that many of our patients will be apprehensive about returning to the practice.

We have researched and purchased the most effective disinfectants against covid-19 which will be used throughout the practice.

All surgeries will be deep cleaned inbetween patients as per health and safety requirements, as will all of the communal areas.

Please be reassured that the steps we have taken will enable us to provide you with Dentistry safely during these challenging times and we look forward to seeing every one of you.

Yours Sincerely

Alex & the team