Dentists set to reopen TODAY – but only a third will see patients face to face
DENTISTS up and down the country are set to reopen today for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic closed surgeries.
Experts have however said that only a third will be able to see patients face to face, while others are still lacking the correct level of personal protective equipment (PPE) to undertake many procedures.
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"There are several challenges that dental clinics and practices will face post lockdown - one being not having enough time to allow them to implement all the changes required to open safely.
"New policies needed to be drawn up and staff appropriately trained etc, all of which can take many weeks to prepare."
She added that it's also a huge challenge to source PPE and implement social distancing.
"Dental practices will need to ensure that all safety measures are in place before re-opening - this could prove difficult especially for those with smaller practices and with less space to move around etc.
"Many practices wont be able to operate at nowhere near full capacity, and will have a backlog of patients wanting appointments."
Dr Midha said emergency appointments will need to take priority and said the level of cleaning needed after each patient will mean longer waiting times.
"All dentists want to open and provide safe treatment for their patients. Their patients' health is their priority", she added.
Dr Catherine Tannahill, dentist and director of clinical dentistry at Portman Dental Care said: “When it was announced on the 28th May that dentists were reopening on 8thJune, this was the first most dentists in the UK knew that they were expected to be patient facing again.
“The Chief Dental Officer also only released specific guidance on how to reopen safely on 4th June, giving most practices only one day to prepare.
“The lack of time and guidance has meant that many smaller, independent practices may not have had the necessary support or time to train colleagues or get PPE in place, and so may not feel comfortable or prepared to open safely today."
Many practices have been hit with financial difficulties due to the closures and the BDA has now demanded “urgent action” from the government.
This morning Mr Armstrong said: "The Health Secretary must now take responsibility to avert the existential crisis facing a service struggling with sky-high costs and radically reduced patient numbers.
“Without action from this Government access problems – on an unprecedented scale - are going to be visited on millions of patients, in every part of England."
He added that just 8 per cent of practices have said they can maintain financial stability in the long term.
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“We need the conversation to be realistic about how an NHS service, forced to operate to a contract based on activity, can operate in a context where previous levels of activity are impossible.
“There has been no clear message to patients and the profession about what reopening actually means in the light of what will inevitably be a vastly reduced service with minimal options to even maintain oral health, let alone improve it”, he added.
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