Our patient safety

Throughout the outbreak of Covid-19, our first priority has been, and continues to be, the wellbeing of all of our patients and colleagues.

Although Covid-19 measures have changed in England, as a healthcare provider we are still following official guidance which says that we need to maintain our key safety procedures to help us prevent the spread of Covid-19. So, we will still ask you to:

Wear a face covering in our practices
Attend alone where possible
Use our hand sanitiser when you arrive
Confirm that you don’t have any symptoms of Covid-19
Call us if you need support and only attend our practices in person if you have a booked appointment

We will be maintaining social distancing throughout our practices too, so please continue to follow any directions you receive from our teams.

England

When will we reopen?

Our dental practices in England have now opened and are offering a limited range of dental treatments.

As soon as we have all of the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) in place to ensure your safety, we will offer our full range of dental treatments.

People in the greatest need of seeing a dentist will be seen first, including anybody we know has been in pain during lockdown. That means that whilst we are working hard to see everyone, if you had a routine check-up booked before the Covid-19 outbreak this may be cancelled to allow us to see patients in pain.

If you are experiencing a current dental issue, please continue to call your local {my}dentist practice. Our teams are still available to offer you advice and support by phone.

Please don’t try and book a routine appointment just yet.

We are not booking regular appointments at present as we are taking additional measures to ensure that we are complying with infection control and social distancing for the safety of patients and staff.

Please don’t visit our practices for any reason unless we ask you to do so.

Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

When will we reopen?

We expect our practices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to see patients face-to-face from 1^st July.

The treatments available depend on the official advice of the Government and Chief Dental Officers for each country. Visit your local practice’s webpage for more information.

Once we resume treatments we will be prioritising people in the greatest need of seeing a dentist, including anybody we know has been in pain during lockdown.

In the meantime, if you do suffer dental pain, or need advice from a dentist, please continue to call your local {my}dentist practice. Our teams are still available to offer you advice and support by phone.

Please don’t try and book a routine appointment just yet.

Please don’t visit our practices for any reason unless we ask you to do so.

What a visit to {my}dentist will be like during Covid-19

When you do attend the practice, there will be some new protection measures in place. We understand that some of these might seem a little strange at first, so please read on to see how you can help us keep everyone safe.

What a visit to {my}dentist will be like during COVID-19

After speaking with you on the phone we will advise if a face-to-face appointment is needed and our friendly receptionist will book you in and explain the arrival process to you. If you can, we may ask you to pay over the phone and complete some registration forms via email prior to your visit.
If your practice can accommodate social distancing in their waiting area you will be able to enter as normal to check in. If not, you will be asked to wait outside and call to let reception know you have arrived. Please attend alone where possible and wear a face covering.
You may have your temperature checked and will be asked to use our hand sanitiser.
Once in the surgery we will confirm your details and check your medical history*. We will then discuss how we can help you and what your concerns are.
The dentist will proceed with the assessment and agree the best treatment with you and carry out treatment if appropriate and agreed.
The nurses will then lead you out of surgery and ask you to again use the hand sanitiser.
If additional payment is necessary, you can do so at reception, contactless payments are available.
You will then be checked out of the practice ensuring minimum contact with other patients.

We very much appreciate all of your patience throughout this time. We look forward to seeing you again in practice as soon as we are safely able to do so.

*We will record your temperature in your clinical notes. This is to help the dentist assess whether you can continue treatment for this specific appointment, rearrange your appointment for a different date or be referred to another dental practice.