Dental practices begin to open across Fife again

Safety measures are being put in place as dental practices begin to reopen across the Kingdom for urgent dental care.

NHS Fife has been working closely with all practices providing NHS dental services in recent weeks to help them prepare to re-open safely and to ensure that vital personal protective equipment is available to all staff that require it.

Patients will notice considerable differences to the way services are delivered and with some practices required to make adjustments to the physical environment not all of them will be open initially.

Dr Emma O’Keefe, a consultant in dental public health and interim director of dentistry in Fife, said: “Dental practices across Fife have been working incredibly hard over recent weeks to put in place the measures necessary to protect patients and staff, and help reduce the spread of coronavirus in our communities.

“Dental practices, much like other healthcare services, will be operating very differently than they will have done previously.

“This is vital if practices are to operate safely and we have every confidence that local people will support these changes over the coming weeks and months.

“Most importantly, patients should be assured that if they require urgent dental treatment, then they will continue to receive the same high standard of care they have come to expect.”

Individual practices will be in touch with patients about the changes to how services are delivered in their setting.

Measures being taken to ensure the safety of patients and staff may include patients waiting outside the building or in their car until they are called to enter on arrival, the use of alcohol hand gel, patients being asked to attend alone unless the appointment is for a child or a person with additional needs who requires support, and many practices have installed new perspex screens.

To maintain social distancing, practices will be making very limited use of reception areas and these will be wiped down and disinfected much more regularly.

Dental teams caring for patients will be wearing additional PPE including masks and full face visors, and the full range of dental treatment will not be available initially with aerosol generating procedures, such as the use of the high speed drill or ultrasonic scaling, restricted for the time being.

Whilst practices transition towards full re-opening, NHS Fife is continuing to provide an urgent dental care service in ten centres throughout the Kingdom.

Those requiring urgent dental care should contact their own dentist in the first instance, who will provide advice and initial assessment, and can refer on to an urgent dental care

centre if required.

For the latest information on coronavirus-related changes to dental and other healthcare services, please visit: https://coronavirus.nhsfife.org

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