Richmond Dental Care is open and safe
Richmond Dental Care will still be open during this second national lockdown. We’d like you to keep your appointments if you have one and want to reassure you that our practice is a safe place to be. We continue to prioritise our patients with the most urgent need and therefore are having to delay routine check ups.
We have excellent infection control procedures along with a robust triaging policy to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. Our dedicated team are very familiar with the infection control procedures being used to manage the virus as they are much the same as those that have been applied by our practice for many years. (Our team has been training in infection control procedures for decades).
We have all the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) and will continue to follow national guidelines and standards.
What next?
If you are worried about your attendance, please contact us to discuss your concerns and we can always postpone your treatment till a later date.
We continue to recommend that patients in the high-risk category for COVID-19 delay non-essential treatment until further guidance has been given by the relevant authorities.
If you call to make an appointment, you will be asked some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again at your appointment.
When you arrive:
We advise that you wear a mask at all times while inside the dental practice and only remove your mask at the request of one of our team.
Please do not arrive more than 5 minutes early for an appointment due to social distancing guidelines.
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
As you enter the building we will take your temperature and you will need to use the alcohol disinfectant rub to disinfectant your hands.
The treatment rooms will be prepared prior to your appointment with all surfaces disinfected after each patient. The air purification unit will continue to be used throughout the day in each surgery. We have sourced PPE and unlike the start of the Pandemic (March 2020 in the UK), there is no shortage.
We can assure you that we will continue to maintain high standards of cross infection control. Stay safe and please contact us if you have any questions.
- Our practice will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again at your appointment
- We have hand sanitiser that we will ask you to use when you enter the practice. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the practice for you to use as needed.
- We no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
How you can help:
- With the exception of children and patients with carers, patients should come alone
- A distance of at least 2 metres must be observed if another patient is present in the dental practice
- Payment should be made by card where possible
- Staff will not shake your hand
- If you show symptoms following appointment booking, you should contact the practice by phone
- Please do not arrive early to the practice. If necessary, you should wait outside the practice
- Please do not arrive without an appointment
- Patients should come wearing a mask if possible or be prepared to wear one.
Advice for patients from the BDA
Why routine dental treatments are not available
Dental
check-ups and treatments involve close contact between the dentist and
patient and so should not take place. Also, dentists and their teams
have to avoid using tools like drills and the ones used for scales and
polishes. This is to prevent them from catching the virus from an
infected patient and passing it on to other patients.
Drills and other high-speed tools create a lot of ‘spray’ from patients’ mouths so dentists need to use protective clothing and equipment.
COVID-19 has a seven-day period before symptoms show, where someone wouldn’t know they had it and could pass it on to others. If an unsuspecting patient had a filling, the spray from doing that procedure would likely infect the dentist and the nurse.
The personal protective equipment dentists wear when using high-speed tools is currently required by hospitals treating coronavirus patients. Without this equipment dentists, hygienists, therapists and nurses are not safe to treat patients as normal.
What if I have a dental emergency?
Assuming you have not got COVID-19 related symptoms, you should call your practice. They will be able to decide what your options are.
If you believe or know you have COVID-19 and have a dental emergency, please phone NHS 111.
If you have any queries please contact the practice on 0114 239 9296