COVID-19
Following the latest government guidelines and advice from Chief Dental Officer, we at Inspired Dental Care, were obliged to put our drills down. Safety and good health of our patients, their families and our staff members is our utmost priority.
Understandably, due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infections may be high between dental practitioners and patients. The unique characteristics of dental procedures where a large number of droplets and aerosols could be generated, the standard protective measures in daily clinical work are not effective enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially when patients are in the incubation period or are unaware they are infected.
What does this mean?
All routine, non-urgent dental care including orthodontics (braces) have now been suspended and deferred until advised otherwise by our governing bodies. But do not worry…we are still here for you and have established a remote urgent care service! All our registered patients that feel the need to contact us, our team will be available at the other end of the line during our opening hours.
Can I still be treated? What treatments can I have done?
Well, in view of the increasing incidence of COVID-19, the low levels of testing and its long incubation period, every dental procedure now represents a potential infection risk to dental teams, even if asymptomatic, just by being in the practice. Therefore, you will not be able to have any treatments done. However, there is a lot we can do over the phone to address your concerns, such as:
- Advice
- Analgesia
- Antimicrobial (where appropriate)
What if these measures are not enough and I need urgent dental treatment?
If your condition cannot be managed by these means, then you will need to be referred by one of our dentists to the appropriate part of the Local Urgent Dental Care system. These will involve dental providers working with defined groups of patients to manage urgent dental care needs only, with appropriate separation arrangements in place to manage patient status and professional safety like appropriate PPE. These will be established via NHSE/I regions to manage urgent care dental needs in the specific groups of patients. Due to the nature of these Local Urgent Dental Care systems, they will not be able to nor have the facilities to provide treatments under sedation for people who are a little more anxious.
If you believe or know you have COVID-19 and have a dental emergency, please phone NHS 111 directly.
So for now, keep brushing your teeth and looking after your oral health, but do not head to the practice – call us if you have an emergency.
Stay safe!
Team IDC
