Updated on 4th January 2021
Congleton Dental Centre is a key healthcare provider, and as such will remain open as usual for routine and urgent appointments during the national lockdown.
Am I allowed to come for a dental appointment during the lockdown?
Yes. The government has included the following statement in its guidance for the lockdown in England:
“The majority of public services will continue and you will be able to leave home to visit them. These include:
- the NHS and medical services like GPs and dentists. We are supporting the NHS to carry out urgent and non-urgent services safely, and it is vital anyone who thinks they need any kind of medical care comes forward and seeks help.”
Source: National Lockdown Guidance – accessed from Gov.uk
Is it safe to come for an appointment during the lockdown?
Patient safety is our main priority, and we will continue to operate with a range of specific Covid-19 measures in place, including:
- Enhanced personal protective equipment
- Surgical air purifiers which have been installed in each of the surgeries
- Lengthened appointments to allow for additional cleaning
- Reduced numbers of surgeries in use to allow for social distancing in waiting rooms
- Perspex screens in reception to protect staff and patients
- Fallow time following any aerosol-generating procedures
Further information is available here.
Patients Classed as Vulnerable or Extremely Vulnerable to Covid-19
Patients at increased risk of Covid-19 can be seen at the practice. However, if patients would like to postpone their appointment until the prevalence of Covid-19 has reduced, this is no problem.
We are able to provide telephone consultations with a dentist for vulnerable patients who do not wish to attend the practice at this time (See Telephone Triage Service below).
Checkups
The practice is now able to perform checkups again for those who are not at high risk from Covid-19, and we are contacting patients to rearrange those checkups which were cancelled (starting with those from March). Our capacity for checkups is greatly reduced, and it is likely that it will take several months to catch up the backlog of cancelled appointments. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.
If you have had a checkup cancelled and are having problems, please contact the practice as we will be able to you for emergency treatment if required.
Aerosol Generating Procedures
From 6th July 2020, the practice is able to perform “aerosol generating procedures”, including the use of the dental drill. Due to the need for a strict additional cleaning protocol between these procedures, the practice is limited to performing eight of these procedures per day. This is a dramatically reduced number, compared with the approximately 60 per day which would normally be performed (pre-Covid-19). Priority will be given to those patients in pain, which can only be treated using the dental drill.
Reception are not able to book appointments directly for aerosol generating procedures. Patients will be seen initially by a dentist to assess the type of treatment they need. Following the assessment appointment, patients requiring an aerosol generating procedure will either be booked an appointment, or placed onto a waiting list depending upon the level of urgency of their treatment (decided by the treating dentist).
Telephone Triage Service
For patients at extremely high risk of severe illness from Covid-19, our dentists are operating a triage service for patients experiencing dental problems. Following discussion with a dentist, you may be asked to send a photo to help with the triage process.
The dentist will be able to offer advice over the phone. Following a telephone consultation, you may be offered a face-to-face appointment if the dentist feels that this is appropriate.
What if I am not registered at the practice?
Individuals who are not registered patients of the practice can contact NHS 111 for advice.
Advice on the self-management of toothache can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/toothache/
