Practice opening during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Congleton Dental Centre is open for both routine and urgent appointments, and can perform the full range of dental treatments.

Instructions for attending the practice

You must not attend the practice if :

  • You or anyone in your household have tested positive for Covid in the last 10 days
  • you or anyone in your household are suffering from any of the symptoms of Covid 19, including a new continuous cough, high temperature or loss of taste or smell
  • You or anyone in your household are awaiting a Covid Test result
  • You have been advised to isolate by track and trace
  • Have you been to a red list country in the past 10 days

In certain emergency situations, it may be possible to provide limited treatment, even if you have answered yes to any of the screening questions. Please ring the practice for further information.

Please also note the following:

  • Face coverings are mandatory to enter the practice
  • Please arrive no earlier than the time of your appointment to minimise the number of patients in the building
  • There will be enhanced infection control measures, including the use of alcohol hand gel when you enter the practice
  • You will need to attend your appointment alone unless attending with a parent or carer is essential
What to expect when attending the practice

The practice has several measures in place to ensure the safety of our patients and staff.

  1. Anyone displaying symptoms of Covid-19 will not be seen at the practice unless they are deemed to have an extremely severe dental problem, following telephone triage with a dentist.
  2. There is limited waiting space available inside the practice due to the need for social distancing, so you may be asked to wait outside the building initially.
  3. Face coverings must be worn inside the practice.
  4. On entering the practice, you will be asked to use alcohol hand gel.
  5. Nobody will be allowed to enter the practice with you (except for in special circumstances such as one parent or carer).
  6. Social distancing will be maintained with reception staff at all times.
  7. Only card / contactless payments will be accepted at this time.
What if my checkup was cancelled?
We have kept a record of all those appointments which have had to be cancelled during the Covid-19 outbreak. We are in the process of contacting patients in the order in which they should have been seen in order to rearrange their appointments. Currently, we are approximately 12 months behind with routine checkups.

If you have not been seen since 2019, please contact us to arrange a checkup. (Please note that patients who have not attended since 2017 will be placed on a waiting list).

If you are having any problems, please contact the practice via telephone, and we will arrange an appointment for you.

As services begin to return to normal, the practice is giving priority to patients who are experiencing problems such as toothache.

When will the practice be back to normal?
Ordinarily, the practice is very busy, and can see over 40 patients an hour.

Following guidance from NHS England on Thursday 25th November 2021, the practice is able to remove some of the measures which were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For patients who are not exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19, there is no longer the need for a “fallow time” following an aerosol-generating procedure. Additionally, we are no longer required to wear enhanced “Level 3” PPE for aerosol-generating procedures. These changes mean that we are now able to carry out more appointments in a given time.

Unfortunately, the restrictions which were in place until the 25th November have resulted in a significant backlog of routine examination appointments. Consequently, we are approximately 12 months behind with routine examinations (meaning that most patients will not have been seen for approximately 18 months). This easing of restrictions for dentistry should hopefully mean that we are able to gradually reduce the backlog of examinations; however, it is likely to take several months for the practice to catch up.

We are workng extremely hard to get back to normal, but it will take several months to work through the backlog of routine examinations.