Yes, however it will be subject to several important provisos, strict protocols and restrictions.

The Government on March 28th 2020 suggested that the country is transitioning to National Covid-19 Alert status LEVEL 3. The following day the Chief Medical Officers for the four Nations confirmed the current National Covid-19 Alert status remains at LEVEL 4. We appreciate this is a daily changing situation as new data is added to our collective understanding.

At LEVEL 4 ‘the risk of transmission is high or rising exponentially’ of this potentially fatal illness.

Under the guidance of the Chief Medical Officers, the Chief Dental Officers, the NHS, the Care Quality Commission, the General Dental Council, the Health & Safety Executive and Public Health England there has been a vast volume of documentary guidance and advice produced to accompany the announcement that dental practices in England only may reopen from June 8th 2020. The official summary of the advice to dentists can be found here.

The implications of the multitude of sub-links and documents (added to almost daily) that the above link leads to have (mostly) been summarised by the Faculty of General Practitioners here.

It is up to each practice to (continually with each added document) assess the risks of reopening.

There will be variations therefore between practices.

We have therefore endeavoured to follow the guidance to minimise Covid-19 transmission for everyone’s safety by assessing the risks and adjusting our standard operating procedures during LEVEL 3 or higher and implementing the required infection prevention and control measures.

These sections of our website outline our interpretations of the guidance and the protocols we’ll be following to ensure patient safety, our safety and the safety of the wider community to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19.

Please read the requirements for accessing dental services at our practice detailed in the sections below and note we will aim, as per the official guidance, to prioritise the most in need and vulnerable as capacity allows.

Following the guidance advice we will as much as possible utilise online digital technology, e-mails and phone calls to minimise person to person proximity, time patients need to be at the practice or physical paperwork during National Covid-19 Alert LEVEL 3 or higher.

This section outlines the remote requirements we shall need understood and completed to ‘arrange’ and then ‘confirm’ an appointment at the practice.

What to expect when patients arrive to the practice is discussed in the next section.

If there is any confusion please ask prior to arranging a date & time to attend the practice.

Patients who require it may bring one person to accompany them to the practice.

We have created THREE online digital forms (the red highlighted words are clickable links to the forms):

1. Contact Form

2. Personal Information & Medical History Form

3. Covid-19 Risk Self-Assessment & Consent Form

Before we can arrange an appointment patients only must submit all three forms.

If patients need to bring one person with them that one person need only complete our online Covid-19 Risk Self-Assessment & Consent Form so we can assess whether admission to the practice will be safe for all concerned.

To clarify,  all THREE forms above for patients and just the Covid-19 risk self-assessment form for anyone accompanying them must be submitted before we can arrange an appointment for the patient.

Upon receipt of these forms we will make contact with the patient by phone to remotely triage their oral health needs and where appropriate agree a date and time for them to attend.

If a patient does not have the capacity to arrange the appointment and requires someone else to do so on their behalf that ‘proxy’ person should be named in the ‘Next of kin or proxy’ section of the patient’s Personal Information & Medical History Form.

During National Covid-19 Alert LEVEL 3 or above our capacity to see patients will be severely restricted with a recommended hour’s separation between patients departing and the next arriving into each operatory to minimise patient to patient contact and allow aerosolised breath or saliva to settle. This means there will be very few appointments possible each day. If we schedule an hour to get meaningful emergency treatment done and must leave an hour’s separation between patients it is easy to calculate an 8 hour day allows for only 4 patients to be attended.

Therefore we will be taking non-refundable deposits of £75 to secure arranged appointments.

These deposit payments should be made via direct bank transfer to: Victoria Place Dental, 16-30-24, 11096862 and patients should put their name as the reference.

We will expect deposits to be paid the same day that appointment dates and times are arranged and not before.

If by the following morning deposits have not been received the appointment time may be offered to another patient in need. Upon receipt we will confirm the appointment by phone or e-mail.

Appointments are not secured until we have confirmed them.

Failure to attend a confirmed appointment shall forfeit the deposit as it covers the wasted time that could have been allotted to another patient in need.

We trust this is appreciated and clearly understood.

Please note, for any patient who feels personally (or their Covid-19 risk self-assessment suggests) that either they or we would be at high risk of Covid-19 transmission we can still offer the ‘remote’ services we were restricted to up until June 8th 2020. These are the so called Three ‘A’s of either general Advice, advice on Analgesics (pain killers) or prescription of Antibiotics where appropriate.

Once the arrangement, appropriate risk-assessments and confirmation process detailed in the section above has been completed only those people who we have thereby pre-screened remotely will be expected at the practice at the appointed time.

Upon arrival please note the door will be locked. We will require patients to be outside at precisely their appointed time. We will be waiting and watching. We will unlock the door and initially take a no-touch forehead temperature check for all who wish to enter. We will also be asking the current Covid-19 infection risk screening questions again verbally and observing for any signs of illness or malaise. Only upon passing this screening will admission be granted. Those who do not pass will be asked to return home, self isolate and contact NHS 111 to report their symptoms.

Those granted admission will be provided a set of disposable sterile gloves and a disposable FRSM (Fluid Resistant Surgical Mask) to wear throughout their passage through the non-clinical areas of the practice. We request that everyone observes a no-touch policy. Accompanying individuals must keep all items of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) provided on at all times within the building. Patients will obviously lower their mask whilst being treated or raise it to act as a nose and eye shield.

Disinfectant hand sanitiser gel and mouthwash will be available for additional protection however the evidence for the effectiveness of disinfectant mouthwash is considered minimal as the virus may reside in the nose or lungs and reinfect the mouth rapidly and if the sterile gloves provided are worn and the no-touch policy observed there should be little need for the hand sanitiser.

We will be estimating the length of time required for each patient’s needs and attempting to maintain the recommended hour separation between patients for aerosols in our clinical areas to settle or disperse and the air to recycle. This means it is highly unlikely we will be able to accommodate more than four patients per day. The elderly and most vulnerable will be offered the earliest appointments each day to further minimise the risk to them from previous patients.

We respectfully regret patients declining appointments offered may have to wait for us to contact them again another day for an alternative as we work our way through the backlog of dental emergencies. We will do our best to accommodate ‘preferences’ however we may not be able to offer specific dates and times of a patient’s choosing.

We trust these protocols we must follow as we work our way through everyone’s needs are understood and appreciated during this time.

Whilst the National Covid-19 Alert status remains at LEVEL 3 or above, which implies there is a sustained risk of disease transmission, we must follow these measures.

Some, like our online Personal & Medical History form we may keep on as it reduces unnecessary paperwork which is good for the environment.

During this period ALL non-essential dental services will remain postponed for the safety of ALL concerned including our highly professional nursing, reception & management supporting personnel, who normally take care of all the infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and keep the practice running smoothly behind the scenes.

Our team of clinicians will be conducting all the duties of our support team themselves including the booking of appointments and IPC measures.

Once the National Covid-19 Alert status reaches LEVEL 2 we trust our usual HTM 01-05 IPC measures will once again be the norm. At this time we will begin a phased return to normality and recommence our complete range of dental services.

Our fees for treatments are unlikely to change.

However, the total payable will reflect an additional fee of £75 to cover the additional time and enhanced PPE and IPC measures required to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission within our workplace to patients, to us, to all our families, wider contacts and the community. We trust this is appreciated and understood.

This additional fee of £75 will therefore be covered via the £75 non-refundable deposit described above to secure the allotted time (see ‘requirements to getting seen’ section above).

The only fees due at the appointment will therefore be those due for the treatment provided.

Treatment fees due during this period where possible could be made via a patient’s own mobile phone banking app to the account detailed below.

Victoria Place Dental, 16-30-24, 11096862

This will minimise the need for contact with our credit card machines but if we do need to use them patients should still be wearing the sterile gloves provided upon entry and we will still disinfect the keypad after they depart for the protection of the next patient.

We will not be accepting cash.