Dental staff in PPE welcome patients – Tewkesbury

Yes, behind our masks we’re smiling.  It’s a wonderful feeling to be open again with SpaDental staff in PPE ready to greet patients in-person again.

Back in work this week, we’ve been trying on our additional PPE kit, to get a feel for what it’s like working with the adaptations we have in place. So here’s a glimpse of what you can expect.

• Access our video leaflet here. It explains the new patient journey from booking to post- treatment.

We’ve heard a lot about personal protective equipment (PPE) in the media over the last few months. While dental staff are used to wearing some protective equipment, now you’ll see they’re dressed in more. According to their tasks and duties, dental staff wear different PPE.

A preview of our dental staff in PPE

Reception staff are in PPE

Meet Laura Hill. Laura’s the practice manager at SpaDental Ledbury and Ross on Wye, and she’s here in Tewkesbury helping get everything up and running. She’s enjoying meeting the team.

If you’re a patient with an appointment coming into the practice, Laura’s face may well be the first you’ll see. She’ll be welcoming you through the door, and pointing you in the direction of the hand sanitiser. Moreover, she’s tasked with asking lots of questions as part of our screening process, as well as checking paperwork and payments are in order. The next step is for her to take you through to the surgery, leaving your essential items in a safe place on the way.

Making an appointment at the practice

Please remember:

• Only patients with an appointment may come into the practice.
• To arrange an appointment, contact us either through the website, by email or, if the first two options are not available to you, by phone.
• If a patient needs to be chaperoned, please make this clear during the pre-appointment discussions as chaperones must be screened too.
• We aim to cover formalities, such as paperwork and payment, in advance of your appointment to reduce contact.
• Our staff will help you to negotiate the adapted process, so please ask if you have any questions or concerns.

Dentists and nurses wear more PPE in the surgery

Here are two familiar faces in the practice. Even behind their PPE, we think you’ll find it easy to recognise them.

This is dentist Gregory Martin, Greg, in the surgery, with his assistant Bradley Jenkins.

As you see, the surfaces are clear and equipment is organised so the dentist has everything at hand. There’s no opening of drawers during an appointment these days.

In the surgery, dentists and their assistants usually wear masks, gloves and eye protection, but now they also have aprons and visors for even the most ordinary procedures. This is to protect both the patients and themselves.

During the first phase of our return to dentistry after three months closure, treatments are restricted because of the national Covid-19 alert level. To begin with, we are seeing patients if we can meet their urgent needs. We aim to gradually reintroduce a wider range of services.

Your appointment with your clinician

Please remember:

•  You will be asked to leave any items you are carrying outside the surgery. You should tuck away anything valuable in a pocket on your person.
• Because the gap between appointments needs to be longer for enhanced cleaning, it’s important that patients arrive punctually and also leave promptly.
• We aplogise in advance if we seem to rush you, but we have strict schedules to follow, designed to reduce patient contact with others.

Dental staff need even more PPE for AGPs

Many procedures dentists perform use high powered tools with water as a coolant. These create an aerosol effect which, although it can be reduced with suction for example, can linger in the air as droplets.

So dentists can work safely during aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) they wear fit-tested face masks for a higher level of protection and also additional coverings. Training to ‘don’ and ‘doff’ the specialist equipment is just one of the important steps in our return to work health and safty programme.

Please remember:

The changes you’ll see when you come in are to protect you, our patients, and our staff. We want everyone to feel confident and safe coming into the dental practice.

While we’ve been closed, we’ve heard from patients who have suffered discomfort and even pain. We never want our patients to be in this situation. We’re here to do our best to help you achieve your optimum oral health.

Consider a SpaDental Essentials Plan

Closure of dentists has come as a reminder that preventive dental care is so important.

With regular visits, your dentist can spot concerns before they develop into problems. A SpaDental Essentials plan really is a great way to keep on top of oral health and preventive dental care. Contact us to find out more.

• Even when staff are working in an empty practice, they are very careful to follow new hygiene guidelines.

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