Why can’t I see my dentist?

At Dartford Road the care of our patients and our staff is our utmost priority. Like all UK healthcare providers we are very closely monitoring the spread of coronavirus and operating in line with national advice and guidance from Public Health England and NHS England.
We encourage you to follow the national advice and guidance which is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

We will continue to triage our patients via the telephone so if you have a dental emergency please contact our reception where a member of our team will speak to you and arrange a call back from a dentist. Our dentist will give you advice and triage your dental problem, and any patients who require emergency treatment will be referred to an Urgent Dental Care Hub.

Please note that patients CANNOT be seen at dental practices that have not been designated as urgent dental care sites by NHS England.
These measures are in place to break the cycle of spread of COVID-19 – thank you for your understanding.

Why routine dental treatments are not available

Dental check-ups and treatments involve close contact between the dentist, nurses and patient and so should not take place. Also, dentists and their teams have to avoid using tools like drills and the ones used for scales and polishes. This is to prevent them from catching the virus from an infected patient and passing it on to other patients.

Drills and other high-speed tools create a lot of ‘spray’ from patients’ mouths so dentists need to use protective clothing and equipment.

COVID-19 has a seven-day period before symptoms show, where someone wouldn’t know they had it and could pass it on to others. If an unsuspecting patient had a filling, the spray from doing that procedure would likely infect the dentist and the nurse.
The personal protective equipment dentists wear when using high-speed tools is currently required by hospitals treating coronavirus patients. Without this equipment dentists, hygienists, therapists and nurses are not safe to treat patients as normal.

What if I have a dental emergency?

Assuming you have not got COVID-19 related symptoms, you should call your practice. They will be able to decide what your options are.
If you believe or know you have COVID-19 and have a dental emergency, please phone NHS 111.

Information taken from https://www.bda.org/advice/Coronavirus/Pages/patients.aspx