THE NEW NORMAL

Dear All,

Thank you to all our patients for your understanding during this time. We are pleased to say that we have resumed our provision of most of our routine services, so please call if you have missed any appointments during this time or if you are having any dental problems.

The way we now work has changed. There are a few things we have had to change in order to keep us all safe and I think it would help if we let you know what these were.

• We are not yet able to run our three surgeries at the same time due to our rigorous cleaning regime and that we need to leave a surgery closed for an hour after certain dental treatments (AGPs). This has meant that our capacity is reduced by about 35% on some days meaning there may be a wait when you book appointments.
• Our hygienists are avoiding using the ultra-sonic scaler where possible so appointments are taking longer and it may mean we need to adjust any pre-Covid 20-minute bookings.
• You will need to fill in forms before your appointments which will be sent to you 2/3 days before your appointment. It is vital these are filled in before you arrive at the practice, failure to do so may mean we have to re-arrange your appointment. The reason for this is again to minimise the amount of time you spend in the practice and reduce any contacts with surfaces. Please call if you need any help with these forms or if you need to update your email address or mobile number.
• We are minimising the use of the waiting room as much as possible so if you arrive by car, we would ask you to wait until you are called in where we will take your temperature and ask you to sanitize your hands. We also ask for you to wear a face covering when you attend your appointment.
• We may ask you to pre-pay for your appointment over the phone, the reason for this is again to minimise the amount of time you spend in the practice and reduce any contacts with surfaces.
• If you do need an aerosol generating procedure (filling, root canal treatment, crown preparation etc) your nurse and dentist will be wearing enhanced PPE, this means they will have a respirator mask as well as gowns and a visor. This may make it more difficult to communicate during your procedure.
• It is really important that all your contact details are up to date so please call if we don’t have your most recent email and/mobile number.
• We also ask for your continued patience if we need to re-arrange an appointment at short notice should a member of our staff have to self-isolate.
• If you can’t get through straight away on the phones please bear with us as all staff now have additional responsibilities. Please leave us a message or email us on mirabel@westheathdental.co.uk we will get back to you as soon as we can.