DENTISTS have been inundated with calls from patients ahead of re-opening today – but warn most people are unlikely to be seen any time soon.
Practices across Scotland have been unable to offer anything more than telephone advice since lockdown began, with only the most urgent cases being dealt with by emergency hubs.
On Thursday Nicola Sturgeon announced in-surgery treatments can resume from this morning, as part of the move into phase two of the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown. However, the change does not remove all restrictions.
And, after 12 weeks without access to check-ups and other forms of direct dental care, practitioners say they are dealing with unprecedented levels of demand from patients who are unaware that this is not a return to business as normal.
One Paisley dentist, who did not want to be named, said: “As soon as Nicola Sturgeon said ‘phase two’ the phone started ringing non-stop. We’re now trying to explain to people this isn’t for your standard checks – we won’t be able to do that for some time. This is about urgent cases and it’s now about trying to prioritise those people. We’d like to be able to see everyone – we don’t want anyone to be missing out on care – but it’s just not possible.”
Another, who practices in Glasgow, told The National: “We’re open, but we’re not open-open.”
Earlier this month Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced a phased reintroduction of dental care would take place as part of the NHS Scotland re-mobilisation plan. In-person consultations will be available to those requiring immediate treatment, but aerosol generating procedures like fillings, which carry elevated virus transmission risks, will not be allowed. Patients requiring such treatments will be referred to urgent care centres.
Meanwhile, NHS practices have been issued with enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for ten patients per day and, on Friday, the country’s chief dental officer, Tom Ferris, issued a letter urging “all practitioners to have staff health and the wider public health at the “forefront of their approach as services are restored”.
The Lanarkshire Local Dental Committee told The National there is “an obvious concern for the dental health of all age groups”, stating: “People have lost or broken dental appliances such as crowns and dentures, some are walking around missing front teeth, which has not only impaired their ability to eat and speak but has also had a huge impact on mental wellbeing.
“The inability of dentists to perform oral cancer screening is also of major concern, especially with the ever increasing rates of oral cancer within Scotland.”
The committee says lockdown has been “extremely stressful” for the profession, and that barriers on offering the private treatments many NHS dentists use to balance their finances mean that is unlikely to change: “The Scottish Government has provided a package that has helped NHS-committed practices survive this initial phase of Covid-19, [but] there is a concern that patient care will be affected by a prolonged period of this limited support.
#Concerns have been raised on the funding packages available to non-NHS practices. With the reduced availability in the scope of the treatment that dentists will be allowed to provide, many are concerned if things continue for a prolonged period, dental practices in all forms may become unsustainable.”
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