IMPORTANT UPDATE

Dear Patient,

We hope that this letter finds you and your family in good health. While lots of things have changed, one thing remains constant: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been of prime importance at Yarmouth Dental Practice, as you will have seen during your appointments over the years. Our infection control processes are designed so that your dental care is both safe and comfortable. We are writing to tell you about some of the procedures that we have in place to ensure that you will always receive the highest quality care.

As always, our Practice conforms to all the regulations and guidelines that are published by the official healthcare bodies in England.

You may see a few changes when it is time for your next appointment. We have made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• We will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions.
• You will be asked some of those same questions again when you attend for you appointment.
• On arrival, please could you wait in your car/stand outside the Practice. We can arrange to call you but have found that mobile telephone service is not always reliable and so ask you to please attend at the exact time of your booked appointment.
• At your appointment time, please ring the doorbell and we will invite you into the Practice.
• We have hand sanitiser that we will ask you to use when you enter the Practice.
• During this period please could you limit the number of belongings that you bring to your appointment e.g. bags, coats. You will be asked to leave belongings in a sealed plastic, disinfected container.
• We aim to time sessions so that you will see the dentist/hygienist straight away. If any short wait is unavoidable, and you have no face covering with you, we will provide a disposable mask for you to wear.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients.
• For the same reason please could you attend the practice alone, unless you are bringing a child for their appointment, or are an essential carer.
• We have installed a temporary Perspex screen in our reception area.
• Our toilet is currently for urgent use only. Please could you use the toilet and clean your teeth before leaving home. 
• The new scheduling system may mean that we will be able to offer you a smaller range of appointment options to choose from.
• We are currently installing digital software to enable increased remote contact so please do ensure we have your current mobile telephone and email details on file.
• If you do not have access to the Internet, we may ask you to complete and sign paperwork e.g. medical history forms at the Practice and if you do not have a pen to hand (preferred option), we can provide a disposable/disinfected pen. We can also post paperwork to you.
• We prefer card payments by telephone, ideally at the time of booking your appointment where possible but still accept cheque payments in preference to cash.
• You are still able to purchase any oral health products we stock.

Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) additional charges are in place due to new, enhanced infection control guidelines. They are as follows:

Non-Aerosol Generated Procedures (Non-AGPs) e.g. examinations, *hand scaling – £5.00 per session

 Aerosol-Generated Procedures (AGPs) e.g. use of high-speed drill, *air scaler – £25.00 per session.

*Please note: our hygienists are currently able to offer hand scaling, only.

We have kept these charges as low as possible and hope they will be a temporary measure, depending on prices being reduced, if PPE supplies increase and costs reduce/or due to a  decrease in the pandemic alert level in England with potential relaxing of these enhanced infection control procedures.

Our Denplan patients are exempt from the additional PPE charges until the end of October, in recognition of continued loyalty.

We are happy to answer any questions that you may have about the procedures and changes described above which are designed to keep you and our dental team, safe in our Practice. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to seeing you again.

To make an appointment, please call the Practice on the usual number, or Email (above).   Please note: Existing appointments for 2020 have not been cancelled and will be honoured. We will call you to complete screening questions a day or so prior to your visit.

With all good wishes from,

The Dental Team at Yarmouth Dental Practice