Post Covid-19 Re-opening Information

We hope you and your family are in good health. Our intention is for the information on this page to keep you well informed and reassure you of changes that we have instigated.

When you book an appointment or attend the practice, you will observe many things have changed, however, one thing has remained the same, our commitment to your dental health and personal safety.

At this point in time, it is not known whether these procedures are temporary or whether they will become a permanent feature of the way dental practices must be run, to ensure patient and staff safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for us which I hope you have seen during your visits to our practice. Our infection control processes are of a gold standard, so that when you receive care, it is both safe and comfortable.

The aim of our new safety measures is to minimise your interaction, maintain social distancing with other patients and staff and hence keep safe. You will notice these procedural changes when it is time for your next appointment. To help you with familiarising the changes, we have divided information into the following sections.

Our receptionists will communicate with you beforehand by email/phone asking you to fill in a medical history. Please do try and complete this online as this will reduce your time in the waiting area. If you have any problems answering the questions, please contact the practice and someone will be available to assist you.

ATTENDING THE PRACTICE

If possible, we would ask that only the patient enters the practice unless the patient is a child, who may attend with a parent/guardian. In order to reduce cross contamination, please reduce the personal items brought into the clinic for examples jackets, bags, shopping etc.

ENTERING THE PRACTICE

Upon entering the practice, we ask you kindly to wear a mask and to use the hand sanitiser available. We will take your temperature with a no touch thermometer.

If your temperature is above 37.8°C, you will be unable to be treated and will be asked to return home and self- isolate as per current government guidelines.

PPE (personal protective equipment) is a term which many of you will now be familiar with. Upon entering the surgery, the standard appearance of dentists and nurses may change depending on the treatment required, donning gowns, masks, visors and a hat.

We have also invested in the use of FFP2 and FFP3 masks that filter 94% and 99% respectively of airborne particles in both directions (patient to clinician and clinician to patient).

At the Dental Centre Bedford we have chosen to go over and beyond the NHS guidelines by installing air purification machines (beginning of July) into all our surgeries. The high-performance DentAir system from Bryant Dental uses the very latest and trusted technology in air purification to eliminate contaminants in the room, quickly and effectively.

Our reception staff will be able to make you further appointments and processing payments as usual and answer any questions you may have. Upon exiting the reception, we ask that you use the hand sanitiser provided.
days.

We greatly appreciate your assistance implementing these new and modified procedures at the practice and look forward to seeing you soon.