We're nearly back!
I'm sure that you have heard that today dentists have been given the green light to start seeing their patients face to face in their own practices again in England from the 8th June. I am delighted that this is the case and pleased that sense has prevailed. It's worth noting that whilst we have spent time and money planning for a return to work, dental practices were told after the media this afternoon and nobody in the profession expected to only have just over a week to get up and running again. This is going to be a challenge but we're confident that we will make it.
Your safety
Whilst Covid-19 is a potentially serious illness, I would like to assure you that when you come to see us we will be following newly established best practices involving both social distancing and further reducing the risk of the spread of infection. This does mean that your next visit will be different from previous ones, it will take longer and we would ask you to bear with us and be patient. Further details will follow soon.
Phased return
We will be following a phased return to work, prioritising patients who have had to sit on problems during lock down and patients in need of emergency treatment and wherever possible those in the middle of prolonged treatments. We will also have to restrict the numbers of patients seen per day, as well as the amount of work involving drills and some of the equipment that the hygiene team use. This will slowly be altered as the presence of the coronavirus in the population falls, and we will also be setting aside times at the beginning of the day for vulnerable patients.
I'm afraid that it is inevitable that non-urgent appointments in June are likely to be postponed. We have planned for this and will be adding appointment capacity as soon as circumstances allow. Whilst I realise that this may be inconvenient, we have to put safely at the front and centre of what we do and I know that you will understand this.
Emergency care
As ever, the emergency service continues, and it's fantastic to be able to say that we will soon be able to see you face to face and care for you in the manner to which we are all accustomed.
Video Calls
One of the real win - wins over the period of closure has been remote diagnosis and treatment via telephone or video. This has really come into its own and is now here to stay. Our aim is to expand video and other remote contact and make it part of our new normal. Again, watch out for more information - potentially reducing the number of trips to see us and being "seen" at more convenient times. There's also some exciting technology around this that we have been selected to trial with Invisalign and I am hoping to roll this out as soon as time allows.
What should I do now?
If you've got a dental problem, nothing has changed:
- Ring us on 01228 533431 or
- Email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Or contact us thorough the website www.yorkplacedental.com/contact
If you've got an appointment in June:
Do nothing - we will be in touch!
If we don't have your email address, please could you give it to us as soon as you can - it will remain confidential.
If you are waiting for a new or replacement appointment:
We will get back to you as quickly as we can. We will be working with a reduced team to start with and we will need to prioritise urgent cases first. We will communicate via email in the first instance.
Thank you.
Finally, a massive thank you to all of you for sticking by us, it has been a difficult and uncertain time. Your support through the membership plan and though your kindness has helped to keep us afloat, and without it I'm not sure that we would have survived. It's also enabled us to invest in the essential new, enhanced PPE equipment which is currently highly inflated in price and limited in availability.
So, watch out for more information by email, check out our social media on Facebook and Instagram and watch the Covid section on our website home page.
With best wishes
Richard Hellen BDS