Welcome to
Edinburgh Dental Studio

Coronavirus / Covid-19 Update – 22nd June 2020

The safety of our patients is our paramount concern. Covid-19 has given all of us unprecedented challenges and in March in the light of advice from both NHS Scotland and the British Dental Association we took steps to postpone all routine treatment and close the practice.
The Government has now set out a Routemap for exiting from Lockdown and we now working our way through a phased return to work.

Phase 2.

Stay Safe, Protect Others, Save Lives

The Scottish Government announced on 18th June that we would move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of the Routemap and from Monday 22nd June, Edinburgh Dental Studio has partially re-opened. As in the period of Lockdown and Phase 1, we will continue to carry out consultations with our patients who have Dental Issues by phone and by video but we are now able to see patients with a limited range of Urgent Dental Care needs in the Practice. Urgent Care Centres will continue to provide urgent aerosol generating procedures (AGPs*) for Dental Emergencies – and Graeme has volunteered to contribute to the rota in these centres if required. In line with many other businesses we have re-configured the practice to provide safe physically distanced care and our plans for re-opening have been approved by Lothian Health Board. We are still unable to provide routine dental care – but we are forging ahead with our plans to re-start this work in the next phases.

During Phase 2, we will continue to be available for dental advice and you can contact us on 0131 226 3725 or email us at [email protected] . When this telephone number is answered, you will be given the mobile number for the duty dentist and the email address is accessed regularly throughout the day. During normal office hours you should call the practice on the number above, your details will be taken and one of the dentists will call you back. After 6pm and at weekends, when the practice is completely closed, you should contact NHS 24 by dialling 111 and they should be able to give you appropriate advice.

Phase 2 to Phase 3.

When we move from Phase 2 to Phase 3, possibly around mid-July, the practice will be open and we will start to see our patients for non-aerosol routine care and we will start to catch up with patients who have had Dental Health Checks and Hygiene appointments cancelled. We will gradually be able to provide a limited number of Aerosol Generating Procedures (AGPs*), depending on the availability of Personal Protective Equipment but the Urgent Care Hubs will remain open to support in some cases. At the current time, we are only able to give an estimate of when this will be but it is likely to be three to six weeks after the move to Phase 2, depending on progress with the reduction in R rates and incidence of Covid-19. Our “patient journey” will be markedly different and you will be advised of what to expect in advance of attendance. WE CANNOT SEE PATIENTS WHO HAVE COVID SYMPTOMS AND ANY PATIENTS WITH COVID-19 WHO HAS A DENTAL EMERGENCY WILL BE SEEN IN ONE OF THE URGENT CARE HUBS.

Throughout the easing of Lockdown and our gradual move to “the new normal”, we will be maintaining close contact with patients who are mid-treatment and we are maintaining contact with everyone who has had appointments postponed. We will be gearing up to resume a full-service level just as soon as we are able to, and we are told it is safe to resume full practice in Phase 4. Throughout Phases 1-3 we will be formulating what Phase 4 will look like depending on guidance issued by Scottish Government and Dental Governing bodies.

In the meantime, we encourage you to follow the guidelines set out by the government to help prevent and reduce the spread of Covid-19.

Stay safe, Protect Others, Save Lives – and we look forward to welcoming you back to the practice very soon.

Graeme and the team at Edinburgh Dental Studio

*Aerosol Generating Procedure (AGPs) examples:

• Use of high-speed handpieces for routine restorative procedures (fillings)
• Use of Cavitron or other mechanised scalers
• Polishing teeth