Julian Perry, along with other authorities in dentistry, has produced advisory guidelines on how dental practices can start opening their doors again after the COVID-19 lockdown ends.
In these difficult times there is lack of guidance on what we should be doing as dentists to keep our teams, ourselves and our patients safe.
I have collaborated with a number of colleagues in the UK, in public health, in Europe and America. We have produced ‘advisory guidelines’ for colleagues.
We are not an authority in the management of COVID-19, and do not set out to be so. This is a collection of suggestions from educated dentists and medical authorities who have given their advice. The advice may change should we get clearer direction from the NHS.
We must not be complacent. However, we should remember that approximately 80% of the population have only mild symptoms and do not end up in hospital on a ventilator with COVID-19. The media would have us believe the opposite.
Creating a ‘new normal’ after COVID-19 lockdown
Two things have emerged as important, as evidenced by countries ahead of the UK in terms of infection progression;
- Triage (medical health status) of the patient before they attend the clinic is very important (telephone or video call)
- Communication with your patients is essential (webinar, mailshots to let them know your plans etc).
Our world will be very different for a while and there may be a ‘new normal’ when this settles. It is certainly a testing time for all of us, our teams and our loved ones.
Working together and being supportive to all of our colleagues has therefore never been as important.
