We are pleased to inform you that our clinic is open to see our patients for routine AND emergency treatment.   There are still however some restrictions on what treatments we can offer you during this COVID-19 period.

There will be a new ‘normal’ for treating you at our practice. The overriding aim of all these new measures is for your health and for your safety. 

• When you call to make an appointment your details may be forwarded on to the triaging dentist who will call you back and go through a triaging process with you.  After which the dentist will be able to make the decision of which risk group you belong to and how to move forward from there.  
• The triaging dentist will update your medical health, to confirm your household is symptom-free and may talk you through the likely treatment planned at your appointment.  Any patient who is high risk due to their medical situation or COVID status may then need to be referred to an Urgent Dental Centre via the 111 pathway.
• On the day of your appointment, you will be asked to attend alone and not before the time of your appointment, perhaps waiting in your car until then. You should attend the appointment with a mask or a scarf to cover your nose and mouth.  You will be asked to use hand sanitiser and you will have your temperature taken and recorded. 
• Please attend your appointment without unnecessary bags or coats.
• We would ask you to visit the toilet at home before your appointment.
• We will be staggering appointment times to limit contact between patients. This will also mean reducing the use of our communal waiting areas; we will be escorting patients directly to their appointments whenever possible.
• We will all be wearing more protective equipment than you have been used to, depending upon the procedure planned.
• During the appointment, your treating dentist will assess you and determine the best course of action for you.  
• If you are seeing the hygienist, please note that the hygienist will only use hand scaling rather than ultrasonic cleaning in the interest of safety and infection control.
• At the end of the appointment, you will make a short visit to the reception which will have acrylic screens and ask you to make a payment by card. Sometimes, we may ask for prepayment online, simply to limit contact with our reception team.
• Especially vulnerable patients will be seen at designated times of day.
• All rooms will be aired regularly and regular disinfection of contact surfaces will be carried out in all areas of the practice both clinical and communal. 
• The numbers of patients seen we still be significantly less due to the rigorous cleaning between patients and to allow for adequate air changes between patients.

In summary, we will do all we can to return to treat your dental needs to the expected Dental Care Centre high standard, in the safest possible environment.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Dr Sanjeev Kapadia and the Team at the Dental Care Centre, Muswell Hill, London