Covid-19: With days to go until full opening dentists ‘do not have the PPE kit we need to treat patients’

The Northern Irish wing of the British Association of Private Dentistry has issued an urgent plea for PPE (personal protective equipment), ahead of Monday July 20 – the date when they are meant to start offering what are called “aerosol generating procedures” to patients.

Aerosol generating procedures (or AGPs) essentially involve any kind of treatment which creates a spray or a mist, such as drilling into teeth.

A spokesman for the dentistry associaiton has told the News Letter that ordinarily, before Covid-19 hit, dentists used what is known as Level 1 PPE – basically, the lowest-level of PPE protection.

This involved a facemask, gloves, eye protection, and an optional apron.

Mostly, these have to be thrown away after each patient visit, and the cost of these PPE items together, per person, is around 70p to 80p per time.

However, what dentists need to treat patients during ther Covid-19 pandemic is Level 2 PPE; this essentially involves a higher-grade mask and other enhanced protective gear, according to the spokesman.

The cost of these PPE items together, per person, each time a patient visits, could be anywhere between £10 to £20.

With the NHS offering fee of £9 to £10 to dentists for performing a simple filling, but with Level 2 PPE for all the dental staff in the room costing perhaps £40, even with other sources of public funding that dentists receive, “it is clear the maths simply don’t add up”.

Failure to use the right kind of PPE could see dentists potentially hauled before a fitness-to-practice board.

The dental association has said that it did an online poll of its members, and got 161 responses.

Of those, 122 said they are not ready to carry out AGP treatments due to an absence of Level 2 PPE.

Some dental practices which had managed to privately source Level 2 PPE had opened their doors fromlate June, but many of those will have opened only to private patients because the government guidelines regulating those are more relaxed than for NHS patients.

The dental association has penned a letter to Stormont’s health committee, setting out these concerns and voicing fears that “many practices are operating on the verge of insolvency” as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown.

What will make matters worse, the dental spokesman said, is that five government-run hubs for emergency dental treatment, which can provide a full suite of procedures, are due to shut on July 20.

This would make it harder for an emergency dental patient to get substantial work done.

The Department of Health told the News Letter last night: “The Department wrote to dental practices on July 2, outlining its intention to provide much-needed support in re-building services through the provision of PPE.

“The expectation at that time was that it would take 10 to 14 days for deliveries to begin.

“Whilst all efforts have been made to meet those initial timescales, addressing the logistical challenges of a consignment of this magnitude to over 340 individual dental practices has been significant.

“Deliveries will now start week commencing 20 July.

“Health Service funding is being used to pay for the PPE being provided.”

However, the spokesman for the dental association said he expects that this PPE the department is talking about will be Level 1 – not Level 2.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe