Leading NI dental figure: We are ‘on a knife edge’ as planned reopening of services falls flat

That is the view from Tristen Kelso, the director of the Northern Irish wing of the British Dental Association, who was speaking to the News Letter on what was supposed to be a full return to normal dental services on Monday.

But Mr Kelso, whose body has 640 members, said that’s not how things turned out.

At the heart of the problem is the difference between Level 1 PPE and Level 2 PPE.

Level 1 is a basic, cheap kind of PPE. But to perform what are known as “aerosol generating procedures” (such as fillings or root canals) dentists insist they need higher-grade, pricier Level 2 PPE.

These procedures were meant to begin again yesterday. But Mr Kelso said as many as 80% of his members do not have the right kind of PPE.

His comments echo those of the roughly 900-strong Northern Irish branch of the British Association of Private Dentistry.

Last week it told the News Letter that even if dentists were able to source Level 2 PPE themselves (which many cannot), the expense would far outweigh the fee they get for doing a routine procedure (bearing in mind that each batch of PPE has to be thrown out after every patient seen).

The Department of Health (DoH) started doling out PPE yesterday to dentists – but Mr Kelso said it is all Level 1 PPE.

The position facing the government is stark, he said: “Either you supply dentists with the Level 2 PPE they need, or you pay a higher rate to compensate them for the increased cost, so they’re not losing money for every patient they see.”

He will meet the DoH on Thursday.

“I just hope they’re in listening mode,” he said.

“Today [Monday] should’ve been about being able to resume routine dentistry.

“But, in practice, I question how any health service practice can do this and not add to their financial hardship of their practices.

“PPE has brought this crisis to a head. But for several years we’ve been warning about the sustainability of health service dentistry; even pre-Covid the fees dentists were getting, they were barely breaking even.

“They had to look to more private procedures and so on to try and supplement and subsidise health service dentistry.”

This however, is not a long-term solution, he said.

The DoH said it is aware of “significant additional costs in respect of Level 2 PPE” and that it is “providing ongoing support for these additional costs”.

This is being monitored and “further support will be considered”, it added.

The planned closure of five emergency dental units across NI was meant to happen on Monday, but given the situation with so many dentists being unable to do major work, their closure has been delayed.

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