Dedridge Dental Centre

21/10/2023

The Scottish Government are implementing changes to NHS dentistry. These will begin on Nov 1st 2023.
Most treatments will continue to be available, although the fees have been increased to reflect the costs of modern dentistry - you will be given an estimate at your appointment.

🦷 The biggest change that our patients will notice is likely to be that check ups will no longer be every 6 months

Based on clinical need and following NICE guidelines, you may only be entitled to one NHS check up every 12-24 months.

NHS check ups continue to be free of charge to all patients

For those who are not exempt from NHS charges, there is now a charge for being seen as an emergency too - this varies a little depending on what is needed

For example:
👑 recementing a crown is £15.68
💉 a tooth extraction is £28.84

For further information please see NHSinform.scot/dentist

https://www.nhsinform.scot/dentist -treatment-costs

If you have a dental problem you should, in the first instance always contact the dental practice that you normally attend.

28/11/2021

As the rest of the world opens up, it is important to know that in dentistry, little has changed since we first re-opened back in June 2020.
We are still working as hard as we can, and operating our clinics as best we can, under the ongoing restrictions.

If you phone with a problem, our highly trained staff will triage your problem and prioritise your need to be seen.

Aggression towards our staff will not be tolerated, and will lead to immediate deregistration from the practice.

23/07/2021

Here is a letter from Lothian Health Board that explains the current position in dentistry.

We are doing our utmost to see as many patients as possible while still working within Government restrictions.

This situation is proving to be the “new normal” and we can no longer provide the amount of dental treatment or the availability of appointments that we could pre covid.

05/06/2021

It’s been a wee while since we posted an update about how we stand with regards to appointments and the ongoing restrictions, mostly because nothing has actually changed in recent months for us 🦷

The Scottish Government recently made comments at a press briefing that implied things were ‘back to normal’ with respect to dentistry. We’re not sure of the reasoning behind this announcement, but the reality is that things are still very far from normal.
We want to take the opportunity to clarify the issue so as not to perpetuate unrealistic expectations.

Whilst we are no longer prohibited from providing any NHS dental services, we are still severely restricted in how we are allowed to work. Social distancing, provision of PPE and fallow times following treatment mean a drastic reduction in the number of patients we are able to treat in a day. With a limit to the number of appointments available per day, practices continue to need to triage patients. You will be asked a series of questions when you call, with emergency and urgent care being prioritised.
To put things in perspective, the TARGET the government has set for practices in Scotland is to be providing just 20% of the pre-pandemic levels of treatment by July 2021 - a long way from business as usual we’re sure you’ll agree.

It is also worth pointing out not all dental practices are the same. Some have smaller rooms than others, some have no windows, some have mechanical ventilation whilst others don’t. We have different teams too - some staff members may be pregnant or have underlying health issues that means they cannot work normally. This means many of us are not able to operate with a full work force. Essentially, there are numerous reasons why practices are not yet able to function ‘normally’ and why one practice is not able to offer exactly the same services as another.

We have also now passed the 12 month anniversary since the start of lockdown, so please keep in mind that every single one of our thousands of patients are now over due their check up. We appreciate your frustration at the lack of progress but the profession faces a mammoth back log of work with waiting lists at unprecedented levels. Things are not going to go ‘back to normal’ any time soon. Routine check ups for all are still not going to be available any time soon, and as disappointing as this is for everyone involved, that is the toll the pandemic has taken.

Our staff are working hard to accommodate as many patients as we can but we are currently booked out for weeks in advance so please be patient and please be kind. This isn’t anybody’s fault so please don’t take your frustrations out on our reception or nursing staff.
When we are in a position to start offering routine check ups again we will let you know.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing cooperation and understanding. We will continue to post updates when anything changes.

26/04/2021

Lovely gift from a favourite patient today..... knitted dentist and nurse! 💗💗

23/03/2021

🌟Practice Update🌟

We are experiencing a high volume of calls regarding dental examinations following an announcement by Government last week.

Unfortunately due to lack of PPE and the restrictions that have been placed on the practice by the CDO and SG we are unable to carry routine NHS exams at this moment.

Our dental team continue to offer emergency and urgent dental care, we are working our way through the waiting list of patients needing treatment.

We ask that you are kind to our staff.

We also ask that you keep our lines clear for patients needing emergency and urgent dental care.

If you have a dental emergency or need dental advice please contact us on 01506 411811.

Stay safe during this time, thank you for your understanding.

10/02/2021

We have taken the decision to close early today due to the heavy snow lying in the area surrounding the practice.
This was done to ensure the safety of our staff and patients.
We aim to be open as normal tomorrow morning at 8.30am weather permitting.
Thanks for your understanding.

02/12/2020

17/11/2020

** 🦷 UPDATE 🦷 **

Following today’s announcement, we are awaiting further guidance from the health board.
Once we’ve had time to digest the guidance and apply the changes to our diaries, we will be in touch with anyone affected.
Thank you for your ongoing support ☺️

02/11/2020

As we enter November we are starting to contact patients who have been waiting for treatment since March as well as continuing to see emergency patients.
This is NOT business as usual and it will be months before we get through the backlog.
Thank you once again for your patience.

The full range of treatments is restored but practices are operating under tough hygiene measures.

28/10/2020

Further to our earlier post, please see below a letter from the Director of Dentistry for Lothian.

28/10/2020

🦷 COVID UPDATE 🦷

Please share with family and friends who may not have Facebook

We thought we’d try and explain the latest update in NHS dentistry following the most recent guidance published on Monday by the Scottish Government.

Apologies in advance for the length of this post.

Approximately 3 weeks ago the First Minister announced that NHS dentistry in Scotland would “return to normal” on November 1st.
Since then, dentists across Scotland have been eagerly awaiting the official guidance.

Firstly the good news.......
From Monday 2nd November, the restrictions on NHS treatments will be lifted and the practice will be able to offer the full range of NHS dental treatments again.

The bad news is, that due to the ongoing safety measures we must follow, we will only be able to operate at greatly reduced levels compared to pre-Covid.

🦷 We will still be following the strict guidelines which have been set regarding aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). The clinical team will be wearing enhanced PPE and the surgeries will be double-cleaned between every patient who has an AGP. A fallow time of around 30 minutes must be left after each patient. This means that when we finish a treatment, and before cleaning can be started, the used surgery is completely out of commission. In effect, a treatment which would usually take around 20 minutes, will take at least 1 hour. This limits how many clinicians we can have working at any time, as well as limiting the number of patients we can see in a day.

Another factor to consider is the huge backlog of patients we have waiting for all types of treatment. This is going to take us a considerable amount of time to work through and clear, especially with the ongoing restrictions.

🦷 We will be prioritising patients with pain and those with outstanding treatment first. Over the next few days, our reception team plan to start making contact via telephone or text with the first of these patients, so please look out for our call.
We ask for your patience during this process as it will take us several weeks if not months to work through the hundreds of calls.
Please also be honest with our team when answering our screening questions. We are trying to prioritise our limited NHS resources based on clinical need, and our triage questions are designed to help us identify those patients who need us most urgently.

Regrettably, given the treatment backlog and ongoing daily problems which patients face, we are unlikely to be in the position to offer NHS check-ups until well into the New Year.

Building in extra time for deep cleaning and for fallow time, means our appointment slots are extremely limited.

There will be no late appointments available for the foreseeable future and the treatment slots will not be flexible. Having fixed times for specific treatment types is the only way we can see those patients who need us, while ensuring their safety, and the safety of our team.

We would like to thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we work extremely hard behind the scenes to get the practice back on track. Sincerest apologies for not being able to offer the same levels of flexibility as we usually do.

🦷 As always, if you are experiencing any dental problems, please don’t hesitate to contact us:
☎️ 01506 411811