The New Normal Patient Journey incorporates a number of safety protocols to protect you and our team. It has been created based on multiple updated sources from within the dental and medical professions and government advice. Things will be a little different than before as we are taking a number of precautions to ensure that your journey with us is as smooth and most importantly as SAFE and EFFICIENT as possible. BEFORE ATTENDING THE PRACTICE We will contact you to confirm your appointment a few days ahead of the scheduled time. We will carry out a pre-attendance assessment via your completed standard medical and dental history form prior to your appointment. We ask that you complete these with up-to-date details before coming to New Malden Smiles. These forms will now be in an electronic format and we will no longer be using paper forms. They include a new form which will allow us to assess your level of risk of COVID-19 infection before you attend the surgery. If we feel that you are at risk of having possibly been infected, even if you are asymptomatic, we will respectfully request you to delay booking any appointments with us for at least 2 weeks. We recommend that patients in the high-risk groups for developing complications from COVID-19 delay non-essential dental treatment for as long as possible, until the trend of the pandemic becomes clear. If you are in a high risk group, and do require treatment, we will schedule your appointment at the beginning of the day. ARRIVING AT THE PRACTICE • When travelling to the practice, we recommend that you limit any close contact with other members of the public as much as possible. When you arrive at the practice, please call us on 020 8949 7679 to let us know you are here. Please do not bring additional family members with you unless they are happy to wait in the car or outside the building. One adult is able to attend with a child. • If travelling by car, please remain in your car once you have parked and call or text the practice to let us know you are here. We will let you know when the dentist is ready for you. • We will meet all patients at the front door. All dental staff will be wearing additional personal protective equipment in line with current recommendations and evidence. • Our intention is to eliminate waiting inside the practice and at reception. Accordingly, appointments will be staggered to avoid patients meeting inside. When using the restroom please do your best to ensure that you leave the facilities as you would expect to find them and wash your hands thoroughly. The cloakroom will be regularly disinfected between patients. • We will then take your temperature using a ‘no-touch’ infrared thermometer. This is a small device that we point at your head, and it tells us instantly what your temperature is. If your temperature is normal (37.8 degrees Celsius) you may proceed to your appointment, but if it is high, then we will need to reschedule your appointment. We will request that you do the following before or during your appointment: Use the hand sanitizer provided, or thoroughly wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water provided. We may ask you to swish a mouthwash around your mouth before we continue with your treatment. A dental dam or other barrier mechanism will be used for more procedures now than previously. PRACTICE PROCEDURES The New Malden Smiles team have spent time critically looking at every aspect of the practice with a view to removing all non-essential items that can potentially be the cause of infection. You will find that the practice may appear to be quite bare when you attend. All clinical and common areas including door handles and surfaces will be regularly disinfected in addition to our normal surface cleaning protocols between patients. New Malden Smiles will be providing a buffer period between patients to allow time for additional decontamination procedures, allow for any treatment overruns, and allow preparation time for the next patient so that they do not need to wait in the reception area. All your future appointments will be made and confirmed by email or telephone to limit your time spent at reception. DENTAL PROCEDURES All dental staff will be using personal protective equipment in line with current recommendations and evidence. We apologise in advance for the necessary reduction in social interaction that this will necessitate. Whilst our masks may make us appear impersonal and distant, please be assured we are still the same friendly team underneath it all! We are especially mindful that many dental treatments are aerosol-generating procedures (AGP's). It is difficult for us to carry out some dental procedures without generation of some level of aerosol. Aerosol suspended in the air is a theoretical source of infection which we obviously wish to keep to a minimum. Current Dental Literature suggests: • Our use of our normal high-volume suction reduces aerosol production by over 90%. • The use of dental rubber dam where possible reduces bio aerosols by a further 30 to 90%. • Our regular surgical facemasks filter approximately 60% of remaining airborne particles. • FFP2 and FFP3 masks filter 94% and 99% respectively of airborne particles in both directions (patient to clinician and clinician to patient). We therefore feel that our normal dental procedures can be carried out with minimal risk by the use of high-volume suction, rubber dam, surgical and FFP2 masks and, in aerosol generating procedures FFP3 masks as appropriate. FEES Despite the financial impact of the COVID-19, New Malden Smiles will not be increasing its normal fees unless absolutely necessary. However, the time taken to carry out treatment sessions may need to be extended, which will be included in the fees for your procedure. In addition, if you require an enhanced aerosol generating procedure (AGP) you may be charged an additional £40.00 for the use of enhanced PPE. SUMMARY The vast majority of our patients are otherwise healthy, without any COVID-19 infection. We are confident that we can provide dental care for these patients in as normal an environment as possible, whilst maintaining our responsibility to mitigate the risk of infection. We will be constantly reviewing and updating our processes and procedures as necessary. When you have an appointment, you will be contacted by one of our team to help you through all these processes and procedures. We are here to help you, and your health and safety are of paramount importance to us. If you have any questions regarding your dental care at New Malden Smiles, please do not hesitate to contact us on NewMaldenSmiles@gmail.com or 52thedentalpractice@gmail.com. Dr V. Shah