Dental Services: Coronavirus

(asked on 21st July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why NHS dental practices have been closed during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what assessment they have made of adequacy of the operation of such practices that have now reopened.


Answered by
Lord Bethell Portrait
Lord Bethell
This question was answered on 1st September 2020

On 25 March NHS England and NHS Improvement issued guidance advising National Health Service dental practices to suspend all routine dentistry to meet the Government’s social distancing measures and to contain the spread of COVID-19. All NHS practices were required to offer telephone advice, triage and if required, painkillers or antibiotics. Practices then triaged patients who needed urgent face to face care into over 600 urgent dental centres set up across England.

All practices were able to open for face to face care from 8 June. Dentists have been free to restart the full range of face to face dentistry as far as they believe they can safely deliver this following Public Health England guidance on infection protection control procedures and appropriate levels of personal protective equipment. The letter offering guidance on this and a subsequent standard operating procedure guidance are attached.

Reticulating Splines