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19-10-2021

 

We are proud to have dealt with all emergencies and urgent need treatments in less than 24 hours for every patient reaching us regardless of their postcode throughout the pandemic.

 

Portree Dental Care offers appointments to NHS patients with additional needs as well. Please contact us.

 

Slowly but surely and gradually, we are clearing examination patients' backlogs. 

 

If you think you have one of these, call us, and we will prioritise patients with

 

 

 

NEEDING CHECK-UPS AND HAVE HIGH RISKS FOR ORAL DISEASES? IF YOU HAVE:

  • UNHEALED ULCER OR WHITE OR RED PATCH IN YOUR MOUTH 
  • CAVITIES [HOLES] IN ANY OF YOUR TEETH
  • BLEEDING GUMS
  • IF YOU FEEL THE LENGTH OF TEETH IS SHORTENING GRADUALLY [TOOTH SURFACE LOSS]
  • ANY MEDICAL CONDITIONS COMPROMISING YOUR ORAL HEALTH 

​If any of the above applies, Please call us to book your CHECK-UP appointments 

 

 

NEW PATIENTS

We will accommodate you according to the waiting list as soon as possible. 

 

 

patients

19-10-2021 

COVID UPDATES

 

ORTHODONTICS UPDATE

 

14th June to 14 July 16-18 age group only

If you are in the 16-18 group and need NHS treatment for teeth straightening, please call 01478614218 to book an ortho checkup. Please leave your name, date of birth and the best number to contact.  

 

14th July to 14 August  14-15 age group only

If you are in the 14-15  group and need NHS treatment for teeth straightening, please call 01478614218 to book an ortho checkup. Please leave your name, date of birth and the best number to contact.  

 

14th August to 14 September 12-13 age group only

If you are in the 12-13  group and need NHS treatment for teeth straightening, please call 01478614218 to book an ortho checkup. Please leave your name, date of birth and the best number to contact.  

 

03/06/2021 

Dental professionals face many challenges regarding reduced capacity to treat patients whilst adhering to COVID-19-related restrictions. Fallow time is a concern that has cut capacity by a third and three-quarters. Other factors affecting capacity included the time required for enhanced procedures for infection prevention and control (IPC), complying with PPE requirements and PPE supplies and managing social distancing among staff and patients.

Service delivery and accessibility of dental services will likely continue to be adversely affected for some time. 

 

 

14-01-2021

Dear Patients,

 

 

Due to the rise in cases, we operate on strict cross-infection protocols.

It's not open as usual for routine dentistry, but,  We are available for essential dental care.

 

 

Please call 01478614218 if you need an essential dental appointment and leave your details [Name, date of birth, phone number, email id, and dental need]. A dentist will call back for telephone triage and appropriate help.

 

If you had recently booked an appointment between November 2020 and January 2021, and you prefer to cancel your appointment between Jan 2021 - and March 2021. Please leave a voicemail with your name, name and date of birth. This may help us accommodate more and more patients with urgent needs to keep social distance and strict cross-infection measures. 

 

Stay home, and Protect the community.

 

 

 

10/11/2020

Dear Patients,

If you have dental pain, please call 01478614218, listen to instructions in full, and leave a voicemail when prompted. Leave your phone number if you would like to receive a callback. Please set your phone set to accept an unknown/No CLI caller. The dentist will get back to you to discuss dental problems and arrange a possible solution. 

We are clearing the waiting list of patients needing urgent (priority) treatments. The clinic runs based on pragmatic risk assessments before appointments and treatments and strict COVID-19 cross-infection control protocols. If you have pre-booked appointments, you will need to wait in the parking area until the surgery is ready. Please do not walk into surgery. A staff member in full PPE will escort you in and out.

You should expect long delays and waiting times before your appointment. We have to sterilize all the patient entry pathways and exit, including used surgery and a fallow time between patients for specific dental procedures. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

Stay Alert Stay Safe. 

Portree Dental Care.

 

Covid-19 guidance on attending dental care

 

Covid-19 updated 10/11/2020

 

Portree Dental Care is now open to seeing patients for routine dental treatment. However, there are still restrictions limiting the number of patients we can see to reduce unnecessary social interactions and ration-limited PPE supplies. Therefore, we will have to prioritize appointments for those requiring treatment or those with specific concerns requiring an exam rather than routine 6 monthly check-up appointments. 

No one will be permitted into the practice without making an appointment over the phone beforehand, and limited appointments will be available to maintain social distancing. Please avoid attending the practice without first phoning.

 

ATTENDING THE PRACTICE  

  • Your appointment should have already been arranged over the phone. You must complete a questionnaire online before your appointment to confirm your medical history, Covid status, and contact information. This will be done over the phone if you don’t have internet access.
  • We would ask you to pay for any cost using card payments where possible and preferably contactless. 
  • You must attend on time for your appointment. You may be required to wait outside until your allotted appointment time. This minimises the number of patients in practice at one time. 
  • The inside door will be locked. Staff will come to get you once the surgery is ready for you. Before entering the premises, you will be asked to confirm your details and use hand sanitiser.  
  • You should attend the appointment alone. Exceptions are for children and patients who require a carer or assistance. Please only bring 1 other person to the appointment. 
  • The patient toilet will not be in use during the appointment unless in an emergency.
  • You will be shown straight into the surgery to see your dentist. Please be aware that they will be wearing more PPE than normal, but we will still be happy to see under all that and probably a bit hot. 

What treatment will be provided

Although we can now offer a full range of NHS treatments, we face a huge backlog of patient appointments and a limited capacity to provide treatment. We also have a limited amount of PPE available; therefore, we must prioritize appointments based on clinical needs. Priority will be given to: 

 

Dental Emergencies - Those who suffer from severe pain, swelling, dental trauma, or bleeding will be treated within 24 hours, and anyone with broken teeth or lost fillings will be seen as soon as possible;

 

We will also be able to register new patients at the practice to facilitate access to NHS EMERGENCY CARE should this be necessary. 

 

Less priority will be given to non-essential treatments such as:

 

  1. New dentures;
  2. Veneers & crowns;
  3. Any other cosmetic treatments

 

We will also begin to contact patients in due course to schedule check-ups shortly. We will operate a triaging system where patients will be assessed and rebooked based on their immediate needs. Please note that we can still not use routine ultrasonic scaling and polishing during check-ups as this falls into the category of AGP (of which we have limited slots). Hand scaling will be available from our hygienist upon request. 

 

We would also take this opportunity to remind NHS patients that, should they wish to complete treatment sooner, they may opt for treatment on a private basis. We appreciate that this priority may not be favourable for all patients. However, we feel that this is the fairest system that we are practically and safely able to operate within the parameters of the restrictions. We will endeavour to treat as many patients as possible.

What are we doing to make the practice safe?

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we had already ensured strict infection control protocols were adhered to. As well as these measures, we have also added the following measures:

  • Increased cleaning of communal areas and any areas that anyone might touch.
  • The Surgeries would permanently be wiped down between patients before the pandemic, as well as the use of single-use equipment where possible. We are now limiting patients and switching between surgeries to allow for increased levels of cleaning between patients.
  • After AGPs, the surgeries are left empty for an hour to let any aerosols settle from the air, and the whole surgery is cleaned down, including mopping the floors and wiping down the entire surgery.
  • Staff is wearing increased levels of PPE to protect patients and staff.
  • Only 2 surgeries are running at any time to limit the number of patients in the practice and interactions between them and increase appointment lengths where possible.
  • Only people with appointments can enter the practice to maintain social distancing.

​​

If you are unsure whether you can be seen, always contact us at 01478614218, and we will advise you further.

 

9-10-20 As per SG announcement on 12-10-20

NHS care for the patients after 01-11-2020 as well shall continue to be prioritised by a clinical judgement for the treatment need and in line with broader public health protection measures.

The limited options that GDPs have are due to factors outwith their control, such as ( but not limited to) the availability of suitable PPE, the sixty-minute fallow time after patient leaves, and the compliance with COVID risk assessments.

We shall continue to operate as currently, advised on 17-08-2020 below.

 .

17-08-2020

Dental Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic: information for patients

All routine dental appointments booked before 21st March 2020

have been cancelled. Please do not contact us for any cancellations or changes of all previously booked routine appointments. 

Please do not visit the premises for any previous booked routine appointment.

THE PREMISES IS CLOSED FOR WALK-IN DENTISTRY PLEASE DO NOT COME TO PRACTICE UNTIL PRE-AGREED.
We are running voice mail-based care service for our registered patients 

[There is an automated answer phone voicemail record facility on this line] 

As the coronavirus restrictions continue to ease in Scotland it’s now possible to access a wider range of dental services within your local community.

Getting help with a dental problem

If you have a dental problem, you should, in the first instance, always telephone the dental practice you usually attend.

  1. Please call at 01478614218. Please leave a voice mail with your name, date of birth, email, a brief history of the dental problem with your medical history, from 09:00 AM to 16:00 PM. A dentist will review and process all voice mails and return call with possible care or advice. 
  2.  Follow voice mail prompts [Example: When prompted do not forget to press # to send your voice mail]
  3.  Please if you wish to get a dentist call do not forget to switch off the call blocker for the unknown or private caller, CLI number blocker to attend the callback
  4. The dentist will review the VM and call you back in the afternoon [expect between 1400 to 1600] Call will be made from Private Number 
  5. If you cannot leave VM please fill in the contact us form
  6. For the out of hours dental needs; please contact NHS 24 at 111

[This works from 6 PM weekdays till 8 AM in the morning or anytime on the weekends]. If you have a dental emergency during the hours of 6 pm on a Friday to 8 am on a Monday you should contact NHS24 on 111.

 

Not registered with the dental practice call helpline 08456442271 

If you are not registered with the dental practice then your nearest dental practice will still be able to help. They will provide you with information on contacting your local health board hub [UDCC]

Visiting your dental practice for treatment

High street dental practices are now open and are able to provide a limited range of dental services on pre-arranged appointment through telephone contact. Please leave your voicemail with brief nature of the problem, your name, date of birth and email. A dentist will return a call to your voicemail to discuss your problem and options of treatment further. 

When you attend a telephone confirmed appointment with the dentist; PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE BUILDING. A nurse shall escort you in and out of your practice. The waiting room and Toilets are still not in use. 

Your dental appointment

It is essential that we maintain physical distancing to ensure your continued safety. With this in mind, most dental practices will only open a single treatment room for a limited number of patients per day. Each dental practice will have an approach to physical distancing that is appropriate to its own premises. This information will be provided to you should you require an appointment.

The use of aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) is still restricted. This means that non-urgent treatments involving high-speed dental drills used to prepare teeth for most permanent fillings and provision of fixed teeth replacements are still not possible under NHS.

What is an Aerosol Generating Procedure (AGP)?

The most routine and urgent dental care rely on the use of dental equipment that makes a fine spray of air and water, or aerosol. The water droplets in this spray can carry coronavirus particles that may be absorbed through the nose, mouth or eyes and risk transmission of the virus.

Any increase in dental services available will be based on ensuring that we balance the oral health needs of patients against the risk of virus transmission, protecting both patients and dental teams.

Non-urgent treatments

Whilst it is still necessary to prioritise the needs of patients with urgent dental problems your dentist will now be able to start providing a range of non-urgent dental care where this does not involve an AGP. 

Examples of non-AGP treatments include oral health checks, oral health instruction and advice.

Although we are limited with a number of patients we can see and treat to keep appropriate social distancing still if you wish you can leave your voicemail if you have any concern and wish a check-up example hole in teeth, ulcer in the mouth, or simply for bleeding gums.

You can ask your dentist regards to alternative options of treatment including private non-urgent AGP or Non-AGP. These may be carried out with special enhanced private PPE. 

Urgent treatments

We are currently preparing for NHS urgent AGP work. Your dentist will discuss and risk assess whether such a procedure is appropriate for you. An enhanced level of personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary to provide this type of care however not every dental team member can safely wear this PPE. We have only one pair of staff(Dentist and Nurse) who have a pass fit test for enhanced PPE. Currently, we are awaiting the completion of modified premises arrangements and NHS supplies to accommodate the provision of such treatments in near future. It may be still necessary for your dentist to refer you to a colleague within the practice for this procedure. OR to Urgent Dental Care Centre* at Kyle.   

Where you have any symptoms of coronavirus and an urgent dental problem your dentist will require to refer you to an urgent dental care centre situated at Inverness. In this event, your dentist may provide advice on managing your symptoms or may prescribe antibiotics to control any localised infection until your face to face appointment can be arranged with the urgent dental care centre.

*Urgent dental care centre UDCC

Urgent dental care centres (UDCC) are able to offer treatment for a wide range of urgent dental problems.

Your dentist may refer you to UDDC if:

  • you have an urgent dental problem, and the symptoms of coronavirus
  • your dentist cannot treat your problem.

Getting to your local urgent dental treatment centre

If you have difficulty travelling safely to the urgent dental care centre, you should tell the dentist you speak to on the phone. Your local NHS representative will contact you about your travel requirements.

Dental emergencies include, but are not limited to:

  • toothache or mouth pain
  • abscesses and swellings in and around the mouth
  • bleeding
  • trauma
  • non-healing ulcers that have no apparent cause and last for several weeks

 

 

21-03-2020

All routine appointments has been cancelled. Please do not visit the premises for any appointment booked before 21st March 2020.

Please do not contact us for any cancellations or changes of previously booked routine appointments. 

 

 

THE PREMISES IS CLOSED FOR WALK-IN DENTISTRY PLEASE DO NOT COME TO PRACTICE UNTIL PRE AGREED OVER PHONE 


We are running a voice mail based care service for our registered patients [There is an automated  answer phone voicemail record facility on this line] 

 

Our premises during COVID 19 Pandemic is preparing for urgent care AGPs (Aerosols Generating Procedures). This involves only urgent/essential but relatively higher risk procedures (Water and air mixed as spray procedures).

 

These procedures are currently not allowed in general dental practices during the current COVID 19 outbreak because of the associate higher risk factors. We request you to please do not enter premises unless having a pre-agreed urgent appointment. The practice services are based on voicemail triage basis thus require a prior telephone consultation and priority triage through your own surgery dentist as detailed below:-

 

If you are non registered patient [If you are not seen by one of Portree Dental Care GDP for mandatory adult registration checkup] and Non Residents [Visitors] may contact NHS Helpline 08456442271 

 

All registered patients please follow the following in case of an urgent dental need:

 

1- Please call at 01478614218 for advice. Please leave a voice mail with your name, date of birth, email, a brief history of the dental problem with your medical history,  from 09:00 AM to 16:00 PM. A dentist will review and process all voice mails and return call with possible help or advice. 

 

2- Follow voice mail prompts [Example: When prompted do not forget to press # to send your voice mail]

 

3- Please if you wish to get a dentist call do not forget to switch off the call blocker for the unknown or private caller, CLI number blocker to attend the callback

 

4- The dentist will review the VM and call you back in the afternoon [expect between 1400 to 1600] Call will be made from Private Number 

 

5- If you can not leave VM please fill in the contact us form

 

6- For the out of hours dental needs; please contact NHS 24 at 111

 This works from 6 PM weekdays till 8 AM in the morning or anytime on the weekends]. If you have a dental emergency during the hours of 6 pm on a Friday to 8 am on a Monday you should contact NHS24 on 111.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Following the CDO’s letter issued 24-03-2020 regarding dental service provision during the COVID outbreak. There are many developments occurring daily with a significant impact on General Dental Practice. The CDO has verified that any patients needing hands-on treatment should be referred to as the “urgent dental care centre”.

 

The CDO now confirms all General Dental Practitioners should cease active treatment in Practice, whilst maintaining where possible or via “buddy” practice- appropriate triage/advice/appropriate analgesia and antimicrobials provision for registered patients.

 

What this means :

  • All routine dentistry should cease
  • Practice should operate on an Advice: Analgesia: Anti-microbial basis.
  • The contact should be by telephone to avoid patients presenting at practice, to minimise any contact whilst travelling or in the practice.
  • Practice teams should make every effort to triage, advise and reassure patients who have a dental problem
  • Patients identified through telephone consultation, who do have an urgent dental need that cannot be delayed should be directed to your NHS Board designated PDS/HDS urgent dental care centre. [yet to be identified awaiting an update from NHSH]
  • No patient should attend the practice or urgent centre in person without a pre-agreed appointment in a very very and very rare instance

What may happen further :

  • In the event of a significant and rapid escalation of COVID-19, NHS Boards will move to centralised urgent care the only service for people who are asymptomatic for COVID-19. They will require assistance from dental team members in practices to contribute to the staff rota at the centre.

These are incredibly challenging times and I value your continuing support and appreciate the tremendous dental team efforts taking place across GDS practices, PDS and HDS services and NHS Boards in Scotland.

 

 

 

 

Date 23-03-2020 at 1226 [Update]

 

 

Please read the following carefully:

Dear Patients,

We regret to inform you that we need to cancel all routine appointments as from:

23-03-2020 to 06-04-2020.

We are sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused. This may extend if required and will be updated on 06-04-2020. We will update here once we will be in a position to operate a telephonic appointment rearranging service. You will be notified through the dedicated web page: https://www.portreedentalcare.co.uk/covid19-cdo-update/ and through bulk emails. You will be requested to rearrange the cancelled appointment for continuity of NHS care as NHS patients later through phoning us at 01478614218. Please note any email inbox is monitored fortnightly and we have no software-enabled system to book, change, cancel or amend the appointments through emails or online.

IF WE ARE OPERATING ON LIMITED EMERGENCY ONLY SERVICE DURING PANDEMIC:

All patients are contacted the day before their appointment and asked whether:

They have a new persistent cough and/or a temperature/fever.

Whether they are currently self-isolating.

If they have been confirmed as having the pandemic [Example: COVID-19]

If answering yes to any of the above the patient will be advised that their treatment will be

deferred. Should the patient have a dental emergency one of the Dentists will telephone

the patient back and assess whether it is possible to defer treatment or whether it is

essential that the patient has an appointment.

In the event of the patient requiring an emergency appointment, the Dentist will contact

the Dental Helpline. Arrangements will then be made for the

patient to be treated within the EDS designated for symptomatic patients, this service is

based in Inverness.

IF PRACTICE IS CLOSED DURING PANDEMIC

In this case, if you have a dental emergency during the hours of 0900 to 1700 pm Monday to Friday and require urgent treatment please contact the

NHS Highland Dental Helpline on 111  0845 833210 or High-UHB.Dental@nhs.net

The Helpline team will arrange an appropriate appointment.

If you have a dental emergency during the hours of 6 pm on a Friday to 8 am on a Monday you

should contact NHS24 on 111.

Please do not contact your GP practice for assistance with a dental problem

 

 

19-03-2020 2330:

18-03-2020

Portree Dental Care
Information for patients and referring dentists in relation to COVID 19

Like everyone at this difficult time, we at Portree Dental Care are eager to promote the health of all of our patients, their families and our staff. We aim to provide an environment for your dental care that is safe and does not put you at risk. With that in mind we want to share the information which we have at this stage about the current guidelines for how dental practices should operate during the COVID 19 outbreak. The situation is changing rapidly, and we will try to keep you updated as much as possible.
From 18th March the Chief Dental Officer for Scotland has advised the following:
• All aerosol generating procedures should cease. What does that mean? An aerosol generating procedure, or AGP, is a dental treatment where water from instruments, working at high speeds in your mouth, combines to produce a spray. This is controlled by the dental nurse with the suction equipment. This spray is why all dentists, hygienists and nurses wear uniforms, protective masks, visors and gloves which they change frequently. It is also why you will have seen our dental nurses cleaning dental and non-dental surfaces in the surgery as you leave and carefully taking away all instruments for sterilisation. Where possible we aim to use single-use instruments and devices and that will not change. In Portree Dental Care the particular treatments affected by aerosol generating procedures are scaling of teeth with ultrasonic instruments and any drilling with high speed drills, unless during an endodontic procedure where a protective rubber dam is used. We can continue to clean your teeth, in some circumstances, using conventional hand scaling instruments. Root fillings, in some cases, can proceed. This guidance means that for some patients, appointments with the periodontists, hygienists and endodontist will be delayed at present or parts of your treatment will not be carried out in conventional ways. We are working hard in the background to come up with ways we can support you to provide intermediate advice and treatments to keep your mouth healthy and comfortable. We plan to contact patients who this may affect on an individual basis to explain what we have planned.
• Delivery of urgent and non-urgent dental care to patients with no symptoms of COVID 19 can be carried out as usual in a dental practice setting. In the practice setting, treatment will be aimed at pain relief and other planned treatments without generating an AGP, except in exceptional cases where that cannot be avoided. Dentists now have specific instructions about minimising our occupational risks and we at Portree Dental Care will be following those guidelines and keeping up to date with current practice for urgent and non-urgent cases.
• Dental teams are required to find out by phone or text if a patient is potentially infected prior to their visit. Our reception team will be working hard to contact every booked patient by text or phone to establish as far as possible if you are at risk or have active disease. Please bear with us, we are not being nosey, simply trying to keep everyone safe.
• Patients in vulnerable groups should be offered delayed treatment to reduce their need for travel and close contact in waiting rooms and with dental team staff. If that is the case for you please let us know, and we will aim to reschedule visits and support you with interim advice. At this stage we are working as a team to see how that will operate, please bear with us and keep in touch.
• Patients with known COVID 19 infection who need AGPs to relieve pain will be treated for relief of that pain by designated dentists, with full protective equipment, in special NHS urgent care centres. This service will be operated by the NHS, via NHS 24. Your general dentist and we at Portree Dental Care can help you if you have acute dental pain by seeing if there is a way to relive your pain without involving a visit to a dentist, by pointing you in the right direction if we are not able to help and advising you about methods of pain control. Our reception teams, dental nurses and dentists will continue to be available to discuss any concerns by phone or video link.
• All unnecessary items should be removed from surfaces within the clinic. For us at Portree Dental Care that means there will be no magazines in the waiting room, no flowers as you come in, no tea or coffee available and all the surgeries may look a little bare. Please feel free to bring (and take away) your own water, book or music source to keep you occupied while you wait.
• Use standard and robust cleaning practices following the national guidelines to keep the environment clean. We have always followed strict national guidelines but are aiming to be particularly vigilant in the current climate. You may see our staff wiping down door handles and PIN machines, this is for everyone’s safety. One way you can help at your visit is by bringing along, and taking away, your own pen to fill in any of our forms.
In addition to the advice from the Chief Dental Officer, we at Portree Dental Care are implementing the following:
• Asking all patients to use the outside bathrooms and wash their hands for the advised 20 seconds with soap and warm water before entering the clinic. Feel free to sing and choose your own song!
• Strictly following the advice about self-isolation for people who have coughs and a temperature. We will have a hand-held thermometer with which we will be taking your temperature when you arrive at the reception desk. This will be done as discreetly and sensitively as possible. At home you can record your temperature before you come in to the clinic and let us know by phone if it is raised. If it is, at that point we will ask you not to come in to the clinic but to rearrange your appointment and advise you to follow government advice. Our staff will be recording their temperatures as they arrive and anyone with a raised temperature or a cough will be sent home to seek further advice and self-isolate.
We as a team are hoping to support you in many new and innovative ways while the risk of infection is ongoing. Some of those we don’t even know about yet, but this crisis has given us a chance to step back, think again and challenge ourselves as a team to provide even more avenues for care. We hope you bear with us as we learn and enjoy our new alternative options.
If you have any concerns please contact us to chat. Our reception team will listen and advise if they can. If they feel you need further advice they will arrange for one of the dental
nurses or dentists to call you when they have finished patient care for the session. The usual contact number applies 01478614218 
Stay well, stay safe and look after yourself and your families.
The Portree Dental Care Team

 

 

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