What's happening at Belhaven Dental Surgery

We have some really exciting news to share with you

Belhaven Dental Surgery is now part of Scottish Dental Care group

Please click on the following link for a media release and how this affects Belhaven – click here

Dentistry has been in the news recently in Scotland regarding the resumption of NHS Dental Services. Whilst this will be very welcome to most of you, this unfortunately does not mean business as usual

We have emailed out a newsletter to our patients explaining what this means at Belhaven with an update on some changes we are making to our services

We appreciate that not everyone is able to provide us with an email address, therefore you can access the newsletter by clicking on the following link – Belhaven Newsletter

If you have any questions about the newsletter or have any concerns about your oral health then please phone the practice on 01475 741186 or send us an email – info@belhavendentalsurgery.co.uk

Keep brushing folks

Please read the following statement fully and carefully

As you will be aware, we have been closed for face to face treatment since 23rd March.

The Scottish Government have now advised that we can reopen from Monday 22nd June.

Whilst this may initially seem like great news, NHS practices in Scotland have had severe restrictions placed on them. We are still unable to offer any routine treatment currently and are only able to see patients for URGENT dental care.

What does this mean for you as a patient?

Your initial point of contact will be to call the practice if you are having dental issues, where our staff can listen to you about your dental problem and give advice, and if necessary arrange an appointment.

We appreciate that many of you may be in the middle of treatment and therefore be concerned that you have treatment still due to be done. We unfortunately cannot resume normal care yet. Any treatments that generate aerosols (fillings / root treatment) still need to be referred out with Belhaven to the Urgent Care Centres based in local hospitals/health centres.

We are only allowed to see around 10 patients per day for the whole practice (bear in mind we previously would see over 100 patients between us in a day), so we have to prioritise patients based on need.

To enable social distancing and to protect our staff, our front door will be locked, and patients will only be admitted who have pre-arranged appointments, so please do not turn up at the practice without an appointment.

If you are shielding and have an urgent care issue, please call and we will make special arrangements for you.

I appreciate that it is frustrating to not be able to access your usual dental care, and we ask that you please respect our staff and try to be understanding, we have no option but to comply with regulations set by the Chief Dental Officer for Scotland.

It’s equally frustrating for us having built up a business over the last 15 years centred on patient care to not be able to provide you with the level of service that we have worked so hard to provide, but we will get back there eventually.

As soon as we can resume further services, we will update you through our usual channels.

So, for the moment, please do not call the practice unless you need advice to allow us to prioritise patients in need.

Many thanks to you and all our loyal patients for your patience with these restrictions, and all your kind words and support over the last few months.

We will soon re-open our doors folks, however we will only be offering limited emergency and urgent services

Catherine has prepared a guide to help explain what we are able to do when we do re-open and how you can access

You can access the guide by clicking here

As our services develop we will update the guide

Our phone lines remain open between 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday for advice

We continue to provide advice to our patients in these strangest and troubling of times.

Whilst we are still unable to see and treat patients at Belhaven, our phone line remains open between 9am and 6pm – Monday to Friday where our Dentists are available to take your phone call and provide advice and guidance.

The following document is a wee self-help guide for you to use at home.

self-help-final-ver-2

If you are viewing this on your computer then you may need a pdf reader installed such as Adobe Reader

If you are on Facebook, please like and follow our page there too. Its another great way of keeping in touch with us and staying up to date with our news and latest information.

As of Tuesday 24th March, the dental practice in now closed.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak and in accordance with instructions from the Scottish Government and the Chief Dental Officer, only patients with severe symptoms of infection, bleeding or trauma will be seen for emergency dental treatment at the present time.

This will be provided at a designated Health Board premises.

If you have a dental emergency please use the following guidance:

Between the hours of 9am and 6pm you should phone our usual number on 01475 741186 where our staff will continue to provide dental advice. 

After 6pm and at weekends you should contact NHS24 on 111.

If at all possible, please try to phone us during our available hours to avoid overloading the NHS 24 line.

Please stay at home and stay safe.