Dr Luke Thorley, of Royal Wharf Dental, suggests the lockdown has sparked a dental crisis with patients left wanting when it comes to urgent care.
Speaking to The Mirror, he revealed that one dentist was asked by a father to talk him through removing his six-year-old son’s tooth with pliers.
The government has come under fire for not being quick enough to set up its urgent dental care hubs, leaving many patients suffering with tooth-related problems as practices were forced to close their doors in the lockdown.
Meanwhile, Luke Thorley is supporting a new group set up by Zaki Kanaan and colleagues called the British Association of Private Dentistry.
In a Facebook post, Zaki writes: ‘It's clear that private dentists have little to no representation in the UK. As a group we have been marginalised and let down by our governing bodies and are not represented in the same way our NHS colleagues are. This is a monumentally important time for everyone, including us all as professionals and business owners. Now is the time for us to get together, as an inclusive community, for the betterment of our profession and especially our patients, who have also been let down in all of this.’
On its website, the BDA writes: ‘England continues to lag behind the other three nations in relation to setting up its network of urgent care centres. Three weeks on from the letter of preparedness indicating a standing down of routine care and provision via the urgent care system, large parts of England are left without effective urgent care. We know that roughly half of the 160 centres are up and running.
‘We continue to raise our concerns about the lack of appropriate patient care with the Health Minister Jo Churchill, including in another meeting this afternoon. It is clear that she shares our frustrations over the slow progress.’
With regards to financial support for private dentists, it says: ‘We have been raising the profile of the impact of the pandemic on private dentistry in particular, including significant media coverage over the recent weekend. This week we are planning to ask for your help in raising this issue with your own Member of Parliament, making sure that they are aware of the lack of government support for dentistry and the potential long-term impact on patient care.’
The BDA's Mick Armstrong said that many UDCs are still struggling to source adequate PPE supplies. Dentists may therefore wish to donate their stocks to their local urgent dental centre.
The updated standard operating procedure has been released, which can be viewed here https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/04/C0282-covid-19-urgent-dental-care-sop.pdf