Frontline dentist donates PPE to NHS hospital workers

17 April 2020

A dentist has donated thousands of pounds worth of personal protective equipment to help ensure the safety of NHS workers on the frontline.

Kunal Patel, who owns Love Teeth in North Cheam in Surrey, sent 3,000 pairs of gloves and 750 face masks to medical colleagues battling COVID-19.

The practice shut its doors to patients seeking routine appointments due to COVID-19 guidance amid the lockdown. 

Kunal said: 'As dentists, we’re acutely aware of the risks of contracting viruses during our work. Keeping our team, patients and the community safe was the priority and we had to think of the greater good.

'Now the whole team stands ready to be deployed when called upon for the wider NHS. Our roles are likely to be secondary to doctors, but we do have useful clinical knowledge, and we want to help our NHS colleagues.'

Kunal was involved in helping to transform London’s Excel Conference Centre into a 4,000-capacity hospital built to treat COVID-19 patients.

As well as donating vital PPE, him and his team have also volunteered their clinics to be Urgent Dental Care Centres providing treatment for acute pain and are now among the frontline staff.

In his online blog, he writes: 'There is no doubt that the months ahead will be challenging for my team and I, but we are immensely proud to be part of the frontline response.

'The whole Love Teeth team will be involved – from receptionists and nurses, right through to dentists. The request for our support at the Nightingale Centre suggests that we may be involved in the provision of non-dental services.

'The challenge ahead is daunting. But it is one that both my team and I are ready to fulfil. I couldn’t be more proud to stand at their side at the nation’s time of need.'