News 02/06/2023

Practice Update

We are pleased to announce that the practice will be opening soon to see our patients.

Firstly, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your understanding and patience in this uncertain time. Your loyalty and appreciation for our services has meant a lot to us all.

We want to reassure you that we remain committed to your safety. We have always maintained the highest standards of infection control and have taken several proactive steps to ensure we are safe to open.

We have dealt with a number of emergency calls from March till now and we will be prioritising those patients first, together with any emergencies which call on the day. We will start with opening 1 surgery in the first week, followed by 2 surgeries the week after. The hygienists will start the week commencing 22nd June.

We are currently limited in our scope of practice and will not be able to carry out routine fillings, ultrasonic scaling, root canal treatments, surgical extractions or place dental implants until July.

Changes to our working practices

We have implemented a number of changes to our working practices to reduce the risk to you, your families and to our staff.

  • All patients will be kindly requested to fill in their medical histories from home via a link which will be emailed to them. The receptionists will also require payment to be made over the phone 24 hours before the appointment where the charge for the treatment is known beforehand. We can always credit this back if we need to but it will help reduce contact with the payment terminals.
  • Please come with a mask or face covering if you can.
  • If anyone has been diagnosed with Covid 19 or has symptoms of coronavirus as defined by the NHS (continuous cough and/or fever and/or sudden loss of taste or smell), please let us know and we will gladly cancel and rebook the appointment for later.
  • If you are shielding, we will only be able to see you in an emergency situation. This will require you to be triaged over the phone and if we can remotely prescribe antibiotics or advise analgesia, we will prefer to do that in the first instance. This guidance will change over time.
  • Please use the toilet at home or work or school before the appointment. You will be able to use our facilities but we want to limit the number of people using them for everyone’s safety.
  • Upon arrival, please call the practice from your car to inform us that you have arrived and wait in the car if possible. If not possible then please wait in our car park (weather permitting) and you will be called by our receptionist when the dentist is ready. Ideally, only the patient should come into the practice unless it is a child who is being seen or someone who must be accompanied for the visit.
  • Please use the hand gel at the front of the practice upon entering the premises and go straight to the surgery. Your temperature will be taken by the nurse and recorded.
  • You will be required to use a specific mouthrinse before the appointment which has been shown to reduce the viral load in the mouth if someone is an asymptomatic carrier.
  • Upon completion of treatment, please use the hand gel prior to exiting the building.
Other ways we're reducing the risk

We will also:

  1. Encourage social distancing between staff and patients as much as practical.
  2. Ensure all staff to wear face shields and/or face coverings in communal areas.
  3. Place screens on reception to protect staff and patients.
  4. Reduce the need to touch any surfaces as much as possible
  5. Install medical grade air purifiers with UVC disinfection to improve air quality in the surgeries.
  6. Increase the number of hand gel dispensers around the premises.

We will always be available at the end of the phone or via email in case you need to discuss anything at all. Please remember that under all the masks and face shields we will still be the same people who have treated you in the past and we genuinely cannot wait to start seeing our patients again.

Map of Benfleet Dental Centre

Visit the practice

Benfleet Dental Centre

8 Benfleet Road, Benfleet. SS7 1QB

Opening times

Monday08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday08:00 - 18:30
Wednesday08:00 - 17:00
Thursday08:00 - 17:00
Friday08:00 - 17:00
Saturday09:00 - 14:00*
*By appointment only