COVID19 DENTIST CHARGING FOR PPE

[Deleted User]

superbigal said:

GabiB said:

mosteth said:

brook2jack2 said:

Dentists have no choice. The PPE , fallow times , distancing of patients ,equipment changes etc are all detailed in hundreds of pages of documents from our regulatory bodies. If dentists do not comply they will be shut down , struck off and prosecuted.

The NHS has already recognised that dentistry ,in covid era , is financially unsustainable and is drastically reducing targets to try to keep dentists afloat. 

Private dentists have less financial support than betting shops . They will have to increase charges to cover the dramatic downturn in patients they can see a day and the dramatic upturn in costs to remain covid compliant. In my part of the world , which is definitely not well off, 50% of all dentistry is carried out privately , most dentists subsidise NHS treatment with private. For these mixed practices NHS fees alone will not keep them going.

How are dentists going to stay open on vastly reduced patient numbers and vastly increased costs, if not by defraying some of those costs?

Thanks for the informed posting! I am currently debating whether to pay the COVID-tariff and go to my scheduled hygienist appointment in a couple of weeks. My dentist sold to BUPA last year and BUPA have introduced a £7 Covid-tariff for non-aerosol appointments and £40 for aerosol-using appointments. I have been told that ‘my’ hygienist has taken a sabbatical, otherwise I would be more inclined to go to keep her books open.
Thrown into the mix is my sister-in-law is a dental hygienist and she (and the dental nurses) have been treated horrendously over this period by one of the practises in which she works and this is apparently not an uncommon experience. I am not too sure how accurate your comment re ‘if dentists don’t comply with the regulatory bodies’ is: from what I hear, there is variability in interpretation of the guidance and the 1 hour wait after aerosol is not apparently sacrosanct. Patients (or are we clients?) don’t know what to expect so surely the only way the bad ones will be found out is if they get a COVID spike as a result of their poor practice, or if there are whistle blowers. If my SIL wasn’t so worried about the medium and long-term prospects, there would be some serious whistle-blowing going on. 

I’m going to Bupa Lincoln, is the charge across all practices? Is braces aerosol producing?

Yes and probably yes (You have not clarified exactly what)

I went, no charge, turns out it was just a new wire across existing brackets, 20 minutes and out.