Blog Coburg Dental Group

(If you need an Emergency Dentist Coburg, we are open 7 days a week and see urgent cases promptly.  Call (03) 9386 1805 to make an appointment. )

As a society, we have certainly been presented with many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.  At the time of writing this blog, we had endured our fourth lockdown period and around 200 days of restrictions on our daily lives and the way we conduct business and provide professional services.  As dentists, we cannot provide services by working from home but government restrictions during lockdowns have severely limited the types of services which dentists can provide.

During lockdowns 1 and 2, there were many unknown factors about the modes of spread of COVID-19 and experts feared that the aerosols which are generated by dental drills would be a source of viral contamination and spread from one individual to another.  Through several research studies, protocols have been developed which can dramatically reduce the viral load in saliva and manage the aerosols in the dental surgery environment so that we can now treat our patients with confidence.

In accordance with general community standards, we request that you do not attend our premises if you display flu-like symptoms such as generally feeling unwell, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, cough, fever, or headache and get tested for COVID-19 infection.

When you visit Emergency Dentist Coburg Dental Group our protocols start right from the moment you walk in the door. Face masks should be worn at all times and especially at times when mandated by the government.  Face shields are not acceptable in our clinic even if you have a medical exemption for mask wearing. Compulsory QR coding at the front door and throughout our facility is available.  Our staff will assist you if you don’t have a mobile phone to use a QR code. Hand sanitizer which is arguably the most important preventative action that an individual can undertake to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, is also available throughout the practice.

When you enter the treatment room, the dental nurse will ask you to use a commercial dental mouthwash which contains 1-2% hydrogen peroxide to reduce the viral and bacterial load in your saliva by 99%.  This mouthwash is not a new measure and we have been doing this for several years.  However, its use is now recommended by the Australian Dental association and health authorities.

We can provide all aspects of dental treatment during the pandemic period.  We use high speed suction evacuation whenever a drill is used to prevent aerosol formation.  All of our instruments and equipment is sterilized and disinfected including deep cleaning in between each patient.  You can view our sterilization facility through a viewing window opposite our front door as you enter.  Our staff will happily explain our high-tech sterilization equipment to you.

Unfortunately, during the lockdowns, the government wants to limit reasons why people can leave their home, so elective dental treatment cannot be provided.  During these times, we can only provide services for patients who have badly broken teeth, swellings in the mouth or outside the mouth caused by infections and/or are experiencing severe or unrelenting pain.  General dental care such as hygiene visits, tooth whitening, orthodontics, management of tooth decay with fillings, crowns, bridges etc must be delayed until government mandated restrictions are eased.

We advise our patients to make an appointment and if restrictions require your appointment to be rescheduled, we will contact you in a timely manner and give you priority to arrange a suitable new appointment.  In these uncertain times, we have learnt to become a lot more adaptable and it has become even more important to look after ourselves and schedule your dental visits well ahead in time so that your treatment will be prioritized.

To make an appointment for Emergency Dentist Coburg or for all dental care at Coburg Dental Group, call (03) 9386 1805