COVID-19: Update: FGDP guidance for safe return to practice published

COVID-19: Update: FGDP guidance for safe return to practice published

The guidance: Implications of COVID-19 for the safe management of general dental practice supports dental professionals to take a risk and evidence-based approach to providing safe general dental care in the current circumstances. It was developed jointly with the College of General Dentistry, and with the involvement of a wide range of other national dental organisations.

In a foreword The Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP(UK)) and the College of General Dentistry (CGDent) say they are committed to raising the standards of care provided to our patients through postgraduate education and the provision of evidence-based guidance for the dental profession.  

“Our guidelines are developed primarily by general dental practitioners, and are aimed at colleagues working in general dental practice. This has been particularly important at this critical time, but we could not have delivered this guidance without the support and expertise of many colleagues who work across all fields of healthcare.

“We have faced a huge challenge over the last few months, both as a profession and as a Nation as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many colleagues have been touched by tragedy, and the dental profession has had to face significant hardship as dental practices across the country battle to support their patients, their colleagues and their businesses. The level of uncertainty during the pandemic has led to fear, anxiety and at times anger, as we struggled to cope with the unknown.

“It was clear that the profession needed specific guidance to support a safe return to practice in the knowledge that they would be able to continue to provide high quality care for their patients. As a profession, we are all aware of the desperate need to restore oral health care services for our patients and the wider population, but we are also fully cognisant that this cannot be at the expense of safety. This is an unenviable position to be in, but in the opinion of the FGDP(UK) Executive Board, the situation demands a risk-based approach to identify the risks and provides guidance to mitigate.

“As the academic home for general dental practice, it would seem appropriate that FGDP(UK) in conjunction with CGDent should convene a Task Group to produce guidance for a safe return to practice, with the primary focus on developing a risk-based approach. As part of this risk-based approach the Task Group have elected to adopt the terminology “aerosol generated exposure” (AGE), to complement “aerosol generating procedure” (AGP). It was considered that this promotes a risk-based approach and encourages dental professionals to consider AGEs from a quantitative perspective and moreover to consider the risk from droplet and aerosol spread from natural exposures such as gagging, coughing or spluttering.

“We believe we have successfully achieved our objective, and we sincerely hope that this document will support and guide our colleagues through the difficult weeks and months ahead”, they conclude.

Download the document below.

Implications of COVID-19 for the safe management of general dental practice - a practical guide

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David Sackwild
Easier options for dealing with COVID-19
I think the current ideas about getting dental practices up and running are a mess and economically untenable. To practice cost realistically on the NHS we need to get back to normal patient flow. I accept that there is a real but diminishing risk on a daily basis but I think a better way is for patients to go to a local test centre a day before their appointment and obtain a certificate that they are COVID-19 clear which must be presented at the practice on the day. Yes - they can get infected between the test and the AGP procedure but with our usual good x-infection controls risk should be minimised if we at least continue to use face shields etc. But fit-testing etc etc ???? Jobs for the boys
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