Orthodontics

In line with the government’s recent update, the UK is now in lockdown as of 6th January 2021. Unlike the first lockdown in March 2020, dental services will remain open including Orthodontics at Bournemouth Hospital. We thank you for your continued support as we endeavour to meet the demand for appointments against our significantly reduced capacity.

The guidance from the Chief Dental Officer remains that we see all in treatment (currently in braces) patients as a matter of priority. If you are currently in treatment and have not yet had a face to face appointment since your last appointment was cancelled, please get in touch with us as a matter of urgency.

We have systemically called all patients and have sent letters to follow up, but we are reliant on parents/patients/carers having voicemail facilities to leave a message and communicating any contact detail changes to us in order to make successful contact.

If you/your child has a brace emergency, please call us on 0300 019 4694 – please leave a message with your name and contact number and a brief description of the issue. We will ask one of the dental team to assess the issue and make a decision on the appropriate treatment. We may ask you to attend a video consultation to be able to assess the issues prior to bringing you into the department.

We understand that the schools closing mean that you may have dependents that are not old enough to be left at home whilst you bring your child for treatment. We would ask where possible, that if your child is 16 or over and happy to attend the appointment on their own, that the parent/guardian remains in the car with the other dependents whilst your child in treatment attends the department. This reduces footfall to the department. If this is not do-able, please mention this to the receptionist when they are booking the appointment so we are aware and can maintain social distancing.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding

Rachel Crooks – Service Manager & Ellie Thickett – Lead Consultant

Please contact the department before you carry out the advice attached below – if we are able to, we will guide you through this via video consultation: Advice for patients

The British Orthodontic Society has some useful videos to watch for orthodontic emergencies which can be found here: www.bos.org.uk