Dental care after the lockdown – Dr Michael Nigro, Principal Dentist at Roseneath in Richmond, shares his experience…

Dr Michael Nigro, a Senior Partner at Roseneath Dental Practice, shares his experiences of providing dental care during the lockdown, reopening and the latest developments in the world of dentistry.

Michael, start off by telling our readers about Roseneath:

We are the largest and longest established practice in Richmond, celebrating our 25^th anniversary during lockdown! We pride ourselves in providing the full spectrum of both simple and complex dental and orthodontic treatments, always focusing on prevention and treating to the highest standard. The benefits of our approach were evident during the lockdown when the vast majority of our patients required no form of emergency care and the very few who needed help we were able to support without the need for them travelling to local emergency dental centres. Procedures that were already planned during that period had to be cancelled but we were able to reopen on time and those have now all been completed. Our emphasis is on educating our patients about the importance of good oral hygiene and treating potential problems timeously.

Many dental practices complained about being unable to return to dentistry in a timely manner as there was little notice given for the reopening of the dental services:

That is true. As soon as we went into lockdown the team started preparing for the reopening. We took part in online meetings and kept in contact with our colleagues around the world who were coming out of lockdown so we could be prepared for the new protocols. Before any announcements were made our practice was already equipped with all the mandatory requirements to ensure our safety and that of our patients. To improve our patients experience we upgraded our dental software to allow for the elimination of paper forms such as registration forms and medical history questionnaires. Everything now happens electronically, with patients being able to fill in various forms online at their leisure at home, prior to visiting the practice, cutting down on waiting time.

I am aware that Roseneath is very tech-savvy, could you tell us more:

We continuously strive to provide our patients with the best care possible, to do this you have to embrace the latest technology. All our x-rays are digital, which enables us to reduce radiation to a minimum whilst still maintaining the highest image quality. We have the latest in cone-beam CT scanners which provides 3D scans, a must for providing dental implants. Our hygiene sessions are performed according to Guided Biofilm Therapy protocol using state of the art AIRFLOW®, the latest Swiss technology, providing painless efficient plaque removal. We have iTero intraoral scanners, fantastic machines that capture 3D images of the teeth which can then be used to restore teeth using porcelain crowns or onlays, or they can be used in orthodontics eliminating the need for dental impressions. The technology allows us to show patients what they will look like following a procedure before it has been done, particularly useful in orthodontics. We have always provided Invisalign® to our adult and teenage patients but it is now very exciting that the system can also be used for children allowing early intervention which is so important (more info on Invisalign® First available here: https://roseneathorthodontics.co.uk/children-orthopaedics/).

Our aim always is to provide care of the highest standard in the safest way possible.