Covid-19 and Denplan – an update.

9th April 2020

Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, we have seen unprecedented changes that have spanned every aspect of our lives, it has been easy to overlook the situation in the dental world.

You will probably already have seen that we have been forced to suspend all face-to-face interactions and until suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is available (which at the time of writing it hasn’t been); we are, as a consequence, unable to carry out any procedures that might generate aerosol (so any drilling, scaling etc is off limits).

We are currently operating a telephone triage and advice service and have spoken to and helped many patients already with various problems they have been experiencing during the Covid-19 “lockdown”.

One question we’re asked about now and again is “what about my Denplan?”. We are aware that many of our patients pay monthly to spread the cost of dental services rather than be presented with larger costs as and when they come.

Some patients feel that they would prefer to suspend their Denplan scheme given that we are only able to offer limited support but I would urge some caution to this option. We are still here for you in as much of a capacity as any dentist can be at the moment. Until the central Urgent Dental Centres are fully up and running (and when they are, they will be under great pressure through high demand) we are really your only point of contact for help and advice.

It is unclear when services will be able to return to “normal”, and it seems that perhaps things may never quite be the same again, but when we are finally in a position to resume services you need to be aware that if you have cancelled your Denplan scheme, you would no longer receive the benefits of the plan and would have to reapply to join if you wished to resume the contract. Any treatment that had arisen during the time you had been “off-plan” would not be covered and there is a worry that you might end up facing more significant dental costs in the long run.

We would urge anyone to think very carefully before cancelling. Of course you are absolutely entitled to cancel; if you felt that the short-term cost savings would outweigh the possible longer-term costs then Denplan will be happy to advise you on the best course of action if you wanted to look into this further. We are fully aware of the financial pressures that the Covid-19 situation has placed upon people and are happy to work with whatever suits each person’s circumstances the best.

In the meantime, I would personally like to thank the very many Denplan patients who have been so supportive and understanding at this extremely difficult time. The nature of the Covid-19 problem means it is very difficult to predict when we will be fully up and running but please be reassured we are there for you so don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you are having any dental problems then please contact the practice or send us an email and we will get back to you. We would recommend all patients try to keep updated on our situation by following our Facebook page (@CoppiceViewDentalHarrogate) or webpage www.coppiceviewdental.co.uk and check back on our blog for further updates.

Best wishes and hoping you all keep healthy,

Mike

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01423 503 428

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Coppice View Dental Care
104 Kings Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 5HH