UK: In face of coronavirus crisis, dental teams are assisting C-section deliveries to help alleviate NHS pressure.
Professor Shakeel Shahdad, who is a consultant in restorative dentistry at Barts Health NHS Trust and QMUL Institute of Dentistry, said that his department has been redeployed to various other departments following lockdown.
The dental staff is now helping in the following departments:
- Critical Care Unit (CCU)
- The Emergency Department.
- Maternity Unit.
- Urgent treatment centre and
- Testing for Covid-19.
The Dentists posted in the Maternity department have been assisting midwives as new mothers went into labour. Some of them are even helping with the C-section procedures.
As there is very limited cover for dental emergencies provided by oral surgery and paediatric departments, the remaining dental space has been relocated to meet the COVID-19 demands.
He said: ‘As part of the large NHS Trust, we knew early on the redeployment was on the cards. Currently, our dental hospital space is being used for chemotherapy. This has allowed for space being made available in the main hospital for COVID patients.’
NEED FOR PROTECTION:
Professor Shahdad is also the co-ordinator of the project for producing thousands of new visors for frontline NHS staff. The newly designed visor supports acetate sheets to provide full face and neck protection.
He said: ‘I felt there was a need for better face protection when we were being “fit tested” in the dental hospital.
‘The project started as a small idea with one of my ex-scholars help design something based in India. I very quickly had colleagues from QMUL departments and Keratify, a QMUL spinoff company, come on board to work through multiple variations in design and concept.
Free for members
Keep reading — it's free
The rest of this article is open to DentalReach members. Create a free account, or sign in, and every article on the site opens in full.
