Challenging times ahead for dental practices
JONATHAN GEDDES
A Burnside dentist has warned of challenging times ahead for the profession, as practices reopened for routine care this week.
The Burnside Dental Care practice where Adam Gilmartin is a partner has moved into new premises at the former Bank of Scotland building on Stonelaw Road, and is open for appointments from today.
But he admitted he is concerned about what the future may hold.
He said: “Coronavirus is going to have a big impact in terms of how we work.
“At the moment I could see the number of patients we see in a day going down from around 30 to 10.
“We are going to be following social distancing guidelines and we will obviously be taking longer between appointments to clean the practice down, which will take time away from seeing patients.
“It’s a waiting game but we just have to try and see as many patients as we can.”
Adam, who graduated from the University of Dundee in 2010, has also stressed that the practice can currently only offer certain types of appointment due to coronavirus restrictions.
He said: “We can start routine non-aerosol procedures, but that’s difficult as aerosol is used for a lot of things.
“It’s tricky because people will expect the same service as before and that’s not going to happen just yet, for things like fillings or scalings.”
The news comes as the practice moves into bigger premises, while remaining on Stonelaw Road.
The clinic was formerly known as Eunson Dental Practice, until being taken over three years ago, and has been a long-standing fixture in the area.
Adam is optimistic that taking over the larger building can be a boost to Burnside as a whole:“It’s a good spot and it’s doubling the size of the practice.
“We should be able to add some new services like dental implants too, rather than sending patients elsewhere.”
Adam, who is originally from Stirling and runs the practice with his friend Mark Church, stressed the importance of communities like Burnside having their own local practice.
The dad-of-three added: “There’s a need for a community to have things like a dentist in the area rather than going further afield.
“They want someone they can get to know and the high street needs some stability at the moment.”