DENTAL patients are being referred to Amazon for treatment, according to dentists at an emergency hub.
Staff at M&S Dental in Fort William revealed patients are having to resort to temporary filling kits, as practices remain closed except for essential treatment.
M&S Dental is operating as one of Scotland’s emergency NHS treatment centres serving people in the Lochaber area.
Practice owner and founder, Gregor Muir, explained: “Many of the calls we have been fielding have been from people with broken crowns or missing fillings and there is little we can do for them at the moment.
“In the case of fillings, we have even referred people to Amazon where they can buy temporary filling material.
“Certainly it’s been frustrating that treatment options available to us are so limited. But as the lockdown eases, we will start to see more and more treatments opening up again.”
Despite lockdown, Gregor revealed the practice still receive many calls from patients about possible routine appointments.
He also described what it has felt like to see the practice transformed into an emergency hub, adding: “At times it has felt surreal.
“While it has been challenging, particularly at the beginning, once we got familiar with the new routines and processes we all got into our stride and got on with the job.
“Ultimately it is still dentistry and providing the patient care and relief that we all came into this profession for.
“I really want to pay tribute to the professionalism of every member of staff who has volunteered to be part of this, including a number of dentists from the NHS public dental service. They all bonded brilliantly and pulled out all of the stops.
“It’s also important to recognise the fortitude, grace under pressure and good humour of the patients. Most of those we have seen during lockdown have been in a great deal of pain, sometimes for weeks, and were often badly sleep deprived as a result.
“Yet they never take out their pain or frustration on members of the dental team. In fact, they are respectful of the restrictions we’ve been operating under and grateful that they are finally having their problems addressed.”
